Apart from the obvious negatives. What does Australian boxing need to return to anything close to its former glory.
Is it possible to get mainstream media involved?
Does it require the backing of a seriously cash-up fan (like Packer did for cricket)
more smaller local productions?
I'd love to know if its possible.
what does Australian Boxing need
It needs more coverage, at the moment we are lucky to get one paragraph in the sports pages and very little coverage on TV.
It also needs programs started at a community level to get more kids involved in boxing. I think boxing is a great sport for young boys, especially those that are likely to get into trouble. Starting boxing was the best thing I ever did, it gave me motivation, self esteem, self disipline and great health and fitness.
It also needs programs started at a community level to get more kids involved in boxing. I think boxing is a great sport for young boys, especially those that are likely to get into trouble. Starting boxing was the best thing I ever did, it gave me motivation, self esteem, self disipline and great health and fitness.
good point. There used to be more Gyms as well. Does the YMCA still get involved?calmac66 wrote:It needs more coverage, at the moment we are lucky to get one paragraph in the sports pages and very little coverage on TV.
It also needs programs started at a community level to get more kids involved in boxing. I think boxing is a great sport for young boys, especially those that are likely to get into trouble. Starting boxing was the best thing I ever did, it gave me motivation, self esteem, self disipline and great health and fitness.
Probably a bit more TV on Pay-TV but again it is a question of supply and demand.
The boxing boom of the late 1960s and 1970s was destroyed by the greed of the TV channels who soaked up the sport and over-exposed the boxers.
Never allow the free-to-air channels to take over or control a sport as they are a glutton and will milk any sport to achieve their bottom line much to that sport's detriment down the line.
The boxing boom of the late 1960s and 1970s was destroyed by the greed of the TV channels who soaked up the sport and over-exposed the boxers.
Never allow the free-to-air channels to take over or control a sport as they are a glutton and will milk any sport to achieve their bottom line much to that sport's detriment down the line.
I reckon this is the best bet. If this happened then Fox may be more inclined to televise. The best way to get these guys to fight each other is to put up the cash. That's why a cashed-up friend of boxing is required. Anyone got a spare couple of hundred thou?huricn wrote:we also need more of the top fighters to fight each other in stead of protecting the perfect records
It's a double edged sword at the moment, there aren't the crowds because of poor matchups but people don't wanna invest in a good card because there aren't the crowds to make a return on your investment.toppity wrote:I reckon this is the best bet. If this happened then Fox may be more inclined to televise. The best way to get these guys to fight each other is to put up the cash. That's why a cashed-up friend of boxing is required. Anyone got a spare couple of hundred thou?huricn wrote:we also need more of the top fighters to fight each other in stead of protecting the perfect records
1)TV coverage.Had to laugh when i called foxtel about getting hooked up(recently) and said to the guy i am interested in boxinh and he said 'we hhave heaps of boxing on!!!!!!!!!!!".I then asked him for the number of his dealer coz he on some really good shit.
2)a new star.Someone confident, mainstream friendly(hate to say it) with talent and good management/corner.Heavy hands would help or at least someone not afraid to mix it and not scared of losing the precious -0 against their name. Seems some are in the pipeline,Kickett being at the fore.Oh yeah-they gotta be prepared to go overseas.Thinking of current fighters already in the mix Katsidis fits the mould above(just gotta get some defence and perhaps a new corner).
3)Mundick to get destroyed.He has created interest in the sport but now i feel he is just making a mockery of it,getting rich doing it and turning people away from boxing.
4)investment.
5)someone to do something big at the olympics.Sadly cant see this happening this time round but perhaps i am being harsh.
6)decent matchups. would be good if those who hhave had their shot now become gatekeepers to give up and comers a good test(eg Taylor).
aND THEN THERE IS THE REAL WORLD.......DOH!!!!!!!
2)a new star.Someone confident, mainstream friendly(hate to say it) with talent and good management/corner.Heavy hands would help or at least someone not afraid to mix it and not scared of losing the precious -0 against their name. Seems some are in the pipeline,Kickett being at the fore.Oh yeah-they gotta be prepared to go overseas.Thinking of current fighters already in the mix Katsidis fits the mould above(just gotta get some defence and perhaps a new corner).
