Boxing is a dying sport...

[caldo2025]

I've heard this being said about my favorite sport for the last 10-15 years. This saying has become a cliche similar to the recent "yeah too bad they didn't fight 5 years ago" stance that is already stale and moldy. Someone said that boxing was dead again yesterday and normally, the words just sprint past me without meaning. But, not this time. For the first time in a long time, I started thinking about it and nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is boxing back in a huge way right now, it was never even close to dead or dying. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.

Tiger Woods had a death grip on the highest paid athlete #1 ranking for years. What sportsman dethroned him? A boxer, not a basketball, baseball or soccer player. A BOXER. Not only did Floyd Mayweather Jr (prior to his Showtime contract btw) rip this title away from Tiger in 2012, Manny Pacquaio was ranked #2 highest paid athlete that year as well. So how do you have two athletes from a "dying" sport top this list? Isn't that impossible? But Boxing's dying I thought? Floyd topped the list again in 2014 that saw 3 boxers in the top 25 highest paid athletes. There's math to prove how wrong this statement is and has been. Sure there's been a lull in a span of time where the talent level was not high and the sport suffered viewership but that happens in every sport. Look at hockey and baseball right now? Numbers are so putrid that they are considering changes to the rules of the games to make it more fan friendly. Have you seen the attendance numbers in the NBA this year? Awful. But those sports are not dying?

To top the highest paid athlete list as a boxer is amazing because most of the money paid is truly earned each fight. They don't sign 10 year contracts for $100m without stepping on the field like football or baseball. They get paid a percentage of the gate and PPV buys that they and their opponent bring in. I can't think of another sport that has a truer measure of worth than boxing. No guaranteed contracts. This is something that should appeal to sports fans nowadays in an era of overpaying undeserving athletes who rarely earn their keep on the field.

2015 has begun the golden era for boxing. By the end of the year, boxing popularity will be at it's peak with THE FIGHT finally happening and PBC's expected success. But my opinion is that Boxing has always been here and was never dying. The proof is in the almighty dollar that the world still throws in boxing's pocket year after year. Boxing successfully fended off the UFC frenzy and now is making a rush at mainstream sports on primetime. Boxing is not dying and THE FIGHT is right on time.

[Tony1244]

I may be in the minority opinion here, but I think UFC has been good for boxing. Competition is always good. My nephew likes boxing somewhat, but he wouldn't like it at all if it wasn't for UFC, as UFC got him use to enjoying fighting as a sport.

[Ricky_]

Tiger Woods is worth way more than Floyd. I also still reckon he makes more than Floyd, floyd's earnings always seem inflated to me, his cheques are written to his promotional company for instance, which has it;s own payroll. Golf is a bigger sport than Boxing and Woods has dominated it for over a decade.

But, that;s besides the point. Manny vs Floyd is about to pull in revenue no other single sports event on earth could barring maybe a World Cup final every 4 years. Boxing's problem is it's killing itself from the inside. Guys like Haymon ring fencing certain fighters. Networks refusing to do business etc. An amalgamation of the WBC WBO & IBF as rumoured would be a step towards making boxing big time, with 1 world champ, and 1 universally recognised body.

[Ian1973]

Not read all of the opening post but boxing ain't dying. It is far bigger and better than UFC. Stop worrying.






PS! If I have the wrong end of the stick it'll teach me to read the full posts next time. D

[KBB]

I laugh when people say "boxing is a dying sport" just look at the PBC ratings and see if that spells dying. Do the UFC come anywhere close to the numbers PBC pulled down recently??

I haven't looked it up but I'm willing to bet that boxing is doing just as well if not better than the UFC and not one person is stating that the UFC is dying.

Lately I've been feeling like the UFC is the sport that is dying, Silva popped positive for steroids, Jon Bones Jones is in cocaine rehab, Nick Diaz just popped positive for weed and outside of Rousey her only big competition is Cris Cyborg and then after that who is next???

So outside of the return of JBJ, who else does the UFC has that can represent them with a big name??

[punchoutsb]

All sports are dying and suck now compared to when whoever tells you this first started watching them. It's nothing new.

