Resurgence in boxing?

[Stuarty]

I've known a few go unlicensed to amateur. Unlicensed is crap, a friend of mine, former decent pro, has lasted about a minute in two fights combined on that circuit. I feel more sorry for his opponents, if they don't know the sport, they'll have no idea who he is.

My best mate is an ex pro and was training the white collar boys for a while but he said he was turning up to shows with novice guys, expecting them to go in with someone of a similar level and they were getting put in with guys who were turning them over. Dangerous. It was someone who he thought he could trust setting these fights up too. Some right shady characters out there.

[mickey1975]

This guy shouldn't be anywhere near a novice. The matching is borderline criminal.

[Wales]

The resurgence in boxing is nothing compared to the increase in interest in UFC. Boxing politics resulting and fragmented titles result in best not fighting best and confusion over whos best. Connor Mcgreggor aside for now, the UFC have a single promoter and continually have shows where its #1 v #2 or #5 v #7 etc... Also, as UFC has evolved and fighters ALL have really good ground game theres more stand up. Single promoter model has catapulted the UFC as it makes no odds who wins or loses, the winner is always still his fighter. HOWEVER, where that single promoter model can fall down is if (when) a fighter becomes bigger than the promotion and is able step away - i can easily see this happening with Mcgreggor. Connor McGreggor promotions, or McGreggor becoming independent and holding the cards? He earns pittance compared to his popularity... could something like this disjoint the UFC?

[afcmarshall]

I think what British boxing needs... and this may be quite obvious, but another Ricky Hatton. Someone who is the best in the division, fun to watch, fights the best and comes across as a good, regular bloke to appeal to the general public. There's been other popular boxers, but none on his level.

Froch was probably the closest but too much of a prick and his popularity came when there weren't many other top British fighters to capitalise on his popularity. Calzaghe was too Welsh.

Khan is a pudendum, well known but people don't like him.

Haye I can't see reclaiming his popularity.

Brook too boring and fights poor opponents.

Fury is the pantomime villain, well known but people are going to watch to see him lose rather than to see him win.

Joshua could get there but I think people will see through his nice guy act eventually.

Personally, I think Flanagan could be the guy the public get behind with the right marketing. Fun and exciting to watch, always comes to fight, a likeable enough guy, packs decent enough power despite his on paper mediocre KO record and above all, has a bunch of ready made domestic rivals. Crolla, Burns, Campbell, Cardle are all fights we'll more than likely see. He's still only 26 too so has a fair few years left.

I really like watching Flanagan but when you fight on b-o-x-n-a-t-i-o-n how many casual fans are going to know about him. When you fight on sky sports you have weeks of sky sports news building it up live weigh ins ect. Imagine sky had, had Lee V Saunders how much the fight would of been built up by Eddie.

[Rexob]

I think what British boxing needs... and this may be quite obvious, but another Ricky Hatton. Someone who is the best in the division, fun to watch, fights the best and comes across as a good, regular bloke to appeal to the general public. There's been other popular boxers, but none on his level.

Froch was probably the closest but too much of a prick and his popularity came when there weren't many other top British fighters to capitalise on his popularity. Calzaghe was too Welsh.

Khan is a pudendum, well known but people don't like him.

Haye I can't see reclaiming his popularity.

Brook too boring and fights poor opponents.

Fury is the pantomime villain, well known but people are going to watch to see him lose rather than to see him win.

Joshua could get there but I think people will see through his nice guy act eventually.

Personally, I think Flanagan could be the guy the public get behind with the right marketing. Fun and exciting to watch, always comes to fight, a likeable enough guy, packs decent enough power despite his on paper mediocre KO record and above all, has a bunch of ready made domestic rivals. Crolla, Burns, Campbell, Cardle are all fights we'll more than likely see. He's still only 26 too so has a fair few years left.

I really like watching Flanagan but when you fight on b-o-x-n-a-t-i-o-n how many casual fans are going to know about him. When you fight on sky sports you have weeks of sky sports news building it up live weigh ins ect. Imagine sky had, had Lee V Saunders how much the fight would of been built up by Eddie.

Yeah, he's very captivating in interviews Flanagan charisma oozes from him.

[Monte Fisto]

PPV and less than competitive match-ups will continue to hamper it being big again.
Keep PPV for super fights only and it has a chance of a big resurgence.

