Is Boxing the Number 1 British Sport

sweetscience · Post by **sweetscience** » 27 Feb 2008, 14:54

well we are shit are football, cricket, tennis, and more or less every other sport but seem to be good at boxing

numerous world champs & contenders and our amatuers are doing mint also

is boxing what we are best at ?

if so why no fans/media coverage etc etc

m1kee50 · Post by **m1kee50** » 27 Feb 2008, 14:59

sweetscience wrote:well we are shit are football, cricket, tennis, and more or less every other sport but seem to be good at boxing

numerous world champs & contenders and our amatuers are doing mint also

is boxing what we are best at ?

if so why no fans/media coverage etc etc

I blame allegedly

(fcuk it, someone was going to say it)

Mario · Post by **Mario** » 27 Feb 2008, 15:04

sweetscience wrote:well we are shit are football, cricket, tennis, and more or less every other sport but seem to be good at boxing

numerous world champs & contenders and our amatuers are doing mint also

is boxing what we are best at ?

if so why no fans/media coverage etc etc

To sum it up, Britain loves its plucky losers. Look how popular the sport was when Henry Cooper was fighting, or even Frank Bruno.

Winners, world champions? Who wants them?!

Poncey · Post by **Poncey** » 27 Feb 2008, 15:16

IMO Sailing is our most dominant sport.

states · Post by **states** » 27 Feb 2008, 15:19

Emerson Poncey Name Ghent wrote:IMO Sailing is our most dominant sport.

That or Track Cycling.

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 27 Feb 2008, 15:40

Don't forget snooker and darts...

Per capita, we must be right up there with 7 world champions, although not enough to compete with Puerto Rico

You know British boxing is thriving when two boxers make the top 3 in BBC's SPOTY.

whicker · Post by **whicker** » 27 Feb 2008, 15:55

There was certainly a bit of a peak when Hatton went off to fight Floyd. Also, boxing seems to be drawing good crowds at the moment- I havn't been to a badly attended show for a while now.

But yeah, a lack of mainstream TV coverage is a pain, although that could eb due to the lack of regular shows/fights.

Poncey · Post by **Poncey** » 27 Feb 2008, 16:10

lvlarc wrote:Don't forget snooker and darts...

Per capita, we must be right up there with 7 world champions, although not enough to compete with Puerto Rico

You know British boxing is thriving when two boxers make the top 3 in BBC's SPOTY.

Was just about to say snooker and darts

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » 27 Feb 2008, 16:14

Even Darts is a bit Iffy lol.. What with the Canadian winning the BDC (or BDO cant remember) and Barney seeming to dominate...

Taylor seems to have lost his edge with Time,

Poncey · Post by **Poncey** » 27 Feb 2008, 16:15

observer1 wrote:Even Darts is a bit Iffy lol.. What with the Canadian winning the BDC (or BDO cant remember) and Barney seeming to dominate...

Taylor seems to have lost his edge with Time,

Didn't the Dutch kid well, too?

JDC · Post by **JDC** » 27 Feb 2008, 17:18

whicker wrote:There was certainly a bit of a peak when Hatton went off to fight Floyd. Also, boxing seems to be drawing good crowds at the moment- I havn't been to a badly attended show for a while now.

But yeah, a lack of mainstream TV coverage is a pain, although that could eb due to the lack of regular shows/fights.

I think the Hatton/Mayweather fight was just the start and by no meens a peak. Since then theres only been the Khan, Pickering and Skelton fights of any note. None of them that interesting really.

Big fights are coming up where the next generation are going to get exposure. Haye/Maca, Rees, Froch, Arthur are going to get raised profiles. Khan will be moving to world level.

Theres always a few dark horses that get a chance not to mension the amount of talent going to the olympics. Boxing is defo on the up

Asterix · Post by **Asterix** » 27 Feb 2008, 18:59

I think David Haye is very marketable, and I hope he becomes the next known boxer in the UK. Known being like Hatton, Khan, Calzaghe.

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 27 Feb 2008, 19:09

UK boxing has had an amazing upturn in the last 2 years.

I really never saw that coming!

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » 27 Feb 2008, 20:24

Goz wrote:UK boxing has had an amazing upturn in the last 2 years.

I really never saw that coming!

But Goz - has it really?

At the top level there have been some great spikes with Calzaghe and Hatton. But you would expect that, they have featured in some defining fights.

However, the underlying trend remains terrible. Your average promotion shown on Sky gets about 100k viewers. The ITV shows aren't much better. Low league football fares better.

No-one cares about fighters that are not at the top level - and even they are not achieving figures comparable to the 80's. Is Hatton as much of name as Eubank was? Even though Eubank did not fight the equivelant of a Mayweather.

That said - I take your point about big names in the short term. Two years ago the only high profile fighter was Audley. But I still think the long-term trend is a dire.

And the focus on 'names' does nothing to support the grass roots..

Is Boxing the Number 1 British Sport

Is Boxing the Number 1 British Sport

Re: Is Boxing the Number 1 British Sport

Re: Is Boxing the Number 1 British Sport