BoxRec

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but do we get the impression that there's an upsurge in interest in boxing in the UK ?
There seems to be more interest in the national press, the satellite channels are covering it extensively, ex pros are doing tours, unlicensed shows are creating local interest (sadly) and every fitness gym seems to have guys punching away at bags or somebody holding hook and jab pads.
If I'm right then we need to grab this and hold on. Everybody who has an interest in promoting the game in this country has to think hard about what they can do, and I mean the Board, the boxing press and the promoters.
For example, if given permission, the Boxing News could be given away free at the large shows in the hope that the casual fan could take it away and have an idea about what its all about. Small hall promoters should spent some money with local adverts and posters, in the hope of attracting new fans instead of relying on selling tickets to family and friends of their fighters. The local Area Councils of the Board could consider road shows at selected venues and the Amateur associations should be consulting with the Education authorities about re-introducing it unto the curriculum.

If there is more interest now not sure how long it will last.

The 3 biggest fights recently (excluding Aj) have all been on ppv and been terrible

Mayweather v Pacman - boring fight

Klitchko v Fury - boring

Frampton v Quigg - boring

If these big events keep turning out to be disappointing don't see the interest lasting long

A lot of my friends get hyped up, pay their money and sit there wondering when they're going to throw a punch. They love the build up but are left disappointed. The best shows I've been to recently are charity dos, total beginners, who just get straight in. The crowd love it.

Yeah i like to see the juniors going hell for leather always good to watch.

I think the oddity of tyson fury have got people interested, not sure if they are interested in his skill, or lack of it but possibly because no other boxer in the UK would run around with a Batman costume on. I think people are watching him with the thought of 'whats this clown gonna do next?'

Certainly Anthony Joshua has made an impact in the sport and must have attracted new fans to the game. Also the past is kind of coming back to us in forms of ex boxers sons who we admired making their way in to the sport. If Conor Benn makes a pro debut this year he will have a following, especially if he's like his dad.

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.

powderPuff wrote:If there is more interest now not sure how long it will last.

The 3 biggest fights recently (excluding Aj) have all been on ppv and been terrible

Mayweather v Pacman - boring fight

Klitchko v Fury - boring

Frampton v Quigg - boring

If these big events keep turning out to be disappointing don't see the interest lasting long

Completely agree. I haven't got too many friends who are boxing fans, so I have to really encourage them to join me for a night watching the boxing from home. I made a guarantee to them that the Quigg Vs Frampton fight would be good, and it was pretty boring. While we are still made to pay for some of the bigger fights, the sport is not going to have a resurgence. Some people don't want to spend £17 on their dinner, let alone on some boxing. My example in the past would have been to look at football, but that is now being effected by BT Sport. However, there are plenty of sports where you don't have to pay any extra for the big games, so why should boxing be different???

So the boxers can earn more money ?

I think a lot of it is down to the fact that a loss is seen as such a big thing these days. So when the big fights come along and all the hype etc, it appears to be safety first and not wanting to make a mistake approach as the loss is seen as devasting. I think the would try and steal a win rather than risk losing

Maybe my views are wrong but I grew up watching boxing in a different era and don't remember so many of the big fights being so boring perhaps I just remember them differently now.

I think there is hope I know he gets a bit of stick on here bit have high hopes for Joshua, I just think the anti matchroom feelings on here gets in the way of people's thoughts.

Also think Terrace Crawford could be the next superstar seems to have everything in his locker

Rexob wrote:So the boxers can earn more money ?

And how does that help them to connect with the public?

Didnt do hatton any harm ?

I see a fair bit of interest on my facebook feed by casuals sometimes when there's a fight. Out of recent fights...

Joshua always gets my facebook feed filled with idiotic comments (Joshua would spark Wlad, Joshua is the best in the division, Joshua has a 4 foot long cock etc).

Wilder always stirs interest. Whenever he's fighting I usually see comments about his fight, asking for streams etc.

Haye's debut got the casuals stirring.