[ReggieDiggs]

All sports are dying and suck now compared to when whoever tells you this first started watching them. It's nothing new.

lol right.

People get far too caught up in these conversations. Boxing is a sport not a pet hamster. It can't die. It'll be around til the world culture becomes so pussified that two guys hitting each other in the head is seen as below us as a species. I suspect we do get to that point. I don't suspect we get to that point while any of us are alive unless that Aubrey de Grey "people will live til 1,000 if not indefinitely" guy is right. Til that time it'll have its ups & downs as anything does basically. Its been a downtime for awhile imho & it seems like we could be in the beginnings of a up period.

[IRLangmaid25]

I can only (and will only) in this topic shall comment from a British perspective, and looking at it from a British standpoint I will say that boxing here in Great Britain is a very good shape in all honesty. We currently have 5 'full' World Champions in the shape of

• Carl Froch, WBA Super-Middleweight
  Kell Brook, IBF Welterweight
  Carl Frampton IBF Super-Bantamweight
  Scott Quigg WBA Super-Bantamweight
  Jamie McDonnell WBA Bantamweight

Who come into 2015 with various ambitions this year. Froch being the oldest of the bunch at 37 years old is looking for one maybe two big legacy fights to bring down the curtain on what has been a fantastic career which should see him get into the IBHOF when he becomes elligible to do so. Kell Brook will be looking to put an up and down 2014 behind him which saw him defeat Shawn Porter stateside to claim an overdue (and much deserved) world title in a tricky opponent in Shawn Porter. Quigg and Frampton seem to be edging closer to an attractive unification showdown with Guillermo Rigondeaux and Leo Santa Cruz being potential long term targets for either one regardless if they fight each or not. Plus Jamie McDonnell has a potential unification match up with Japan Tomoki Kameda the WBO 8 stone 6lb title holder in the pipe line as well.

Then we have James DeGale finally getting his crack at world title shot against Andre Dirrell stateside for Froch's old IBF belt, George Groves is mandatory for the WBC title. Who knows perhaps if they have both merge victorious from their world title challenges we might see another big domestic rematch between DeGale and Groves for much bigger stakes which could pack out the O2 in London. Plus Kevin Mitchell has another world title crack coming up and Derry Matthews has got Richar Abril for the WBA Lightweight title. And the latter should have Liverpool rocking and if Matthews could do it will be a great story if he did it as Matthews does come over as one of the good guys in British boxing. Oh and not forgetting Tyson Fury going after Wladimir Klitchsko and Billy Joe Saunders awaits the winner of Andy Lee and Peter Quillin. And who knows of Lee gets by Quillin and then gets BJS we could have a nice bit of Middleweight action with Martin Murray and Chris Eubank Jnr all wanting a go.

Also there is great young talent coming in the shape of Yafai brothers, Luke Campbell, Anthony Joshua and Bradley Saunders and Callum Johnson. British boxing is looking very, very strong from where I see it.

[dempseyfire]

I've heard this being said about my favorite sport for the last 10-15 years. This saying has become a cliche similar to the recent "yeah too bad they didn't fight 5 years ago" stance that is already stale and moldy. Someone said that boxing was dead again yesterday and normally, the words just sprint past me without meaning. But, not this time. For the first time in a long time, I started thinking about it and nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is boxing back in a huge way right now, it was never even close to dead or dying. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.

Tiger Woods had a death grip on the highest paid athlete #1 ranking for years. What sportsman dethroned him? A boxer, not a basketball, baseball or soccer player. A BOXER. Not only did Floyd Mayweather Jr (prior to his Showtime contract btw) rip this title away from Tiger in 2012, Manny Pacquaio was ranked #2 highest paid athlete that year as well. So how do you have two athletes from a "dying" sport top this list? Isn't that impossible? But Boxing's dying I thought? Floyd topped the list again in 2014 that saw 3 boxers in the top 25 highest paid athletes. There's math to prove how wrong this statement is and has been. Sure there's been a lull in a span of time where the talent level was not high and the sport suffered viewership but that happens in every sport. Look at hockey and baseball right now? Numbers are so putrid that they are considering changes to the rules of the games to make it more fan friendly. Have you seen the attendance numbers in the NBA this year? Awful. But those sports are not dying?