[Rexob]

I have been genuinely surprised and amazed since the weekend by how many boxing fans and even so called enthusiasts on here have come out and basically admitted they just want to see a brawl. If you cannot appreciate the fight which took place on saturday and the level at which they fought at and why it was never going to be a middle of the ring rocky style event then you are simply not a boxing fan, you are someone who likes to see men beat each other up.

quigg wasnt good enough to beat frampton and he never will be, he had no answer to framptons much better skill set. his only success came when he charged forwards, had he done that from the first bell he would have been ko'd at some point.

if you tune in expecting blood and ko's for every fight then you're going to be disappointed more often than not. there's so much money at stake, thats why there's pressure to not make mistakes and put themselves in a position to get wiped out.

boxing is a sport and a science. most people who watch it wouldnt have a clue about footwork, positioning, hand speed or even working angles. but then you also cant moan at them for just wanting to see a ko, its what the promoters pretty much promise!

Yeah, it takes years of practice knowing how to not throw any punches for 6 rounds dazzling skill.

[davie]

I have been genuinely surprised and amazed since the weekend by how many boxing fans and even so called enthusiasts on here have come out and basically admitted they just want to see a brawl. If you cannot appreciate the fight which took place on saturday and the level at which they fought at and why it was never going to be a middle of the ring rocky style event then you are simply not a boxing fan, you are someone who likes to see men beat each other up.

quigg wasnt good enough to beat frampton and he never will be, he had no answer to framptons much better skill set. his only success came when he charged forwards, had he done that from the first bell he would have been ko'd at some point.

if you tune in expecting blood and ko's for every fight then you're going to be disappointed more often than not. there's so much money at stake, thats why there's pressure to not make mistakes and put themselves in a position to get wiped out.

boxing is a sport and a science. most people who watch it wouldnt have a clue about footwork, positioning, hand speed or even working angles. but then you also cant moan at them for just wanting to see a ko, its what the promoters pretty much promise!

As I've said already, being cautious and tactical and cagey is one thing. Not throwing punches is another, it just isn't boxing.
It's like saying I watched a game of football where no one kicked a ball but they were in formation, stuck to the tactics, made the right runs, picked up runners and marked the right person. The ball never left the fornicating centre spot for 90 minute but what a game I watched. I'm such a purist I could enjoy it.

Good footwork and movement, making angles and working for opportunities are all vital aspects of the sport but all of that is meaningless if you don't land a meaningful punch in an entire round.
If you don't throw a punch for an entire round you're not boxing, your kidding on.
More importantly, if you don't land a meaningful punch in half a fight, then you clearly aren't anywhere near good enough at those other aspects because all of those things are ultimately about 2 things. Hitting and not getting hit. If you aren't landing anything then all the footwork and hand speed and tactics and angles are pointless. What are you doing if not trying punch your opponent.

It doesn't make posters idiots or lacking in knowledge of the sweet science because they want to see a few punches thrown. No one has said they wanted a blood and thunder brawl but they wanted to see a few punches thrown, I hardly think that is asking too much for a fight we paid money to watch.

[rd350lc]

The interest has always been in boxing, just needed the characters like fury to get people talking about it again, fury great for boxing because of what he does brings it to the masses.

How does he bring boxing to the masses if only Pay per view punters can watch him fight ?

[davie]

The interest has always been in boxing, just needed the characters like fury to get people talking about it again, fury great for boxing because of what he does brings it to the masses.

How does he bring boxing to the masses if only Pay per view punters can watch him fight ?

He's on the news, in the papers and on peoples lips.

It's not just viewing fights that sell the sport.

Also he fought on Channel 5 when everyone else was with Camp Eddie and Frank.
The move to PPV was only a recent thing and was inevitable for the undisputed world heavyweight crown

[palooka]

I'm watching the WSB on biscuit nation and Cordina is a brilliant boxer. The UK amateur system is one to emulate, the future of British boxing looks in great shape.

[rd350lc]

The interest has always been in boxing, just needed the characters like fury to get people talking about it again, fury great for boxing because of what he does brings it to the masses.

How does he bring boxing to the masses if only Pay per view punters can watch him fight ?

He's on the news, in the papers and on peoples lips.

It's not just viewing fights that sell the sport.

Also he fought on Channel 5 when everyone else was with Camp Eddie and Frank.
The move to PPV was only a recent thing and was inevitable for the undisputed world heavyweight crown

So DID bring boxing to the masses , no longer does that , if I ask my 70 yr old mum who Fury was ,she wouldn't have a clue , if I asked her who Frank Bruno is , she'd know straight away .

Wouldn't it be refreshing if a top boxer didn't go down the PPV route and kept with the likes of channel 5 ........... No I know that's never going to happen .

[davie]

How does he bring boxing to the masses if only Pay per view punters can watch him fight ?

He's on the news, in the papers and on peoples lips.

It's not just viewing fights that sell the sport.

