Mayweather vs De La Hoya fight to "save" boxing?

Michigan

Big cover story in USA Today about how the boxing world is hoping that the upcoming Mayweather vs De La Hoya fight will generate
so much interest that it will "save" boxing from the lowly status it now has in the world of sports.

Today is the first I had even heard it was happening. Is there anyone who is not already a hard core boxing fan that really cares anything
about this fight? Has it ever occured to these boxing people that putting it on pay per view restricts the number of people who can
see it and generate interest? This fight is going to "save" boxing? Hard not to laugh at that statement.

perkdog

I cant see any fight other than a good old fashioned 15 round heavy weight title fight saving boxing. IMO Boxing was ruined by Don King, and these highly touted championship fights on pay per view that did not go past a few rounds. But I have not followed boxing in years so others may disagree.

Goot

I love boxing, but with PPV it makes it so hard to see the big bouts. Occasionally though HBO has a good fight on every once in awhile. The only time that I (my dad) has ever paid for a PPV bout was the Hopkins Tarver fight since I'm a big B-HOP fan and that took awhile to talk him into doing. I hope it saves boxing and I think there may be a few extra buyers with the Golden Boy fighting but since UFC has come around, boxing has struggled and will probably continue since UFC is the new thing.

rec78

Boxing has gone downhill ever since Mohammed Ali left. I remember the Friday night fights of the 1950's on TV and a lot of them were good fights except they wound up being fixed. Don King did not ruin boxing, he was the promoter for most of the Ali fights and the Ali-Frazier match-ups which turned out to be great fights.
Guys like Mike Tyson, who could have been one of the greatest fighters ever, did nothing to help the sports image. Suger Ray Leonard did not help the sport much either as he did not want to fight anyone who could beat him. Not to mention Roberto Duran just quiting right in the middle of a fight.
The Maywheather-De La Hoya fight could be a good one but it will not save boxing. It is hard to save a sport like boxing because it is one on one and is too easy to fix. Think about it - you only have to pay off one guy--Its a lot harder to fix a team sport.
. Seems like there are no real superstars in boxing anymore that can help improve its image.
The winner of the fight should get a much bigger purse than the loser, with the loser getting a mere pittance check----Then you would see some real fighting because there would be something worth fighting for. No gaurentees, just a split like 80-20 or even 70-30. Giving any more than 30 % to the loser is a losing proposition.
I agree that going back to 15 rounds would help the sport at least a little. Actually i personally am in favor of no limit rounds-fight until someone drops or gives up even if it takes 100 rounds- these are the kinds of fights that people want to see. I do not like to see fights won on a decision - all fights should go until there is a winner either by KO or TKO or throwing in the towel. Who wants to see a maximum 12 round fight that will almost certainly go to a decision--NOT ME.
The champion should fight all comers - the best available with fights required at least once every 4 months or so to retain his title. JMO. Bob

cjb1977

UFC and MMA in general is growing by leaps and bounds each and every week. I think MMA's continual growth will relegate boxing to a niche sport.

Goot

<< <i>UFC and MMA in general is growing by leaps and bounds each and every week. I think MMA's continual growth will relegate boxing to a niche sport. >>



Down there with curling eh?

BobaFett72

UFC is taking many fans away from boxing and wrestling.

Volver

I miss Tyson

RipublicaninMass

Last PPV my dad paid for was Hagler/leonard...

pandrews

i really hope this is a good boxing match.. i'll be watching it..

mayweather has been trashing MMA as just being a bunch of streetfighters.. he says he would run through the UFC easily or something like that..

according to NBC Sports, 90%+ disagree with him and think sean sherk would beat his ass..

of course he would get owned in mma competition without more training..

alpemomo

I think Boxing is dieing because the matches that people want to see either don't happen or take too long.

Someone said Don King killed boxing, that's a partial truth - the fault is also with Bob Arum (sp?) and boxing itself. Today we have the wbo, wbc, ibf, obgyn - aghhhh

imagine if the Colts last year did not want to play the Bears for the title, or if the Yankees decided they want to play in the world series and offered more money to oust the red sox even though they had a better record. Imagine if the NBA decided that Shaq vs Kobe would make a better finals than who ever ends up there this year. They would lose all credibility - that's what killed boxing.


The MMA world is different, even though the fighters have managers they are all under contract to UFC or Pride or some other entity who can match the fights that people want to see or sometimes they have tournaments to see who is the best whatever-weight. What a concept, huh?

Boxing has made themselves irrevelant today, this fight will be the last "over-hyped" fight - what a shame but Boxing killed Boxing.

stockergreen

No way will this fight save boxing.

mercurynut

<< <i>I cant see any fight other than a good old fashioned 15 round heavy weight title fight saving boxing. IMO Boxing was ruined by Don King, and these highly touted championship fights on pay per view that did not go past a few rounds. But I have not followed boxing in years so others may disagree. >>



I agree with the above in relation to Don King. The minute he started promoting the wrestling become a more legit sport than boxing.

Boxing is a fraud and its moving to a slow death. The NHL has a small localized fanbase and it has a better chance of being here long term than boxing does.

ctsoxfan

<< <i>The MMA world is different, even though the fighters have managers they are all under contract to UFC or Pride or some other entity who can match the fights that people want to see or sometimes they have tournaments to see who is the best whatever-weight. What a concept, huh? >>



Excellent point! I have been following MMA for since the mid to late 90's, and have seen those organizations (like UFC) come a long way. I remember when certain states would not allow some of the early UFC cards to take place within their borders - and while the matches aren't as brutal as they were then, it was for the good of the sport that it changed to allow for a larger audience.

Another thing about boxing - as a fan, you can't trust it as a sport. By that I mean, how many times have we paid $50 for fights that either last 1 or 2 rounds, or are just flat out terrible? The hype often exceeds the actual event. I doubt boxing can ever be what it used to be, and the MMA organizations are more than happy to pick up the slack.

pandrews

boxing = not saved..

it was a decent fight, but seriously, who wants to sit through 12 rounds of 2 dudes not hurting each other?..

blades3

I'm a huge boxing fan and thought the fight was very good, but I don't think it will "save" boxing. Boxing will continue to exist at the same level it is today or maybe slightly less, but it'll always be there. I thought De La Hoya looked as good as he ever has and Mayweather wasn't quite as sharp until the later rounds. After the 8th, he kinda figured him out and really started punishing him. I also thought Mayweather hurt De La Hoya a few times because his knees buckled slightly and he didn't respond right away, but Mayweather isn't really a knockout artist and he knew the only way he could lose the fight was to get into a brawl. I like watching fights like that because Mayweather is so technical and fast that it's a pleasure to see someone perfect the sport. He's arrogant and generally annoying, but he might be the best we've ever seen (Jones Jr. in his prime might have been better, Tyson before prison was really impressive).