To top the highest paid athlete list as a boxer is amazing because most of the money paid is truly earned each fight. They don't sign 10 year contracts for $100m without stepping on the field like football or baseball. They get paid a percentage of the gate and PPV buys that they and their opponent bring in. I can't think of another sport that has a truer measure of worth than boxing. No guaranteed contracts. This is something that should appeal to sports fans nowadays in an era of overpaying undeserving athletes who rarely earn their keep on the field.

2015 has begun the golden era for boxing. By the end of the year, boxing popularity will be at it's peak with THE FIGHT finally happening and PBC's expected success. But my opinion is that Boxing has always been here and was never dying. The proof is in the almighty dollar that the world still throws in boxing's pocket year after year. Boxing successfully fended off the UFC frenzy and now is making a rush at mainstream sports on primetime. Boxing is not dying and THE FIGHT is right on time.

Sorry, you are either in denial or simply don't understand the mechanics of the sport.

That they are the highest paid means nothing. Floyd and Manny both became household names through fights with a larger household name (Oscar De La Hoya) who gained fame via Olympic Gold and initial fights on network TV . . .back before there were 1000 channels and networks still commanded a huge % of household viewers (plus he had the good looks and a solid back-story) Oscar's path to fame simply doesn't exist anymore. Who is going to replace Floyd and Manny when they're gone? Keith Thurman? Alvarez? Pluueeeze. Even the most fan-friendly of the newer champions is about to turn 33 (Golovkin)

Not to mention, the state of Amateur boxing and the rapid decline of gyms across the country in the last 20 years . . not even Kronk could survive. Even Gleason's has barely managed to hold on by basically becoming a gym for white collar workers who want a couple AM fights and a solid workout. The depth of talent within each division is horrible compared to even 10-15 years ago . . forget comparing it to the 80s or 60s.

Fended off UFC? UFC has been consistently outperforming boxing (event per event) the last decade save the bigger fights featuring Floyd and Manny (UFC's numbers for each show have begun to decline but that's because of over-saturation . . UFC has been throwing out 12-13 PPVs per year, which is way too many). Boxing hasn't fended off anything. That one promoter suddenly went on a binge of air-buying time doesn't suddenly mean all is well, nor does the fact that the two-ego filled superstars of the sport essentially ran out of opponents and saw that they only had a limited time to make so much money before either lost again to inferior fighters.

Boxing will never "die" but yes it's been in steady decline for many years and all of the young posters claiming the contrary . .well I admire your enthusiasm but the facts aren't on your side.

[crusader]

This topic always reminds me that some people seem to think that boxing only occurs in the United States.

[Perseus]

I've heard this being said about my favorite sport for the last 10-15 years. This saying has become a cliche similar to the recent "yeah too bad they didn't fight 5 years ago" stance that is already stale and moldy. Someone said that boxing was dead again yesterday and normally, the words just sprint past me without meaning. But, not this time. For the first time in a long time, I started thinking about it and nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is boxing back in a huge way right now, it was never even close to dead or dying. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.

Tiger Woods had a death grip on the highest paid athlete #1 ranking for years. What sportsman dethroned him? A boxer, not a basketball, baseball or soccer player. A BOXER. Not only did Floyd Mayweather Jr (prior to his Showtime contract btw) rip this title away from Tiger in 2012, Manny Pacquaio was ranked #2 highest paid athlete that year as well. So how do you have two athletes from a "dying" sport top this list? Isn't that impossible? But Boxing's dying I thought? Floyd topped the list again in 2014 that saw 3 boxers in the top 25 highest paid athletes. There's math to prove how wrong this statement is and has been. Sure there's been a lull in a span of time where the talent level was not high and the sport suffered viewership but that happens in every sport. Look at hockey and baseball right now? Numbers are so putrid that they are considering changes to the rules of the games to make it more fan friendly. Have you seen the attendance numbers in the NBA this year? Awful. But those sports are not dying?

