I was hoping there'd be a search function on boxrec to find active boxers in different time periods but there doesn't seem to be one
I've heard of a study done back then claiming there were 9000 active pros at one point in the 1980s
Today we seem to have 20,000 active pros according to boxrec
Maybe I'm missing the function that would let me search by date but it would seem strange if there isn't one
How many boxers were there in the 1980s?
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dempseyfire
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 5534
- Joined: 29 Oct 2003, 22:56
Re: How many boxers were there in the 1980s?
This is a futile exercise b/c boxrec has access to many more data sources to be a truly comprehensive source for boxing fights in modern times (at least as much as possible) from the smallest local club show to the big Vegas PPVs. But for pre-Internet eras, it relies on common knowledge, boxing magazine record books and newspaper clippings. It's "old time" databases will never be as thorough as it is today.
Re: How many boxers were there in the 1980s?
According to a survey/study done by Boxing Illustrated in 1989, there were some 9,000 active professional boxers world wide.
The data in the study was put together from receieved numbers from boxing commissions and boards from different states/countries, and by numbers from record keepers at the time.
In 1999, Boxing Digest gave the approx number of 10,000 active pro boxers in response to a question from a reader.
I believe it was Herb Goldman who was the answerman at that time.
Here are some numbers I have from Boxrec during the last few years:
2008: 14,742
2009: 15,780
2010: 16,337
In any case, the number of professional boxers world wide is rising year by year.
The last tme I heard 20,000 mentioned as the number of competing professionals, was in one of Nat Fleischer's editorials in The Ring in 1950, and we do know that that numbers dropped with the slow death of small hall shows during the early TV era.
The data in the study was put together from receieved numbers from boxing commissions and boards from different states/countries, and by numbers from record keepers at the time.
In 1999, Boxing Digest gave the approx number of 10,000 active pro boxers in response to a question from a reader.
I believe it was Herb Goldman who was the answerman at that time.
Here are some numbers I have from Boxrec during the last few years:
2008: 14,742
2009: 15,780
2010: 16,337
In any case, the number of professional boxers world wide is rising year by year.
The last tme I heard 20,000 mentioned as the number of competing professionals, was in one of Nat Fleischer's editorials in The Ring in 1950, and we do know that that numbers dropped with the slow death of small hall shows during the early TV era.