When did professional boxing die?

[1srelluc]

It's dead Jim.

Do you know who the WBC, IBF, WBO or WBC champions are, in any weight class?

If my life depended on it I could not name a one.

 

[rightwinger]

I used to be able to rattle off a list of Heavyweight Champs with no effort.

Today, I have no idea who the Heavyweight Champ is or when was the last Title Fight I cared to watch

 

[lg325]

Now everyone has their champions and'' Interim champions'' whatever that is, that's when it went down the tubes.
They pick the opponents instead of the best versus the best. So most fans have lost interest .It not worth the pay preview when your not sure who is who . And the confusing different categories don't help. List of current world boxing champions - Wikipedia

 

[katsteve2012]

It's dead Jim.

Do you know who the WBC, IBF, WBO or WBC champions are, in any weight class?

If my life depended on it I could not name a one.

I recently spoke to a long time friend who is a professional trainer about how It was far less confusing for the average fan when there were only 8 recognized world champions, without the current assortment of alphabet organizations.

This article somewhat explains the history of what happened, dating back to when it was just the WBC and WBA.

The Different Boxing Title Belts Explained | MK Boxing Gym, Billerica,MA

Confused by different belts in boxing? With different names around different weight classes sometimes it's unclear what the title a boxer is fighting for.

mkboxing.com

 

[rightwinger]

I remember watching Olympic Boxing in the 70s and 80’s. The US Boxers got big coverage and the matches were shown in prime time. Boxers like Ali, Frazier, Forman, Spinks, Sugar Ray got their exposure. Now, they are rarely covered

Also, fights were shown on broadcast TV. Today, any fight of merit is pay per view.

 

[katsteve2012]

I remember watching Olympic Boxing in the 70s and 80’s. The US Boxers got big coverage and the matches were shown in prime time. Boxers like Ali, Frazier, Forman, Spinks, Sugar Ray got their exposure. Now, they are rarely covered

Also, fights were shown on broadcast TV. Today, any fight of merit is pay per view.

Back then, there were also occasional boxing lineups called "Tommorrows Champions", which featured Olympic medal winners and top prospects on primetime network television, and before PPV, it was not uncommon for title fights to be broadcast by what they called "Early Bird Satellite" on programs like "The Wide World Of Sports".

My favorite memories are of the days when the Friday and Saturday night fights were sponsored by Gillette.

 

[Harry Dresden]

It's dead Jim.

Do you know who the WBC, IBF, WBO or WBC champions are, in any weight class?

If my life depended on it I could not name a one.

it died when tyson retired.....

 

[rightwinger]

Back then, there were also occasional boxing lineups called "Tommorrows Champions", which featured Olympic medal winners and top prospects on primetime network television, and before PPV, it was not uncommon for title fights to be broadcast by what they called "Early Bird Satellite" on programs like "The Wide World Of Sports".

My favorite memories are of the days when the Friday and Saturday night fights were sponsored by Gillette.

I remember watching top heavyweights fight on Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons. I saw most of my Ali fights that way.
Later, HBO had top fights to watch

 

[rightwinger]

it died when tyson retired.....

Agree
There is nobody that is a draw like Tyson and Tyson fought frequently when he was starting out.

 

[Vastator]

It's dead Jim.

Do you know who the WBC, IBF, WBO or WBC champions are, in any weight class?

If my life depended on it I could not name a one.

When they started using gloves...

 

[Harry Dresden]

Agree
There is nobody that is a draw like Tyson and Tyson fought frequently when he was starting out.

in boxing i feel you have to have a fighter that people want to see.....like one who has a reputation as being a badass like tyson or one who has a big mouth but backs it up like Ali....many tune in the fight just to see guys like those 2 get their asses beat......

 

[okfine]

Fighter pool sucks. Lazy and fat. Selective on who they fight. Thank Mayweather.

Showtime Boxing is gone. Amazon may take over.

 

[katsteve2012]

I remember watching top heavyweights fight on Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons. I saw most of my Ali fights that way.
Later, HBO had top fights to watch

I recall seeing Ali fight a few bouts on the Gillette programs after he won the Olympics and turned pro, which was before he became a regular presence on the Wide World of Sports.

Some of the other fighters that I remember seeing the most of on those old Gillette programs were guys like Emile Griffith, Dick Tiger and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.

The fight that I recall like it was yesterday was Benny Kid Paret vs Emile Griffith, when they carried Paret out on a stretcher and he died a few days later.

 

[DGS49]

One would think that some enterprising person, probably in the U.S., would try to form a new or consolidated sanctioning organization that would, by sheer financial clout, drive the lesser sanctioning bodies out of business. The problem there, of course, is that Leftists have ruined everything, and American Leftists don't like boxing - don't consider it a legitimate "sport."

My own interest in the sport is rather perverse. I always like boxing MATCHES that unfold like FIGHTS. Boxers like S.R. Leonard and even Larry Holmes never appealed to me; they appear to be winning the match by avoiding a fight. Give me an early Mike Tyson, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, etc., who are (or seem to be) intent on beating up the other guy, not just winning the match on points.

I would never actually pay to watch a boxing match, but it is sad that the state of the sport has sunk so low that few people know or care who the current champions are, or what they are champions of.

 

[katsteve2012]

Fighter pool sucks. Lazy and fat. Selective on who they fight. Thank Mayweather.

Showtime Boxing is gone. Amazon may take over.

True. It would be great if a network like ESPN reintroduced a regular weekly boxing show.

They had a good run on ESPN Friday Night Fights back in the 80's.
But greedy promoters ruined that.

 

[Harry Dresden]

One would think that some enterprising person, probably in the U.S., would try to form a new or consolidated sanctioning organization that would, by sheer financial clout, drive the lesser sanctioning bodies out of business. The problem there, of course, is that Leftists have ruined everything, and American Leftists don't like boxing - don't consider it a legitimate "sport."

My own interest in the sport is rather perverse. I always like boxing MATCHES that unfold like FIGHTS. Boxers like S.R. Leonard and even Larry Holmes never appealed to me; they appear to be winning the match by avoiding a fight. Give me an early Mike Tyson, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, etc., who are (or seem to be) intent on beating up the other guy, not just winning the match on points.

I would never actually pay to watch a boxing match, but it is sad that the state of the sport has sunk so low that few people know or care who the current champions are, or what they are champions of.

out boxing someone like what Leonard and Ali used to do is not trying to avoid a fight.....

 

[rightwinger]

One would think that some enterprising person, probably in the U.S., would try to form a new or consolidated sanctioning organization that would, by sheer financial clout, drive the lesser sanctioning bodies out of business.

I don’t think anyone cares anymore.
Young people would rather do MMA on their video games

Older fans who remember the good ole days might watch but no fighters are really of interest anymore. Nobody is going into work and talking about the big fight they watched over the weekend.

 

[Delldude]

The back in the day boxing crowd....my how time has flown.

 

[okfine]

True. It would be great if a network like ESPN reintroduced a regular weekly boxing show.

They had a good run on ESPN Friday Night Fights back in the 80's.
But greedy promoters ruined that.

It's been crap for the last 5 years. PBC has all the talent and they are working on a deal with Amazon Prime Video, so maybe a free fight once a week? If you read the fight calendar, there are no non-pay per view fights. IMO, that has killed the best sport in the world.

 

[evenflow1969]

It's dead Jim.

Do you know who the WBC, IBF, WBO or WBC champions are, in any weight class?

If my life depended on it I could not name a one.

When Don King entered the picture.