To top the highest paid athlete list as a boxer is amazing because most of the money paid is truly earned each fight. They don't sign 10 year contracts for $100m without stepping on the field like football or baseball. They get paid a percentage of the gate and PPV buys that they and their opponent bring in. I can't think of another sport that has a truer measure of worth than boxing. No guaranteed contracts. This is something that should appeal to sports fans nowadays in an era of overpaying undeserving athletes who rarely earn their keep on the field.

2015 has begun the golden era for boxing. By the end of the year, boxing popularity will be at it's peak with THE FIGHT finally happening and PBC's expected success. But my opinion is that Boxing has always been here and was never dying. The proof is in the almighty dollar that the world still throws in boxing's pocket year after year. Boxing successfully fended off the UFC frenzy and now is making a rush at mainstream sports on primetime. Boxing is not dying and THE FIGHT is right on time.

10-15 years?

I'm 47-years-old and have been hearing that most of my life.

[Tony1244]

All sports are dying and suck now compared to when whoever tells you this first started watching them. It's nothing new.

lol right.

People get far too caught up in these conversations. Boxing is a sport not a pet hamster. It can't die. It'll be around til the world culture becomes so pussified that two guys hitting each other in the head is seen as below us as a species. I suspect we do get to that point. I don't suspect we get to that point while any of us are alive unless that Aubrey de Grey "people will live til 1,000 if not indefinitely" guy is right. Til that time it'll have its ups & downs as anything does basically. Its been a downtime for awhile imho & it seems like we could be in the beginnings of a up period.

If you're under 30, when you become over 50, you'll turn into one of these guys that says, "Im my day......" I guarantee it, it happens to all of us. "In my younger and more vulnerable years," I heard these very old guys say, "Clay ain't a fighter. Now Dempsey was a fighter. Jack Johnson could have boxed circles around Clay. Foreman can't punch. Louis could punch!"

Now I'm doing the same thing. What the hell just happened?

Boxing ain't dying. It's always been corrupt. The key is to have good matches and that like everything goes in cycles.

[Sklar]

Irrespective of what is claimed in a magazine, I don't think for a second that Floyd and Manny are the a #1 and #2 highest earning sportsmen. There is practically zero accountability in boxing and it's therefore far easier to pluck BS figures out of the air than it is in sports that have teams that are audited on a regular basis.

[koolkc107]

Two men are about to pocket the equivalent of significantly more than the NFL salary cap for a team.

I'd say game, set, and match that boxing is far from on it's last legs...

[caldo2025]

Hilarious. So Forbes has Manny and Floyd's earnings wrong. Manny and Floyd love paying taxes on stuff they never earned. Idiots, its claimed income. It's not like Manny and Floyd were out one night at the bar feeling pretty tipsy and told a group of people that he made $100m and it went straight to print. Forbes is, oh I don't know, a reputable print when it comes to money.

Exactly, KC, someone should do a post with the final figure on the money this fight has earned and what that could buy in the world today. My whole point of the post was not to say that Floyd was worth more than Tiger, just to point out that it's impossible to prove that boxing is dying with the raw numbers that the sport is and has been pulling in for years. Worldwide.

[Spazzed Out Lenny]

Thank God for Midget Porn!

[ReggieDiggs]

should do a post with the final figure on the money this fight has earned and what that could buy in the world today.

Using the $300M number & Amazon, my local prices in my area or estimated prices:

1,500,000,000 of these


150,000 of these


4,650 of these


200 of these


or the ability to marry & divorce these 4 women & lose half your sh!t each time still have almost 20 million to your name

[GooalaShooola]

This topic always reminds me that some people seem to think that boxing only occurs in the United States.

My thoughts exactly. You only need to look at the huge TV ratings the Sauerland shows do in Germany, or the speed at which Froch/Groves II sold out Wembley Stadium to see that boxing has been booming on this side of the pond recently. Further afield, the emergence of Macau as a genuine elite boxing destination is another interesting development.