3)Mundick to get destroyed.He has created interest in the sport but now i feel he is just making a mockery of it,getting rich doing it and turning people away from boxing.
4)investment.
5)someone to do something big at the olympics.Sadly cant see this happening this time round but perhaps i am being harsh.
6)decent matchups. would be good if those who hhave had their shot now become gatekeepers to give up and comers a good test(eg Taylor).
aND THEN THERE IS THE REAL WORLD.......DOH!!!!!!!
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tcwilliams
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 53
- Joined: 08 Jul 2004, 06:36
I wonder how much it would cost Fox to purchase them? Sunday Arvo boxing, well marketed, could be popular. I could imagine going down to the pub on a Sunday Arvo, having a couple of beers and watching quality fights.tcwilliams wrote:More money into the local scene with Foxtel. All HBO fight put on Foxtel for Free on sunday, this would really help the sport
Aussie boxing needs to be built up grassroots, from the amateurs.
Our amateurs are only competitive on a world level in a couple of divisions.
De La Hoya, Amir Khan, Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier these guys were awesome amateurs and already had a huge following before they turned pro. The government should realise the awesome potential boxing has for personal development and bring it into schools as an elective sport, they should provide more funding to places such as PCYC so they can run more programs.
As the sport was refreshed in Australia's memory and every family knew a kid who boxed as an amateur they would be interested in watching it on tv and the networks would broadcast it.
and last but not least the AMA should review its negative policy on amateur boxing and have a realistic look at boxing casualties in comparison with rugby league and union.
Our amateurs are only competitive on a world level in a couple of divisions.
De La Hoya, Amir Khan, Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier these guys were awesome amateurs and already had a huge following before they turned pro. The government should realise the awesome potential boxing has for personal development and bring it into schools as an elective sport, they should provide more funding to places such as PCYC so they can run more programs.
As the sport was refreshed in Australia's memory and every family knew a kid who boxed as an amateur they would be interested in watching it on tv and the networks would broadcast it.
and last but not least the AMA should review its negative policy on amateur boxing and have a realistic look at boxing casualties in comparison with rugby league and union.
I agree it needs to have a decent and aggressive amateur programme. It is not just boxing that has been neglected in this regard..amateur wrestling also is poorly represented and developed at an amateur level.
In SA the amateur wrestling association like all olympic sports has government allocated funds that it really has no idea what to do with it, each year the 'allowance' gets less and less.
I would imagine this is the same for boxing. Though it is by far more popular than wrestling..it does however suffer the same neglect.
Main stream media coverage will help the sport ALOT. Imagine if boxing was on free to air TV. It is already on fox etc but only fans watch that. No one new really is exposed.
To me boxing is sooo much more exciting and entertaining than say...golf...cricket...sailing...all the other ball sports that get free to air coverage. Australia as we all know has such a rich boxing heritage, so many legends and heroes....yet the average person in the street barely if at all knows who they were.
This is just what I have observed in any case of late.
Kym
In SA the amateur wrestling association like all olympic sports has government allocated funds that it really has no idea what to do with it, each year the 'allowance' gets less and less.
I would imagine this is the same for boxing. Though it is by far more popular than wrestling..it does however suffer the same neglect.
Main stream media coverage will help the sport ALOT. Imagine if boxing was on free to air TV. It is already on fox etc but only fans watch that. No one new really is exposed.
To me boxing is sooo much more exciting and entertaining than say...golf...cricket...sailing...all the other ball sports that get free to air coverage. Australia as we all know has such a rich boxing heritage, so many legends and heroes....yet the average person in the street barely if at all knows who they were.
This is just what I have observed in any case of late.
Kym
dont most hbo fights end up on our mainevent?toppity wrote:I wonder how much it would cost Fox to purchase them? Sunday Arvo boxing, well marketed, could be popular. I could imagine going down to the pub on a Sunday Arvo, having a couple of beers and watching quality fights.tcwilliams wrote:More money into the local scene with Foxtel. All HBO fight put on Foxtel for Free on sunday, this would really help the sport
I suppose an important thing as well is public perception.In a very PC(politically correct) world(and country hate to say it) boxing just isnt PC.
due to negativee media coverage for so long,with most things seen on commercial networks about boxing being negative(eg Tyson antics,) and some hugely ignorant commercial media personalities who bag boxing it has been forever tarnished. Sadly the whole Green/Mundine thing received so much attention for the circus style factor NOT boxing itself.
