Another Ali what if...

[wvboxer]

I agree his condition discourages guys from boxing but can networks pay to have a big fight today given what they make?

I don't think people "get" boxing today. I watched a fight recently & one boxer really outboxed his opponent. The crowd though was booing. It wasn't wall to wall excitement but it was a good "boxing" match. Fans don't appreciate the subtleties anymore.

[Ambling Alp II]

The networks can't afford the big $ becasue they can't get the ratings. The sport has steadily been declining for decades. Many of us who followed the sport in the 1970s and 1980s gave up on the sport a long time ago. Many of the reasons have already been discussed.

One big superstar is going to make things go back anywhere to the popluairty it once had. Tyson was a huge superstar in the late 1980s and the sport still declined. We had the Holyfield-Bowe rivalry in the early 1990s and the sport declined furether. And further in the late 1990s and still further in the 2000s.

[BoxBuzz]

I'm walking through the halls of UNH recently, and on the walls they have photo tributes to the various teams over a period of about 100 years.

For many years boxing, wrestling, and rifle clubs were apparent. For the rifle team it was both men and women. Then by the late 60's early 70's they were waning and by the 80's they all were gone. What took their place? Well I didn't see knitting or pottery, so it was not a worst case scenario. But Tennis arose, as did golf. During the Dempsey and Louis years the boxing team was nearly the size of the football teams.

The mainstay before and after was swimming, football (once it arrived) and for the last several decades basketball. Archery is a newcomer......perhaps to revive the rifling spirit?

[gilgamesh]

I agree his condition discourages guys from boxing but can networks pay to have a big fight today given what they make?

I don't think people "get" boxing today. I watched a fight recently & one boxer really outboxed his opponent. The crowd though was booing. It wasn't wall to wall excitement but it was a good "boxing" match. Fans don't appreciate the subtleties anymore.

Did they ever? I'm sure Boxing Purists appreciate stuff like that, the average person just wants to see two guys get in there and slug it out.

[elmersalsa]

Well, I guess, boxing, like hip hop.....is dead?

[gilgamesh]

Well, I guess, boxing, like hip hop.....is dead?

Boxing will always have it's fan base...same as Hip Hop. It won't die.

[man]

It always being said that boxing is dying. The biggest living sportsman is Muhammad Ali. But due to his Parkinson’s he is not a high profile figure anymore. But he’s still hugely popular.

What if Ali didn’t have Parkinsons. And had spent the last 30 years in the public eye, commentating, appearing on chat shows…being himself.

Surely more young Americans would want to grow up and be Ali. The terrible disease means people look at Ali and think I don’t want to end up like that…

Would boxing be different today if Ali had been in the same sort of health as Foreman for the last 3 decades?

very interesting question. my guess is you have to look
for other smart sports idols who put their ambition at
something else. schwarzenegger comes to mind. i could
imagine ali would have made a tremendous politician.

[SenorPipino]

The networks can't afford the big $ becasue they can't get the ratings. The sport has steadily been declining for decades. Many of us who followed the sport in the 1970s and 1980s gave up on the sport a long time ago. Many of the reasons have already been discussed.

One big superstar is going to make things go back anywhere to the popluairty it once had. Tyson was a huge superstar in the late 1980s and the sport still declined. We had the Holyfield-Bowe rivalry in the early 1990s and the sport declined furether. And further in the late 1990s and still further in the 2000s.

Actually I think network boxing gets decent ratings. Not NFL or even college football type numbers but pretty good.
The problem is that many sponsors don't like being associated with a blood sport. No big sponsors, no big fights on free television.
And a network representative once admitted some years back that the "type" of people that generally watch boxing aren't in the same desired economic demographics as are many of those who watch the so-called major sports.
He said something to the effect that television viewers interested in seeing Chiquita Gonzales aren't likely to buy the expensive cars and products that PGA lovers do. Hence alot of sponsors see no upside in advertising on a boxing telecast.

[BoxBuzz]

and with boxers going out and wiping themselves out (e.g. Chico) with bikes.....and cars for that matter.....it gets clumsy for the companys (like motorcycle companies) that WOULD like to advertize boxing, to do so.

[Argentino]

And whats about Leonard or De La Hoya? Some people think that a boxer could be a pretty boy.
In Argentina,the image of a boxer and his life is changing a little,due to Maravilla Martinez fame

[elmersalsa]

Well, I guess, boxing, like hip hop.....is dead?

Boxing will always have it's fan base...same as Hip Hop. It won't die.

Both (boxing and rap/hip hop) been DEAD a long time ago....Well, at least, for me.

[gilgamesh]

Well, I guess, boxing, like hip hop.....is dead?

Boxing will always have it's fan base...same as Hip Hop. It won't die.

Both (boxing and rap/hip hop) been DEAD a long time ago....Well, at least, for me.

Hip Hop never had much life to begin with for me personally, doesn't change the fact it's immensely popular to several other people in the World.

[revporl]

People were really in denial about Ali's declining health though, he was himself and so were the press and fans. I remember watching a press conference prior to the Holmes fight and he sounds terrible, but he asks the assembled press "Do I sound brain damaged to you? Do I sound brain damaged to you?" and the crowd are shouting back, "No way!". It would have been addressed were he a modern fighter I think