Boxing : What would you change ??

[Quixall]

What would you change in boxing if you could have that influence ?

After the Pacquiao - Marquez fight which stirred up many discussions on the overall state of boxing, i got to thinking about what i would like to change in boxing and what i think is fundamentally wrong with it. I think people are slowly becoming a little disolusioned with boxing of late which i think has something to do with the let downs in the Mayweather - Ortiz, Hopkins -Dawson, Klitschko - Haye and now Pacqauio - Marquez fights.

The main issues for me are as follows :

1. Too expensive to watch
2. Declining quality year on year
3. Miss-matches being sanctioned
4. Fights that people wish to see not being sanctioned
5. Too many boxing organisations
6. Too many silly belt titles that dilute the meaning or achievement of gaining those belts
7. Not enough boxing on terrestial television (Thumbs up to Channel 5)
8. Uniformed and hyped coverage in media and paper (ie jeff powell)
9. Dodgy officials and incompetant referees
10. Unrealistic and inconsistent ranking systems
11. Poor show format and poor undercards
12. Not enough unified champions or unification fights.

I could go onto explain each of these catagories, but they are the essential problems that face boxing in my opinion. At the moment it seems that promoters are only interested in making money and not giving the public what they want. People are paying more for boxing than years gone by and the quality isn't as good. This generation of boxers has come to or are nearing to the end of their careers, Jones Jr, Hopkins, Mosley, Wright, Martinez, Marquez, Pacquaio, Mayweather, De La Hoya, Morales etc etc and their doesn't seem to be a great deal of fighters around that could replace them apart from the odd one's like Gamboa or Khan et al. Boxing needs to address issues like the above list and a good place to start would be to take the blinkers off and actually acknowledge that it has issues to address and is facing long term decline. The sport cannot go on serving up embaressing fights like Toney - Lebedev, miss matches like Klitschko - Adamek, shams like Pacquaio - Marquez III and the complete disgrace of the Haye - Harrison fight (Harrison didn't earn or deserve the title shot).

What do you think guys ? What would you change ?

[iftkwoody]

I definitely think there should be a proper ratings system for boxers and any breaking into the top 20 should be funded with the cash made by the promoters and top few boxers. just a small amount so fighters can train properly and nite have to struggle with work commitments. I don't know how you'd work it cos I'm sure there'd be someone fiddling it but sure it wouldn't be too hard to set up.

[loaded_gloves]

Wishful thinking here, but: Total clean up of the sanctioning bodies. No corrupt rankings, no interim titles. No constant invention of new titles. Without multiple belts the best would be forced to fight the best and not box in 'parallel universe weight divisions'.

A major investment in world class boxing by a terrestrial channel, not just picking and choosing the odd British fighter, but coverage of all the main action. NO Nuts magazine style commentators or analysts.

NO BRITISH REF STOPPAGES, NO HOMETOWN DECISIONS!

If all of these things happened, I might actually give a shit. Once Pac hangs them up I am gone after 16 years of devotion, boxing corruption & lack of talent has turned me off.

[Boxing Addict]

There is talent no doub't

The best aren't fighting the best

fighters are more interested in making money than the for the love of the sport

Fighters like Gatti are all but gone

[Quixall]

Wishful thinking here, but: Total clean up of the sanctioning bodies. No corrupt rankings, no interim titles. No constant invention of new titles. Without multiple belts the best would be forced to fight the best and not box in 'parallel universe weight divisions'.

A major investment in world class boxing by a terrestrial channel, not just picking and choosing the odd British fighter, but coverage of all the main action. NO Nuts magazine style commentators or analysts.

NO BRITISH REF STOPPAGES, NO HOMETOWN DECISIONS!

If all of these things happened, I might actually give a shit. Once Pac hangs them up I am gone after 16 years of devotion, boxing corruption & lack of talent has turned me off.

Have to agree with you......

I think once Mayweather packs up, my enthusiasm will wain, because not only do i love his talent, but all the show that goes with it and these days boxing is short on entertainers like Mayweather and Hamed et al. I can't see anyone from the next generation that will light my fire and in the next 3 years or so all the main guys will have gone, Klitschko's, Hopkins, Jones, Mosley, Martinez, Cotto, Margarito, Mayweather, Pacquaio, Morales. As for the domestic scene, i find it all a bit naff at times, just half decent kids and a few promising youngsters, but again DeGale or Groves, Price, Fury etc, they don't do it for me.

[Ezzard]

Quixall

How old are you?

I ask because I went through an era of disillusionment with the sport after the end of Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Spinks, Holmes… The cherry picking by Ray Leonard post-Hagler. The dodgy decsions received by house fighters. Then the new so-called ‘stars’ of the sport like Roy Jones earning millions to fight nobodies.