These attitudes changing is a key element to boxing getting into the mainstream again. To nurture youthful talent this is needed so mrs Jones may instead of saying little Johnny is going to take up karate for self defence will say he is going to take up boxing.In this current day and age a parent saying that would be glared at as if she was crazy.Whereas taking up a martial art is ok,even PC/acceptable.THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.
i think there is a preconceived idea that a youngster going into boxing will be automatically be bad for his health and he will get brain damage.......whereas going into a martial arts school he will be ok. Fact is IMO going into a reputable school of either and 99.9999% of the time they will be fine.Think mums especially just think the kid starts boxing and from day one he will just be thrown in a ring until he gets KOd.IGNORANCE.
Drive down any main street and you are likely to see a martial arts academy/school. You gotta really search for a boxing gym.
I will watch with great interest how boxing will be aired at this olympics.
In fairness to Aussies they are not mugs when it comes to sport.The fact there are 74347393205 "world titles" in 394785 divisions is a fact(well exaggerated slightly)that a sportsfan finds STUPID and as we all know demeans the sport in itself.I reckon we Aussies love our champs as long as they are THE champ.The notion of i am a world ,say lightweight ,champ but so is Mr Z,Mr X and Mr W mosts Aussie find very dumb.As we boxing fans do.And the many titlists/weight div aint gonna change.Classic example being Shannon Taylor-isnt he the WBF champ still?A world champion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
due to negativee media coverage for so long,with most things seen on commercial networks about boxing being negative(eg Tyson antics,) and some hugely ignorant commercial media personalities who bag boxing it has been forever tarnished. Sadly the whole Green/Mundine thing received so much attention for the circus style factor NOT boxing itself.
These attitudes changing is a key element to boxing getting into the mainstream again. To nurture youthful talent this is needed so mrs Jones may instead of saying little Johnny is going to take up karate for self defence will say he is going to take up boxing.In this current day and age a parent saying that would be glared at as if she was crazy.Whereas taking up a martial art is ok,even PC/acceptable.THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.
i think there is a preconceived idea that a youngster going into boxing will be automatically be bad for his health and he will get brain damage.......whereas going into a martial arts school he will be ok. Fact is IMO going into a reputable school of either and 99.9999% of the time they will be fine.Think mums especially just think the kid starts boxing and from day one he will just be thrown in a ring until he gets KOd.IGNORANCE.
Drive down any main street and you are likely to see a martial arts academy/school. You gotta really search for a boxing gym.
I will watch with great interest how boxing will be aired at this olympics.
In fairness to Aussies they are not mugs when it comes to sport.The fact there are 74347393205 "world titles" in 394785 divisions is a fact(well exaggerated slightly)that a sportsfan finds STUPID and as we all know demeans the sport in itself.I reckon we Aussies love our champs as long as they are THE champ.The notion of i am a world ,say lightweight ,champ but so is Mr Z,Mr X and Mr W mosts Aussie find very dumb.As we boxing fans do.And the many titlists/weight div aint gonna change.Classic example being Shannon Taylor-isnt he the WBF champ still?A world champion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
imagine trying to get a card together each week for tv....
sure, there are enough boxers, but imagine the headaches of fighters that wont fight eachother, boxers pulling out at last minute, payment disputes, etc.
never will happen. boxing promotion on a weekly basis is really, really funny.....lol. imagine the crap youd go through..!! hehehehe lol.
the top 5 heavies wont fight eachother for a start..!!! lol.
hey, de mori.....? want to fight leaupi ...? lol... listen to the silence.................................................................................................................................................................................
sure, there are enough boxers, but imagine the headaches of fighters that wont fight eachother, boxers pulling out at last minute, payment disputes, etc.
never will happen. boxing promotion on a weekly basis is really, really funny.....lol. imagine the crap youd go through..!! hehehehe lol.
the top 5 heavies wont fight eachother for a start..!!! lol.
hey, de mori.....? want to fight leaupi ...? lol... listen to the silence.................................................................................................................................................................................