[Sklar]

Hilarious. So Forbes has Manny and Floyd's earnings wrong. Manny and Floyd love paying taxes on stuff they never earned. Idiots, its claimed income. It's not like Manny and Floyd were out one night at the bar feeling pretty tipsy and told a group of people that he made $100m and it went straight to print. Forbes is, oh I don't know, a reputable print when it comes to money.

Right, the IRS use Forbes as their bible, I overlooked that....actually, wait, no they don't, they like anyone with a semi-functioning brain understand that it's mere titillation for people who like numbers and envy porn. The people at Forbes are the first to acknowledge that some of their estimations, and they are all estimations, are likely to be significantly more accurate than others. You should perhaps take the time to read (and absorb) Forbes' own documentation on how they collate their numbers. Once you've done that and understood what it means, and then factored in how the boxing boxing business, to include the promotion, management and accounting thereof, works, you should arrive at the conclusion that is is highly likely that the claimed earnings of both Manny and Floyd will vary greatly depending who they are making the claim to and why.

[danamba7]

I laugh when people say "boxing is a dying sport" just look at the PBC ratings and see if that spells dying. Do the UFC come anywhere close to the numbers PBC pulled down recently??

I haven't looked it up but I'm willing to bet that boxing is doing just as well if not better than the UFC and not one person is stating that the UFC is dying.

Lately I've been feeling like the UFC is the sport that is dying, Silva popped positive for steroids, Jon Bones Jones is in cocaine rehab, Nick Diaz just popped positive for weed and outside of Rousey her only big competition is Cris Cyborg and then after that who is next???

So outside of the return of JBJ, who else does the UFC has that can represent them with a big name??

The Notorious Conor McGregor of course! One of the most exciting fighters in all of combats sport in and out of the cage!

[danamba7]

Boxing is not dying, neither is MMA. Mixed Martial Arms is good (primarily UFC), boxing is great.

[Controversial]

When boxing was first shown regularly on the TV decades ago a lot of promotors said no one would ever go to a fight again.

[KBB]

The Notorious Conor McGregor of course! One of the most exciting fighters in all of combats sport in and out of the cage!

He's big news by overseas fighter standards (particularly where he's from) but he hasn't crossed over here in the USA to the tune of big PPVs and headlining like Rousey, Silva or JBJones.

[danamba7]

The Notorious Conor McGregor of course! One of the most exciting fighters in all of combats sport in and out of the cage!

He's big news by overseas fighter standards (particularly where he's from) but he hasn't crossed over here in the USA to the tune of big PPVs and headlining like Rousey, Silva or JBJones.

He's headlining a big PPV Vs Aldo on fight week in July. Only the 2nd time a lighter weight title fight (FW) has headlined over a heavier weight title fight (WW) and that's definitely down to McGregor rather than Aldo.

[ReggieDiggs]

I agree, though at first a lot of UFC fans looked down their noses at boxing, but I think now a lot of UFC/MMA fans are gaining a new-found respect for the sweet science. They are realizing that the 2 sports have more in common than most people admit > both are combat sports, one-on-one, mano-a-mano. The longer UFC/MMA is around I think a lot of their fans will overcome the insecurity that comes with being a new sport trying to prove itself.

I don't think this is the reality at all.

Boxing/Striking is a part of MMA. You can't NOT respect boxing if you're a MMA guy. In fact you can check out video's going back to the beginning of the UFC that guys had a huge respect for boxing. Dana White is a HUGE boxing fan. Plenty of MMA guys have sparred with boxers in training. Nick Diaz was working with Andre Ward years ago. There are plenty of examples of this sorta stuff. Its boxing that is now starting to let go of their biases about MMA imo.

I remember when Bob made a dumbass comment about MMA fans being racists tattooed douchebags or something to that effect. Floyd sh!t on MMA big a few years back although I don't recall his exact remark. And James Toney took MMA so un-seriously he seemingly didn't even train in any MMA skills for his MMA fight. Boxing fans are the ones who are insecure about MMA's standing not the other way around. MMA guys have been & continue to be respectful & even fans of boxing.