I turned off. Stopped buying the magazines. Stopped reading the books. Didn’t get SKY. And other than Lennox and Evander I pretty much took time out from the sport.

I think I just got to an age where I could actually see that it’s not always a level playing field. In some ways it stinks. But it’s always been like that.

If you support Liverpool you know every year you will play Utd twice, Arsenal, Chelsea, City, Everton. It’s not like that with boxing. If you’re lucky the top guys fight each other once in a career. But I don’t see a way round it. The individuals are the draw. Mayweather makes millions by fighting who he likes when he likes. No sanctioning body, no matter how powerful or how benign, could stop him from coming out of retirement and immediately fighting the champ at any weight. Then if they try and force a fight with a contender he doesn’t like he can just retire again.

I think boxing is strong domestically and the lower weights are as good as they’ve ever been in my lifetime. The HWs are poor but then they were full of fat men in the 1980s too but people on BOTP seem to forget that.

[Quixall]

Ezzard,

To give you a clue, my first fights that i remember watching involved John Conteh, Alan Minter and Jim Watt. Back then and through the 80's, 90's and early part of 2000's i just watched the big fights like Benn, Eubank, Tyson, Lewis, Bruno, Naz, mostly domestic fights. I always liked boxing but wasn't heavily involved. Then when i came online i began to watch some of the older stuff like Hagler, Hearns, Leonard etc and found the boxing site and became more involved with the sport. I have come late to the scene and have seen the tale end of the likes of Hopkins, Jones, Toney, Marquez, Mayweather, but my knowledge and depth of the sport is 1000% more than it was say 4 years ago. So i suppose my answer is that i'm old enough to go back to Minter, but i was a casual fan through the 80's, 90's and much of the 2000's, so in a way i'm quite fresh to the scene.

[Crazyboy]

I think regardless of how old you are, you are asking what you would change and most if not all of your points i agree with.

Whether this was happening back in the 50's or up till current scene, its still how you feel and regardless of if this was happeneing years ago it still needs a change. In fact i would go to say it actually highlights some fundamentals that are wrong, example here being Ezzard who is a lot older had the same feelings 20-30 years ago, right back to Quixall who has the same feelings now.

Points 3,5, 9 and 11 for me.

That aside.....there is nothing like watching a good fight.....nothing comes close. So for that reason alone, i will continue to watch boxing, knowing that at any time, any fight i'm watching could turn into a classic and one that gets talked about for years (In a positive way).

[Ezzard]

I think regardless of how old you are, you are asking what you would change and most if not all of your points i agree with.

Whether this was happening back in the 50's or up till current scene, its still how you feel and regardless of if this was happeneing years ago it still needs a change. In fact i would go to say it actually highlights some fundamentals that are wrong, example here being Ezzard who is a lot older had the same feelings 20-30 years ago, right back to Quixall who has the same feelings now.

Points 3,5, 9 and 11 for me.

That aside.....there is nothing like watching a good fight.....nothing comes close. So for that reason alone, i will continue to watch boxing, knowing that at any time, any fight i'm watching could turn into a classic and one that gets talked about for years (In a positive way).

“a lot older” you cheeky b@st@rd! :)

[Crazyboy]

Oops after re-reading your not that far apart eh haha

You know what i mean though right?

[Ezzard]

Oops after re-reading your not that far apart eh haha

You know what i mean though right?

No worries, mate

[Dioufy]

I would change allegedly's eyes - they just ain't normal.

[Dioufy]

More lions? I can't think of one scenario in life that wouldn't benefit from more lions.

I say do it.

[IRLangmaid25]

For me

1: More boxing on free to air television.
2: Better coverage in the mainstream press.
3: Not enough unifaction matches as like everyone else I dream one world champion per division like the days of Ali et al.
4: Judges and referees to be assessed more regularly.
5: Five judges scoring the fight instead of three.
6: Television replays to be used if there is a questionable knockdown.

and finally
7: Don King's hairdo.

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

I'd like to see a large dominant promotion come along with most of the worlds top fighters signed up. Its all a bit too fractious at the moment, each promoter has his own agenda and interests.


Boxing needs to be cleaned up, i dont mean stopping dodgy decisions, backhanders etc, I mean in the way it is presented to the public.

2 men, who dont like each other, having a fight has been selling tickets before tickets were invented.

Its nothing new.

[greenyox3]

Not sure if this happens already or to what extent, but domestically I'd like to see the records of "opponents" scrutinized more by the authorities before they're allowed to fight.

If a promoter has a hot prospect, I honestly do not see the point of putting him in with a Lithuanian fat bloke who can't defend himself or punch back. He doesn't learn anything, and all the fans get to see is the Michelin Man getting beaten up.

[LeedsLad]

Ban British refs.