You lads all made good points. Canada has the very same problem. You have to start at the amateur level. I think we have only one boxer going to the China Olympics this year. Must be worst showing ever. Amateur Boxing is just not popular these days. The last twenty years most of this country's population growth has come from India and China. Those kids want to play cricket or soccer or study math. The few decent imported boxers come from the West Indies or Africa. Native sons here are too busy with video games and other diversions to bother with sports. No ambition. One kid in 100,000 might ty boxing.
If you could interest the kids, and a lot of people knew someone who was boxing, you'd get crowds like the old days with neighbourhood rivalries. I recall going to the venerable Montreal Forum with a SRO crowd to watch two local heroes duke it out.
Of course even when we turn out a great fighter like Lenox Lewis, who learned his trade here, he had to move to the UK to get a real break. The promoters here are small-time, except for maybe two or three at most. I wonder what they would do if they found another Lewis? Steve Molitor is doing pretty well fighting at Casino Rama in Ontario. Great promoters are pretty rare birds though. As bad as King and Arum are, they have managed to put on some great fights.
Cap
If you could interest the kids, and a lot of people knew someone who was boxing, you'd get crowds like the old days with neighbourhood rivalries. I recall going to the venerable Montreal Forum with a SRO crowd to watch two local heroes duke it out.
Of course even when we turn out a great fighter like Lenox Lewis, who learned his trade here, he had to move to the UK to get a real break. The promoters here are small-time, except for maybe two or three at most. I wonder what they would do if they found another Lewis? Steve Molitor is doing pretty well fighting at Casino Rama in Ontario. Great promoters are pretty rare birds though. As bad as King and Arum are, they have managed to put on some great fights.
Cap
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madball1982
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 527
- Joined: 11 Mar 2008, 01:25
Re: what does Australian Boxing need
Politics in boxing, fighters dodging each other are the two main things I believe.
I'd like to see Aussie Boxing run in a similar way to the UFC (mixed martial arts) where the organisation (ABF in boxing) TELLS the boxer who they're going to fight, then the promoter's organise the card, venue etc. Let the lesser-ranked, lesser-experienced fighters fight the by-the-numbers Filipino, Indonesian fighters (or even, god forbid) local fighters and the higher-ranked fighters fight someone of worth. In other words, to fight for the Aussie Title, you have to have beat a #5 ranked fighter in your division; to get into the top 10 you have to have beat a top 10 fighter, etc. More evenly matched fights is something that NEEDS to be done on a more CONSISTENT basis.
I only wish in boxing, like MMA, there was less of a concern on having a perfect 25-0 record. IMO, like MMA, a fighter CAN have a 15-6 record and be a top fighter. The match-ups need to be made and the voodoo associated with a loss or two removed.
I'd like to see Aussie Boxing run in a similar way to the UFC (mixed martial arts) where the organisation (ABF in boxing) TELLS the boxer who they're going to fight, then the promoter's organise the card, venue etc. Let the lesser-ranked, lesser-experienced fighters fight the by-the-numbers Filipino, Indonesian fighters (or even, god forbid) local fighters and the higher-ranked fighters fight someone of worth. In other words, to fight for the Aussie Title, you have to have beat a #5 ranked fighter in your division; to get into the top 10 you have to have beat a top 10 fighter, etc. More evenly matched fights is something that NEEDS to be done on a more CONSISTENT basis.
I only wish in boxing, like MMA, there was less of a concern on having a perfect 25-0 record. IMO, like MMA, a fighter CAN have a 15-6 record and be a top fighter. The match-ups need to be made and the voodoo associated with a loss or two removed.
Re: what does Australian Boxing need
Reading the oz websites it's clear most managers want their fighters protected,hence the line of thai taxi drivers they fight.There are very few Kane McKay types who will fight anyone.If promoters could offer better purses these match ups might happen but there doesn't seem to be the return.Who knows a promoter Knight in shining armour might be just around the corner. We can live in hope.
Re: what does Australian Boxing need
Word of mouth has an impact too. Next time there's a good fight on the tube, tell every last bloke you know to watch it, and talk about it with your mates afterwards. Write a letter or email to the station that broadcast it and thank them, and tell them you'll be telling all your friends and relatives to watch the next one.