Before my time we had the golden age of Boxing. Ali, Frazier, Forman, Louis, Liston, Rocky, Chavez, Lenord, Sugar Ray, Hitman, etc.... I grew up in the age of Mike Tyson and he was the grim reaper and now the the joke. Even in the 90's and this decade there are some big names, Real Deal, Lewis, Oscar, Pretty Boy Floyd, etc...
Why the draft of overall audience and deep pools of talent? This country has enough athletes to conitnue to support all sports. The violence perception is equivlent to football, Rugby, etc.....
Is it MMA? I truly think they can both exist and supply enough talent to keep the two sports running.
I think it goes down to dollars and cents (more like sense).
I think Dana White has grabbed the threshold of audience because they have all of the big names on public TV, basic Cable TV. These guys are hungry to prove thier worth and they want to put on a good show. You watch the fights on ESPN and you have the same type of fights. Alot of punches, little defense, little regard to worry about your record and ability to get a title match or the big money match down the road.
Most of your great headline flights in Boxing go onto HBO and showtime. Your great matchups go to PPV. UFC has that as well, but just recently Spike had a headline event with the big names in UFC/K1 and continue to do that this summer as well. Why did the average household have to pay 79.95 to watch Oscar V. Floyd and proceed to want their money back with the lack of on slaught.
These guys are skilled and you can watch the match un-fold. But how many people want to sit through a giant ukranian jabbing his way to a 12 round victory with 30 punches per round. Man you could fall asleep.
I was impressed that HBO has three fights in a row that have the big names. Calzaghe vs. Hopkins tongiht and Oscar vs. Foster in two weeks are a start in the right direction to bring back the sport. It is not dead, just simply out of touch with its' audience. The audience wants to see a good fight without having to take out a loan to watch it. How about having some fights on ABC/NBC/CBS in prime time. Instead of the 20 million payday, take the 5 million payday and get more fans to enjoy your show. If fans start to follow, it leads to more endorements down the road. Money will eventually go away. The buisness plan constructed by Don King is dead, not effective. Golden Boy Productions is starting to follow the same path. I bet Dana White is hoping for this to continue. If it does, MMA is going to turn the sport of Boxing as a back burner sport.
My brother has turned from Boxing to MMA. Myself and my friends went to UFC instead of the Floyd/Oscar fight. It is just a better, more entertaining sport right now. More action, more entertainement, and currently a better product......
