how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

[Jistic]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

I grew up in the age of watching Ali fight major title fights on ABC. There were no pay per views. The First one I ever saw was Sugar Ray Leonard/Hearns in 1980. By the mid late 80's more and more fights went that route. No coincidence that you can trace boxing's slow decline in viewership back to those days.

Too many belts, too many suspicious splits or draws to setup future PPV rematchs. Big time boxing isn't much differnet than the WWE when it comes to reality anymore.

[cable guy]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

How does the boxing industry expect to hook new fans without offering more stuff on free tv?

It can't.

It's that simple.

[mr_president]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

for title fights back in the early 80's there was closed circuit tv...you had to buy a ticket and go to a theatre to watch the broadcast....this of course was b4 pay-perview...i remember going to see the leonard fights with my mom and pops. the last closed circuit fight that i went to see was hagler vs. john mugabi,and i sat next to lou duva,that is how boxing made it's money back then..fast forward to today now it's pay-per view. you have to remember there is no boxing season like there is in football, baseball,basketball,hockey etc..., their structure is not as profitable as other sports,there is no pension plan , so they have to make the money the best way possible. big name fighters demand big time money.title fights are like the superbowl or the nba finals or the stanley cup, the difference is the champ only defends his belt twice a year if were lucky, that's only 2 paydays...i agree that the wright/vargas fight was not pay-per view worthy, but they felt that both fighters had a big enopugh name to make it work. there are pleanty of fights that are broadcast on tv, you have espn,usa, telemundo, and if you have showtime you get shobox, and on hbo you have boxing after dark. i even get fights on my hd1 channel....all fights are not pay-perview, there are even some title fights that don't make pay-per view.

[mr_president]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

double-post

[Money99]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

This is almost a cliche now but if you want boxing to be popular again they need to get rid of all the belts. Have one belt only.
And you're right, the PPV stuff is killing the sport. When Wlad Klitcscho fought Sam Peter on free HBO TV it was the biggest ratings draw for boxing in 2005.

I've brought up this idea on other sites but I don't know how realistic it would be.
I would like to see a boxing 'league' be formed with a union for the boxers and a strict commision that oversaw the fights, purses and rankings for all the boxers.
The benefit for the boxers to join would be a standard purse for all fights with the amount related to the importance of the fight. So if you were just starting out you would get a standard fee of $10,000 a fight. Once you get to the top 10, you would be getting 7 digits. Once you're the champ, you'd get $10,000,000/per fight (or something like that. I'm only throwing these numbers out as an example). There would also be a lesser purse for the loser. No more guarenteed $5,000,000 purses so some clown can walk in, lie down, and take his money and run. The loser would still be paid hansomly but not nearly as much as the winner.
Fights would be matched up according to your ranking so you wouldn't see top 10 guys fighting tomato cans until they got a shot. You would consistantly see the top 10 guys battle each other.
The benefit for the boxers who sign on would be that the union would provide a pension and safe working conditions. They would also ensure that you are guarenteed a decent purse for every fight. Most unknown guys that start out only get peanuts ($1000-3000) for their first handful of fights.
And of course, you'd have to get a deal with ESPN, OLN or Foxsports or something to air your fights.

The one problem would be is that the bigger stars coming out of the amateur ranks wouldn't sign because they'd know they would get bigger purses fighting under the current freelance system.
But there are those diamond in the roughs that would sign up right away knowing that they would be getting better purses and a pension. Sure, some of them might leave once they've hit it big and their contracts are up but some might stay. Who knows? But at least those rising stars would give them some exposure. And having only one belt, many fans might jump ship to this new league. The biggest thing would be to get some heavyweight prospects. If you get only ONE star that fights in the heavy's you would be well on your way.

These are only my 2 cents but I thought this could help boxing.

