Someone educate me on boxing's fall-off

[360Waves]

Been watching a lot of boxing documentaries and films from the 60s-90s and man boxing was piff back then. So many big names, so many different styles. The Heavy Weight Division was just. shyt had NFL caliber popularity in the states. WTF happened?

 

[Malta]

Been watching a lot of boxing documentaries and films from the 60s-90s and man boxing was piff back then. So many big names, so many different styles. The Heavy Weight Division was just. shyt had NFL caliber popularity in the states. WTF happened?

The NFL and NBA basically siphoned away all the top prospects that would be heavyweights, a weak heavyweight division leads to lack of interest from casual fans of the sport.

 

[G-Zeus]

The NFL and NBA basically siphoned away all the top prospects that would be heavyweights, a weak heavyweight division leads to lack of interest from casual fans of the sport.

could have all been boxing champions... i case yall tought i was


would probably beat the shiznit outta

 

[Malta]

could have all been boxing champions... i case yall tought i was


would probably beat the shiznit outta

shyt, somebody like Jason Maxiell would have been a much better prospect for boxing than he was for basketball, dude was 6'6 260 with a 7'3 wingspan and could jump out the gym. I think the Linebacker, Tight end, Small/Power Forwards are basically where all the potential heavyweight champions went.

 

[RedEye Jedi]

I love boxing but whats with the random threads in here lately about

 

[G-Zeus]

I love boxing but whats with the random threads in here lately about

bro.. i remember playing WoW ...we would random bet for gears like /random 100



crazy nights.

 

[ISO]

shyt, somebody like Jason Maxiell would have been a much better prospect for boxing than he was for basketball, dude was 6'6 260 with a 7'3 wingspan and could jump out the gym. I think the Linebacker, Tight end, Small/Power Forwards are basically where all the potential heavyweight champions went.

I could only imagine how quick Westbrook's hands would be

Or nikkas trying to knock out Andre Drummond, he even has the name of a fearsome super heavyweight

 

[FaTaL]

Boxing is really getting interesting now though, the klit bros really made the hw div boring

 

[the artist known az]

Like Malta said the best athletes now play other sports but you get the right people to fight you'll get the world to watch (ie, Tyson/Holyfield, Mayweather/Pacquiao, etc)

 

[FukkaPaidEmail]

I don't believe it has a direct correlation with the fall off of heavyweights.There was a SEVERE decline in true marketable stars throughout all of boxing not just Heavyweights

For example in the 80's you had Sugar Ray Leonard,Thomas Hearns,Duran, and Hagler as legit non-hvy weight stars .Not to mention Boom Boom Mancini for cacs and JCC for the Mexican's.

In the 90's it you had Oscar,Sweet Pea,Roy Jones Jr,Hector Camacho,JCC,and Prince Naseem ....

2000's- Oscar,Sugar Shane,Floyd,Manny,Felix Trinidad,Barrera,Morales, Fernando Vargas,Gatti,Zab .....

If you look at boxing now,how many nikkas do you see with STAR potential in non-heavyweight divisions?

Broner ? Had a shot but that nikka loses too much
Canelo ? Cool,but he's Mexican so he has a ceiling.
Spence hasn't been tested yet
GGG? Crawford? Thurman?

The star power just ain't there across the board

 

[patscorpio]

I don't believe it has a direct correlation with the fall off of heavyweights.There was a SEVERE decline in true marketable stars throughout all of boxing not just Heavyweights

For example in the 80's you had Sugar Ray Leonard,Thomas Hearns,Duran, and Hagler as legit non-hvy weight stars .Not to mention Boom Boom Mancini for cacs and JCC for the Mexican's.

In the 90's it you had Oscar,Sweet Pea,Roy Jones Jr,Hector Camacho,JCC,and Prince Naseem ....

2000's- Oscar,Sugar Shane,Floyd,Manny,Felix Trinidad,Barrera,Morales, Fernando Vargas,Gatti,Zab .....

If you look at boxing now,how many nikkas do you see with STAR potential in non-heavyweight divisions?

Broner ? Had a shot but that nikka loses too much
Canelo ? Cool,but he's Mexican so he has a ceiling.
Spence hasn't been tested yet
GGG? Crawford? Thurman?

The star power just ain't there across the board

this is the best answer in here

 

[Treblemaka]

Two Words.

Klitschko Bros.