Also he fought on Channel 5 when everyone else was with Camp Eddie and Frank.
The move to PPV was only a recent thing and was inevitable for the undisputed world heavyweight crown

So DID bring boxing to the masses , no longer does that , if I ask my 70 yr old mum who Fury was ,she wouldn't have a clue , if I asked her who Frank Bruno is , she'd know straight away .

Wouldn't it be refreshing if a top boxer didn't go down the PPV route and kept with the likes of channel 5 ........... No I know that's never going to happen .

That's only because she follows Horse's 52 week fight challenge.
Has she uploaded her score card yet?

[orbtastic]

I've always felt SKY's relationship with Matchroom was a little claustrophobic and at the expense of competition.

Their vision seems to be a bit short-sighted insofar as they're dumbing down the sport (or their presentation of it) to the casual. They're trying to make it an event but it seems to be the "thing" they're selling rather than the actual product i.e. the boxing/fight.

So last weekend was the perfect case in point, they spent so long hyping the fight as an event that so many people were left thinking "well that was a bit sh1t". I doubt many people really cared too much about the undercard nor many that went will be talking about a fight or fighters they saw on the undercard.

[nfc90210]

I think certain boxers and certain fights will always have the ability to cross over into the mainstream but I don't see boxing being a truly mainstream sport in the way, say, football is. With all the entertainment options that are available to people these days, I just don't think your average person wants to watch a fight every week, or every month for that matter.

There is also the fact that judged as a whole show boxing cards are often, well, bad. Journeymen play an important role in helping fighters to learn the trade (and I don't mean this to be disrespectful as they are often very tough guys) but a show where a significant number of the fights feature prospects fighting journeymen with losing records does not produce an entertaining evening of fights or the kind of drama that keeps an audience enthused.

[mickey1975]

Fury would have crossed over a lot more if it weren't for the controversial comments he made. All the chat shows swerved him. A more exciting win would have helped as well.

[chrisnew86]

I have been genuinely surprised and amazed since the weekend by how many boxing fans and even so called enthusiasts on here have come out and basically admitted they just want to see a brawl. If you cannot appreciate the fight which took place on saturday and the level at which they fought at and why it was never going to be a middle of the ring rocky style event then you are simply not a boxing fan, you are someone who likes to see men beat each other up.

quigg wasnt good enough to beat frampton and he never will be, he had no answer to framptons much better skill set. his only success came when he charged forwards, had he done that from the first bell he would have been ko'd at some point.

if you tune in expecting blood and ko's for every fight then you're going to be disappointed more often than not. there's so much money at stake, thats why there's pressure to not make mistakes and put themselves in a position to get wiped out.

boxing is a sport and a science. most people who watch it wouldnt have a clue about footwork, positioning, hand speed or even working angles. but then you also cant moan at them for just wanting to see a ko, its what the promoters pretty much promise!

Yeah, it takes years of practice knowing how to not throw any punches for 6 rounds dazzling skill.

Oh well this is news to me, I'm not a fan of Boxing. Gutted

[rd350lc]

Fury would have crossed over a lot more if it weren't for the controversial comments he made. All the chat shows swerved him. A more exciting win would have helped as well.

good point , at the level he is at now he hasn't got an exciting win in him , will always box at range playing to his strengths ,jab and move ,never going to be a KO artist.

[mickey1975]

I'm Fury's biggest fan on here, I've even somehow turned into a traveler in some people's eyes because of this... But I think Tyson is almost done. He's reached the top of the mountain, something that has spurred him on for years, and seems quite happy with that. Whatever he says, the backlash from the comments will have hurt, and when he should be a national hero, he's had the whole nation going on at him and people telling him Wlad was crap anyway! Meanwhile, AJ is wonderful for beating Whyte! When AJ beats Martin for Tyson's title and Sky go into overdrive about their new World Champ you couldn't blame Tyson for wondering why he bothers. He's a sensitive soul anyway.

[tigermoth87]

I find the hate and disrespect Fury gets baffling at times.

He plays up being the pantomime villain but I never get the feeling he's actually a bad guy. Opinionated, but if you see through his villain act he always seems like a decent enough guy to me.

[rd350lc]

I think you are right Mickey and we may never see him grace the ring again.

[mickey1975]

If the huge offer for an AJ fight does come in the split will be a huge problem. Eddie will quote that crap IBF belt and AJ's popularity and I just can't see Mick and Peter going for it. They'll want the lions share like they had to give Wlad. Eddie will not pull the wool over their eyes. They'll tell him to go fight Haye instead. He can do similar money fighting Wilder as the A side.