Fury also, most of the casuals popping up on my facebook feed hate him.

Brook gets a fair bit of interest it seems.

Quigg vs Frampton got little interest at all. Don't know any casual who bothered watching.

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 think boxing took another little knock last saturday, i've already said that before in another thread, but i think when fights like frampton-quigg gets made casuals get hyped up, thinking they are going to get a real cracker of a fight and then they see what they saw on saturday and are left feeling really disapointed. alot of casuals, well most, don't appreciate the finer art of boxing, just like to see big shots being landed and took, which we all do aswell, but for the casual that is all they want.

which is why after seeing frampton-quigg a casual is much more likely to be entertained by the ufc and fights like silva-bisping where they knocked the tar out of each other, and there was claret everywhere. may-pac generated loads of interest and buys and then it made people think what ever did i just watch, frampton-quigg did the same really. there was some good "moments" but after the build-up people, not just the casuals were expecting a really good fight which just did not deliver and this does not help boxing.

there was a casual at me cousins when i watched may-pac and he said "all this bbuild up and this has been rubbish, i'd rather watch the ufc where people are going to be elbowing, kneeing and kicking each other and pulling peoples arms apart in arm bars". a good war in boxing everyone enjoys but sadly, hardcore boxing fans like us on here make up very little of a PPV number statistics and ticket sales. as i said in the other thread i think the geezer who writes for boxing monthly said it took him a while to get back to his seat as he fought his way through the hordes of people getting drunk and just standing about, implying that the lack of hardcore fans there to see and iconic and legendary sport was lacking.

the casuals that buy into a fight far outnumber the diehards who have followed the sport most of their lives and grown up around it with their families, people moan about casuals (i hate to hear a casual who thinks he knows it all) but they make up most of the PPV and ticket buys and i don't think fights like saturday night converts any casuals or creates new fans, it disapoints and leaves people wandering what all the fuss was about.

Oiky wrote:i think boxing took another little knock last saturday, i've already said that before in another thread, but i think when fights like frampton-quigg gets made casuals get hyped up, thinking they are going to get a real cracker of a fight and then they see what they saw on saturday and are left feeling really disapointed. alot of casuals, well most, don't appreciate the finer art of boxing, just like to see big shots being landed and took, which we all do aswell, but for the casual that is all they want.

which is why after seeing frampton-quigg a casual is much more likely to be entertained by the ufc and fights like silva-bisping where they knocked the tar out of each other, and there was claret everywhere. may-pac generated loads of interest and buys and then it made people think what ever did i just watch, frampton-quigg did the same really. there was some good "moments" but after the build-up people, not just the casuals were expecting a really good fight which just did not deliver and this does not help boxing.

there was a casual at me cousins when i watched may-pac and he said "all this bbuild up and this has been rubbish, i'd rather watch the ufc where people are going to be elbowing, kneeing and kicking each other and pulling peoples arms apart in arm bars". a good war in boxing everyone enjoys but sadly, hardcore boxing fans like us on here make up very little of a PPV number statistics and ticket sales. as i said in the other thread i think the geezer who writes for boxing monthly said it took him a while to get back to his seat as he fought his way through the hordes of people getting drunk and just standing about, implying that the lack of hardcore fans there to see and iconic and legendary sport was lacking.

the casuals that buy into a fight far outnumber the diehards who have followed the sport most of their lives and grown up around it with their families, people moan about casuals (i hate to hear a casual who thinks he knows it all) but they make up most of the PPV and ticket buys and i don't think fights like saturday night converts any casuals or creates new fans, it disapoints and leaves people wandering what all the fuss was about.

I agree with this. It's why I say, despite his haters, Wilder is good for the sport. Like him or not, his fights (dull Stiverne fight aside) are usually fun to watch. Largely because he's so limited even the likes of Szpilka and Duhaupas are in with a chance. But still, he's an exciting fighter.