 

[((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL]

could have all been boxing champions... i case yall tought i was


would probably beat the shiznit outta

derrick rose is 6'3 200 lbs.....dude would most likely be fighting at cruiserweight then eventually heavyweight. dude looks small on the ball court but he would be huge for a boxer. he's the same height as david haye. but having crazy athleticism doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna be a great boxer. you have to be a quick thinker....you have to be smart. floyd was never the most athletic guy in boxing, but he was the smartest. it's hard to say just how many potential great fighters there could be in other sports, because being a great fighter takes a lot more than just skill....you gotta have the will too. as cliche as that sounds. most normal human beings can't take a flush punch from a guy like sergei kovalev and not go to sleep. fighters are a different breed. you see andre ward get knocked down and get back up and that's normal. but most guys would've been out cold. we've seen quite a few former football players try to make the switch to boxing and they can't take a punch for shyt. it's easy to look at a genetic freak like russel westbrook and think he could be an all time great heavyweight....but for all we know, dude might have a glass chin.

but yea, i'm sure there's still quite a few potentially great fighters out here playing other sports. but why risk your life for 300k a fight when you can potentially make 10 mil a year to be a bench warmer in the league. but forget the pro athletes, there's probably way more kids in the inner city right now who could be the next roy jones or sugar ray, but they just don't have the funds to get into a boxing gym. all these dude's under 5'10 with crazy hand speed and reflexes....probably weren't very talented in basketball or football, but have the natural gifts to be an all time great boxer. but never had the chance to realize it.

 

[Malta]

I don't believe it has a direct correlation with the fall off of heavyweights.There was a SEVERE decline in true marketable stars throughout all of boxing not just Heavyweights

For example in the 80's you had Sugar Ray Leonard,Thomas Hearns,Duran, and Hagler as legit non-hvy weight stars .Not to mention Boom Boom Mancini for cacs and JCC for the Mexican's.

In the 90's it you had Oscar,Sweet Pea,Roy Jones Jr,Hector Camacho,JCC,and Prince Naseem ....

2000's- Oscar,Sugar Shane,Floyd,Manny,Felix Trinidad,Barrera,Morales, Fernando Vargas,Gatti,Zab .....

If you look at boxing now,how many nikkas do you see with STAR potential in non-heavyweight divisions?

Broner ? Had a shot but that nikka loses too much
Canelo ? Cool,but he's Mexican so he has a ceiling.
Spence hasn't been tested yet
GGG? Crawford? Thurman?

The star power just ain't there across the board

80s, 90s and even the early 00s still had heavyweights, the lack of heavyweight boxers is why the drop off happened. The lack of star power today has nothing to do with the drop off boxing experienced prior to this point, as in viewership was already declining. It's all about the heavys.

It's also why boxing seems to be generating interest now with Wilder, Fury, Parker and Joshua.


Wilder-Washington Peaked at 1.86 Million Viewers; Averaged 1.76M - Boxing News

The PPV Numbers For Joshua-Klitschko Are Bloody Staggering | Balls.ie


People want to see the freakishly large dudes throw hands.

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

I don't believe it has a direct correlation with the fall off of heavyweights.There was a SEVERE decline in true marketable stars throughout all of boxing not just Heavyweights

For example in the 80's you had Sugar Ray Leonard,Thomas Hearns,Duran, and Hagler as legit non-hvy weight stars .Not to mention Boom Boom Mancini for cacs and JCC for the Mexican's.

In the 90's it you had Oscar,Sweet Pea,Roy Jones Jr,Hector Camacho,JCC,and Prince Naseem ....

2000's- Oscar,Sugar Shane,Floyd,Manny,Felix Trinidad,Barrera,Morales, Fernando Vargas,Gatti,Zab .....

If you look at boxing now,how many nikkas do you see with STAR potential in non-heavyweight divisions?

Broner ? Had a shot but that nikka loses too much
Canelo ? Cool,but he's Mexican so he has a ceiling.
Spence hasn't been tested yet
GGG? Crawford? Thurman?

The star power just ain't there across the board

If Broner was actually good, he was one of the guys who could drive interest in himself.

Canelo needs to learn how to speak English. That's the main thing holding him back. Canelo and GGG were literally in the ring arguing with translators 2 weeks ago. It was basically that scene from Talladega Nights Nights.



Thurman and Crawford have star potential but they need to beat a Pacquiao or a Floyd Mayweather for them to reach the next level in the same way Floyd had to beat Oscar to become a household name. You become the man by beating the man but what happens when "the man" can make money by fighting tomato cans? That's one of the biggest problems right now in boxing, guys are protected in some ways. Arum isn't putting Pacquiao in there with Terrence Crawford or Keith Thurman.