British Boxings " Poor Phase."

whicker · Post by **whicker** » 23 Jan 2008, 12:52

British Boxing, it seems has picked itself up again after a " poor phase ." Loads of comments- from boards like this to boxing news, to newsapapers, seem to talk about a recent poor spell for British Boxing, which seems to have ended.

So, when exactly was this poor spell? I'm trying to put a finger on exactly what people mean.

When did it start - Naseems loss to Marco Antonio Barrera? Do they mean Harrisons failure to become a popular/succesful star? Or just generally a lack of public interest in boxing over the last few year?

So- yeah- what are your thought?

STP · Post by **STP** » 23 Jan 2008, 13:03

Since Benn and Hamed left ITV.

WildWaylon · Post by **WildWaylon** » 24 Jan 2008, 13:47

STP wrote:Since Benn and Hamed left ITV.

Since ITV stopped televising boxing in the 90s the sport lost popularity - Harrisons failure to excite on the BBC resulted in doing nothing to restore interest - Boxing tucked away on Sky Sports meant the general public didnt see the fights and therefore didnt know any of the current fighters - Amir Khan was the reason why ITV gave FW a contract but established fighters like Joe Calzaghe had to be introduced to the average viewer who had never even heard of him - ITV lost interest because Frank didnt get them Haye/Macca but did get them Calzaghe/Manfredo and other rubbish bouts - Boxing is back mainly due to Setanta and better matchmaking by FW but if the bouts were on ITV, boxing would be even bigger - If only FW had put on the quality fights when he had the chance to on ITV things would be very different.

whicker · Post by **whicker** » 24 Jan 2008, 13:51

How does Hatton fit into this- has he EVER been on BBC or ITV?

Poncey · Post by **Poncey** » 24 Jan 2008, 13:56

IMO I don't remember a better time for British Boxing, certainly not having 3 British fighters who are the best in that weight division, and the number of world champions we have.

Can anyone think of a better time, post War?

WildWaylon · Post by **WildWaylon** » 24 Jan 2008, 16:08

Terry D wrote:Late 1990's were poor. A few big fights, Tito-ODH, Lewis-'Vander, were flops but when Lewis unified the 00's picked-up until the point we are at now.

This is like the 1980's, no HW King on the pyramid but great fights below. We've not even got the 1980's HW skills around today to enjoy.

I'm fed-up with HW.

There was a time when I was young when HW was the the main weight to follow - Top of the bill fights were at HW usually - All that has changed now which I am glad about because all weight divisions are now equally important and get TV coverage - The HW scene is poor at the moment - What we need is another Tyson to emerge and bring it back to life - I enjoyed watching Lewis but Tyson was pure excitement - Ali fights were brilliant.

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » 24 Jan 2008, 16:30

IMO, there were some "Notable" fighters, like Bruno, who got it attraction mainly threw the Tyson Fights, and with the Lewis Fights (Best British HW) etc.

Eubank also got it attention. Due to his Personality.

But then you got some Special Fighters,

the Likes of Prince Caused Excitement and got Viewers and Fans and he knew how to sell tickets and generate Attention.

But IMO reason why Boxing is quiet now is because the "Boxing Experts" Generally tend to Diss and Play Down the Higher Profile Fighters.

i.e. Naseem, Who got Boxing Fans by being the guy who you loved to hate, but our "Experts" bad-mouthed him and loathed him, so when he lost, public lost intrest.

Other than these, a lot of the Fighters lack the Non-Boxing charchter.

i mean Williams, Harrison, Skelton may be well known to th Boxing Fans, but no random would have heard of them. In fact the only one my friends seem to know is Danny Williams and thats because he Fought Tyson.

Hatton brought attention with his fight with Mayweather, but before that, it was only the Boxing fans who really knew him..

Since he Fought on Sky Sports or PPV etc.

Amir Khan has got British Fans Watching him since he fights on ITV and there was Much anticipation behid him when he was boxing during the Olympics.

But thats in danger of dying due the "Boxing Experts" Critisizing him Already. Words "chinny" Come to mind.

Its bad enough he faces Racism by some Idiots, i think the boxing cimmunity should get behind people like Khan More.

They did that against Hatton, even though he lost, a lot more poeple knew who he was after the mayweather saga than before.