[thegreatone0381]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

The one problem would be is that the bigger stars coming out of the amateur ranks wouldn't sign because they'd know they would get bigger purses fighting under the current freelance system.
But there are those diamond in the roughs that would sign up right away knowing that they would be getting better purses and a pension. Sure, some of them might leave once they've hit it big and their contracts are up but some might stay. Who knows? But at least those rising stars would give them some exposure. And having only one belt, many fans might jump ship to this new league. The biggest thing would be to get some heavyweight prospects. If you get only ONE star that fights in the heavy's you would be well on your way.

These are only my 2 cents but I thought this could help boxing.

Yeah that sounds good, it'd definitely make things more interesting, but I don't know. The ego of the majority today's athletes may not translate well into a union. Even if a proper boxing union were to form, how long before the boxers feel like they're being treated unfairly and strike, which could potentially lead to further damage of the sport?

On the plus side (for gamers anyways) it'd be easier to get more true to life boxers in video games.

[mr_president]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

This is almost a cliche now but if you want boxing to be popular again they need to get rid of all the belts. Have one belt only.
And you're right, the PPV stuff is killing the sport. When Wlad Klitcscho fought Sam Peter on free HBO TV it was the biggest ratings draw for boxing in 2005.

I've brought up this idea on other sites but I don't know how realistic it would be.
I would like to see a boxing 'league' be formed with a union for the boxers and a strict commision that oversaw the fights, purses and rankings for all the boxers.
The benefit for the boxers to join would be a standard purse for all fights with the amount related to the importance of the fight. So if you were just starting out you would get a standard fee of $10,000 a fight. Once you get to the top 10, you would be getting 7 digits. Once you're the champ, you'd get $10,000,000/per fight (or something like that. I'm only throwing these numbers out as an example). There would also be a lesser purse for the loser. No more guarenteed $5,000,000 purses so some clown can walk in, lie down, and take his money and run. The loser would still be paid hansomly but not nearly as much as the winner.
Fights would be matched up according to your ranking so you wouldn't see top 10 guys fighting tomato cans until they got a shot. You would consistantly see the top 10 guys battle each other.
The benefit for the boxers who sign on would be that the union would provide a pension and safe working conditions. They would also ensure that you are guarenteed a decent purse for every fight. Most unknown guys that start out only get peanuts ($1000-3000) for their first handful of fights.
And of course, you'd have to get a deal with ESPN, OLN or Foxsports or something to air your fights.

The one problem would be is that the bigger stars coming out of the amateur ranks wouldn't sign because they'd know they would get bigger purses fighting under the current freelance system.
But there are those diamond in the roughs that would sign up right away knowing that they would be getting better purses and a pension. Sure, some of them might leave once they've hit it big and their contracts are up but some might stay. Who knows? But at least those rising stars would give them some exposure. And having only one belt, many fans might jump ship to this new league. The biggest thing would be to get some heavyweight prospects. If you get only ONE star that fights in the heavy's you would be well on your way.

These are only my 2 cents but I thought this could help boxing.

mills lane was working on forming a boxing league b4 his stroke.. me and a couple of friends talk boxing all the time, and we agree that there should be some sort of league. one of the things they should do is force a schedule of fights.fighters would have to fight every 3-4 months, and as a champion your opponent must be the #1 contender...they should also bring back prize fighting like it used to be,the champ is guaranteed 2 million, but the purse gets split 70-30, the winner get's the 70 and the loser gets the 30....i think you would see more classic showdowns if that happened.

[Money99]

Re: how can boxing get popular again if every fight is a PPV?

mills lane was working on forming a boxing league b4 his stroke.. me and a couple of friends talk boxing all the time, and we agree that there should be some sort of league. one of the things they should do is force a schedule of fights.fighters would have to fight every 3-4 months, and as a champion your opponent must be the #1 contender...they should also bring back prize fighting like it used to be,the champ is guaranteed 2 million, but the purse gets split 70-30, the winner get's the 70 and the loser gets the 30....i think you would see more classic showdowns if that happened.

Absolutely! Mike Tyson's last 5 fights basically sum up why the 70-30 split should be happening. Guys will stay hungry.