Boxing Global-Fitness Flourishes, Who Knew?
For over a decade casual sports fans in North America have been unwittingly losing their grasp on the pulse of the (onetime) biggest and oldest game of the last 125 years-- boxing. The fault lies on a few factors beyond the control of the armchair quarterback seeking fistic stimulation. The fault lies in some degree with boxing promoters being short-sighted as well as greedy. Most promoters and boxers sought out big bucks by creating a perfect record against hand-picked opponents on U.S. cable outlets, with the pay-per-view being the reward(evidence A- one Floyd Mayweather Jr.) . Unfortunately the short-sighted players in this formula didn't realize they were pushing aside extremely important antenna-receptive networks like CBS,ABC/CTV AND NBC. These networks had made household names of Marciano, Moore, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Leonard, Duran, Hagler, Hearns and De la Hoya, exposing millions of homes to boxing theater. Perhaps a greater factor in the urban-myth of boxing's demise was the new millenium purge of experienced management in sports media(most everywhere) with twenty-four year old newbies. The problem is that you just can't have enough insight to chart a long term path or remedy a current ailment when you are relying on this hour's youth trends as a management tool. This is why 70 percent of television is celebrity-stalking papparazzi-smear shows,newsprint news has more Brittany and less journalism, and sports reporting has more silly gel-spiked coverage of Terrel Owens and less pertinent reporting.
Respected long-time boxing broadcaster and pundit Al Bernstein had seen and heard enough of the poor coverage and snide cracks from many media outlets in North America. The U.S. boxing game was the biggest and most important on this earth until this millenium. Look closely and you can see a metaphor for what has happened to the once powerful U.S.A. Europe is hands-down the most vibrant,succesful/powerful territory in terms of boxing or any fight sport. Crowds of 40,000 are common, as are 20 million viewers on free television at home. Bernstein lambasted the U.S. media for blatantly ignoring the year on year business growth and fantastic televised boxing matches over the past three years. The media indifference had the odour that systematic racism had in keeping visible minorities off of U.S. television,radio,print,jobs,as well as out of neighbourhoods. Boxing flourishes in Japan,The Phillipines,U.K.,South America,Quebec and Europe, while it competes for airtime with extreme teenage games in America. The closest example to boxing of systematic media negativity involves the U.S. media and the
coverage/attitude towards European Football(soccer). Boxing and soccer are the ONLY two sports participated in every country on this beatiful planet. Yet soccer has been denegrated by gym teachers to sports reporters for a century or more in North America. It is slowly edging towards fan acceptance and league(MLS)success as more of the recent immigrants sign their children up for a sport they love. Astoundingly,there are more children enrolled in soccer leagues than in hockey in Canada!
In a time when perception is the new reality, we shouldn't be surprised to see the types of conclusions/decisions some fans,advertisers and newbie media heads have been making in the recent past. I wish I had ten bucks for every person who has asked me if or opined that boxing is in grave condition. I generally try not to roll my eyes when I feed them some hard facts about the boxing dollars being generated year on year,and that MMA is another form of entertainment(like hip/hop or tractor pull)that hasn't really drawn from boxing ppv audiences but rather from the previous boxing-slayer ;wrestling. One needs only to look at the buy-rate of last weeks Floyd Mayweather Jr. ppv to realize why boxing will never drop from it's position as the number two(behind soccer)global sport for the last three centuries. The bean counters are claiming that the Mayweather-Marquez ppv easily knocked out the UFC card that featured many more of the talented(albeit less paid)fighters for the money. I hope Dana White will refrain from taking part in the unnecessary sport of comparing/denegrating the two different sports. White had spent weeks telling media that Floyd's numbers would be hurt after his fight was rescheduled to a date that coincided with a UFC card. The misguided perceptions by fans(and White)is the reason that flavour du jour media decisions will never trump the power of reality. Boxing is a regal sport with equal parts violence,as well as theater. The reports of it's demise are grossly over-stated and a little ambitious.
Bawdy Shots: Okay,I was hoping for a more competitive fight between Marquez and Mayweather but the odds were tempting. Floyd was being typical,as he just knew that Marquez couldn't hurt him when hit. Time for Floyd to put on his big boy under pants and fight a top WELTER weight... I will enjoy the 4 rounder between Vitali Klitschko and Cris Arreola on Saturday.I say 4 rounder because I think Arreola is best served/and will come at Klitschko early, for it to be his night. This is the only way to victory for Cris,other than on a cuts stoppage. If not,Vitali wins by stoppage or clear decision.... One Million pay per view buys for the Mayweather-Marquez dance should shake the bushes and bring forward more male-targeted advertisers who have been hesitant,but are now strolling back to the boxing big house as have Tecate Beer,Just for Men and Quaker State.....Sad to hear that jr. middleweight powerhouse James Kirkland was sentenced to 2 years in prison for accompanying his girlfriend to a gun show,as she purchased a handgun. Kirkland was banned from possesing a handgun after an old charge years previous.Another waste on the level of Tony Ayala,although James is young and will be out in less than 24 months,as opposed to 20 years for Tony.