I hope the casuals get in interest in Flannagan vs Derry. Derry may be Euro level at best but he always comes to fight, he's not going to sit around doing nothing for 6 rounds like Quigg.

tigermoth87 wrote:

Oiky wrote:i think boxing took another little knock last saturday, i've already said that before in another thread, but i think when fights like frampton-quigg gets made casuals get hyped up, thinking they are going to get a real cracker of a fight and then they see what they saw on saturday and are left feeling really disapointed. alot of casuals, well most, don't appreciate the finer art of boxing, just like to see big shots being landed and took, which we all do aswell, but for the casual that is all they want.

which is why after seeing frampton-quigg a casual is much more likely to be entertained by the ufc and fights like silva-bisping where they knocked the tar out of each other, and there was claret everywhere. may-pac generated loads of interest and buys and then it made people think what ever did i just watch, frampton-quigg did the same really. there was some good "moments" but after the build-up people, not just the casuals were expecting a really good fight which just did not deliver and this does not help boxing.

there was a casual at me cousins when i watched may-pac and he said "all this bbuild up and this has been rubbish, i'd rather watch the ufc where people are going to be elbowing, kneeing and kicking each other and pulling peoples arms apart in arm bars". a good war in boxing everyone enjoys but sadly, hardcore boxing fans like us on here make up very little of a PPV number statistics and ticket sales. as i said in the other thread i think the geezer who writes for boxing monthly said it took him a while to get back to his seat as he fought his way through the hordes of people getting drunk and just standing about, implying that the lack of hardcore fans there to see and iconic and legendary sport was lacking.

the casuals that buy into a fight far outnumber the diehards who have followed the sport most of their lives and grown up around it with their families, people moan about casuals (i hate to hear a casual who thinks he knows it all) but they make up most of the PPV and ticket buys and i don't think fights like saturday night converts any casuals or creates new fans, it disapoints and leaves people wandering what all the fuss was about.

I agree with this. It's why I say, despite his haters, Wilder is good for the sport. Like him or not, his fights (dull Stiverne fight aside) are usually fun to watch. Largely because he's so limited even the likes of Szpilka and Duhaupas are in with a chance. But still, he's an exciting fighter.

I hope the casuals get in interest in Flannagan vs Derry. Derry may be Euro level at best but he always comes to fight, he's not going to sit around doing nothing for 6 rounds like Quigg.

yeah, we as a hardcore fanbase already exist. the sport can't grow by appealing to a market that is already there. casuals need to be converted into proper fans and new fans entirely need to be created.

and i agree with what you say on wilder, i'm not a wilder fan personally but i enjoy watching his fights, you just never know what is going to happen.

flannagan vs. matthews is a good fight, i can't really see any outside interest in that fight except friends telling their casual friends that boxing is on tonight, want to come mine and watch it. although judging by flannagans last few outings he may have gained some casual supporters that probably thought i'd like to see that guy box again

The really big push boxing could do with is BBC or ITV showing boxing again. I know there was talk last week about Al Haymon talking to ITV and this is the type of thing he did in America . If we could get a couple of new exciting stars coming through on free to air TV it would be helpful.
Everybody loves to see a good fight. Remember , history tells us that the richest sportsmen are usually heavyweight champions until Mayweather came along. I just wonder if modern day world class fighters have become too technical. They all have nutritionists, fitness coaches and it seems the allegedly top boxing coaches have to prove how good they are by over analysing opponents. This might be why the last Mayweather fight and Frampton v Quigg were shocking. The fans want Benn v McClellan ( without the aftermath), Hearns v Hagler, Hatton v Tsyu etc. In other words, get fit, plenty of sparring, and get stuck in !

dalcumly wrote:The really big push boxing could do with is BBC or ITV showing boxing again. I know there was talk last week about Al Haymon talking to ITV and this is the type of thing he did in America . If we could get a couple of new exciting stars coming through on free to air TV it would be helpful.
Everybody loves to see a good fight. Remember , history tells us that the richest sportsmen are usually heavyweight champions until Mayweather came along. I just wonder if modern day world class fighters have become too technical. They all have nutritionists, fitness coaches and it seems the allegedly top boxing coaches have to prove how good they are by over analysing opponents. This might be why the last Mayweather fight and Frampton v Quigg were shocking. The fans want Benn v McClellan ( without the aftermath), Hearns v Hagler, Hatton v Tsyu etc. In other words, get fit, plenty of sparring, and get stuck in !

all very good points there. you can have the best S&C coach and best nutritionalists going but if you can't take a decent lick on the chin and grind it out when the going gets tough you are going to get found out.

I don't think it's happened in the last 6 months to a year.

This has been gradually building, the increase in fighters competing at good levels, not just our record number of "world" champions hasn't just happened over night. Many of these lads laced up the gloves 20 years ago.

Maybe it was Eubank, Benn, Bruno, Lewis, Naz, Calzaghe and Hatton that has brought that about. Ask most of todays top fighters who they grew up watching?
Some top class fighters and some real characters in Brittish boxing. The gradual increase in top level boxers have increased the numbers of world level fights and that's what brings about the increased interest from the media and the general public.

Can it be maintained, can it continue to build momentum or will it inevitably drop off.
Who knows but with so many top level fighters, some things would be beneficial.

Greater activity - some guys with belts waiting too long with out fighting. We could have a domestic fighter defending a title every second week but limited televised slots are restrictivnd
More real characters - Fury's an ass, let's be honest. But he's the only one with real character. A Naz or Eubank would be a great thing for the sport. Another Hatton would be a godsend.

All in we're in a very strong place but there's more can be done and some potentially easy fixes to the problems we do have

I think you boys have hit the nail on the head. Casual fans want to see blood, they aren't really bothered about seeing great technicians ( like mayweather and rigendeaux). That's why I believe there has been a big rise on the unlicensed scene, for the majority of the fights the standard is pretty poor and in some cases the fighters wouldn't even be carded if they went about the amateur route. These so called boxers get to train for 6-8 weeks, get their faces on a poster, feel like a celebrity to there mates, come out to their own ring music and get paid a certain amount at the end depending on how many tickets they sold. Where as if your a amateur you train solidly for 9 months of the year. Get matched up for shows but bouts fall through quite a lot. They get no publicity. They do it for the love of the sport and to learn the sweet science which a lot of people are not bothered about. So although in a big way I'm against the unlicensed game I'm also for it pushing our great sport out to more people and getting them interested

smiling assassin wrote:I think you boys have hit the nail on the head. Casual fans want to see blood, they aren't really bothered about seeing great technicians ( like mayweather and rigendeaux). That's why I believe there has been a big rise on the unlicensed scene, for the majority of the fights the standard is pretty poor and in some cases the fighters wouldn't even be carded if they went about the amateur route. These so called boxers get to train for 6-8 weeks, get their faces on a poster, feel like a celebrity to there mates, come out to their own ring music and get paid a certain amount at the end depending on how many tickets they sold. Where as if your a amateur you train solidly for 9 months of the year. Get matched up for shows but bouts fall through quite a lot. They get no publicity. They do it for the love of the sport and to learn the sweet science which a lot of people are not bothered about. So although in a big way I'm against the unlicensed game I'm also for it pushing our great sport out to more people and getting them interested

yeah 100% mate and you don't need a trained eye to appreciate hard shots and blood, but you do need a trained eye to see the intricate details of the beautiful sweet science and your 100% right with regards to the unlicensed scene and the fighters feeling like a celeb to their pals but your right we need fights in boxing of any kind to generate a wider range of interest and bring it back to a real boom period.

Yes, great comments. The biggest hurdle is to get people involved beyond simply tuning in to a big event.
If a lad progresses well in the unlicensed/ dinner circuit then they might be encouraged to try the next stage. They would not go into the amateur game for the reasons stated. I wonder if the Board would consider temporary licences allowing lads to compete in novice fights on pro shows , limited to 4x2s?

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.

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!

I can watch it all day. A lot of people can't. And if I'm not an enthusiast, God knows what I've been doing these last thirty years.