Proof that boxing is dead

[SOAzmayesh]

Terms of popularity? Wouldn't he have sold more ppvs than Floyd if that was true?
McGregors done, or his star power is done at least.
UFC has to be in the worst spot they've ever been in. No one cares about anything going on in that sport.

I remember when people knew who Liddell, Ortiz, Silva, Gsp, and Brock were.
Now, no one knows anyone outside of Conor. Jones is gonna fight Gus again, no one cares.

Floyd killed MMA

I don't think this is particularly true...
McGs next fight could be his biggest due to more people hearing his name.
'no publicity is bad publicity.'

 

[DeJulez]

I don't think this is particularly true...
McGs next fight could be his biggest due to more people hearing his name.
'no publicity is bad publicity.'

If you havent tuned in now, you're probably not going to.
Who didn't hear about Mayweather-McGregor but heard about Conor-Khabib?
If he does a rematch, than yea, it could be bigger. But how many times can he lose and ppl still show up to watch him?

 

[GolovkinGOAT]

WWF was pretty big at a time and Hulk Hogan was one of the most popular athletes at that time but.....
Mike Tyson was in the same era and, its hard to say anyone in the fight world was bigger than him. Hogan was close tho.

Hehe... i don’t know about Hogan being an “athlete” per say, maybe an ATG Juicer at best! I rather those years, I remember a dude called Andre The Giant to name a few. This type of wrestling was so big that various organizations existed and on different tv networks on a weekly basis! Those guys made good money, good for them.

The 80s were great times for me. For me I’m high school it was “who was better, Thomas or Jordan?” I always picked Thomas until I realized Jordan was the real deal that political interests put Thomas in his place and not on the Olympic team! Thomas must of felt salty and hell

 

[SOAzmayesh]

If you havent tuned in now, you're probably not going to.
Who didn't hear about Mayweather-McGregor but heard about Conor-Khabib?
If he does a rematch, than yea, it could be bigger. But how many times can he lose and ppl still show up to watch him?

Maybe the people that don't care too much for boxing but found the excitement of a brawl after the fight intriguing?

 

[DeJulez]

Maybe the people that don't care too much for boxing but found the excitement of a brawl after the fight intriguing?

I mean, maybe, but all those things happen in boxing all the time. We've had brawls at Mayweather fights, during the fight, in the ring.
Fury, had a giant brawl in the stands, during the fight, where he even stopped to watch.
Crawford was about an inch from landing a right hook/cross to Benavidezs chin yesterday during the staredown.
David Haye showed up and smashed a glass bottle across Chisoras face.

Those things can help, and also turn people away.

 

[Sir Punchalot]

"My sport is bigger than yours!!!§"

Seriously guys?

 

[Boxiana]

Conor Mcgregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov weren't the only top P4P fighters to compete this weekend. Two of the best P4P boxers in the world competed this weekend: Srisaket Sor Rungivsai and Naoya Inoue. Both are universally ranked top 10 P4P in the boxing world: http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/...s-terence-crawford-leapfrogs-gennady-golovkin

Despite them being two of the best P4P boxers in the world, literally nobody gave a shit about their fights. In fairness, Sor Rungvisai had a gimme opponent at ONEFc. However, Naoya Inoue took on a legitimate opponent on Payano, with Inoue scoring his second straight 1st round KO in brutal fashion.



This is not an anti-boxing thread. It's just shows the sad state of boxing that you can have a guy like Naoya Inoue competing, who should be a superstar, and nobody gives a shit.

Guess what, loads of people in Thailand watched the SRR fight.

"According to data from Nielsen, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES posted excellent viewership numbers, drawing over 25 million viewers, while setting a record-breaking peak TV ratings share of 58.5% in Thailand, and registering similarly strong numbers across the region in Asia."

Its clear YDKSAB, but plenty of others do.

https://www.boxingscene.com/srisaket-sor-rungvisai-vs-iran-diaz-generates-big-ratings--132670

 

[FightGuyOpenMind]

Terms of popularity? Wouldn't he have sold more ppvs than Floyd if that was true?
McGregors done, or his star power is done at least.
UFC has to be in the worst spot they've ever been in. No one cares about anything going on in that sport.

I remember when people knew who Liddell, Ortiz, Silva, Gsp, and Brock were.
Now, no one knows anyone outside of Conor. Jones is gonna fight Gus again, no one cares.

Floyd killed MMA

I can accept that. However, I will offer you another way to look at popularity.

Popularity by definition: "the quality or state of being liked, enjoyed, accepted, or practiced by a large number of people."
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/popularity)

PPV sales is one measurement of popularity. Many people watch Floyd fights to see him lose. I don't think that points to his popularity. At least not in a favorable view. If he was popular he wouldn't be so heavily criticized when he clearly wins fights.

The press conference tour McGregor and Mayweather did showed who had the stronger fan base present.

McGregor does something to his fans. They talk like him, dress like him, walk like him. He appears to have more of a cult following than Floyd.
If you go to the UFC discussions on this site you'll see how Conor's fans defend him even to the point of being irrational.

Boxing will always have a fan base. MMA will always have a fan base.

As far as being more mainstream, I think MMA in America is more widely spoken about or accepted. As you said, that may have largely been based on McGregor, but it's something I've noticed nonetheless in general conversation.

 

[DeJulez]

I can accept that. However, I will offer you another way to look at popularity.

Popularity by definition: "the quality or state of being liked, enjoyed, accepted, or practiced by a large number of people."
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/popularity)

PPV sales is one measurement of popularity. Many people watch Floyd fights to see him lose. I don't think that points to his popularity. At least not in a favorable view. If he was popular he wouldn't be so heavily criticized when he clearly wins fights.

The press conference tour McGregor and Mayweather did showed who had the stronger fan base present.

McGregor does something to his fans. They talk like him, dress like him, walk like him. He appears to have more of a cult following than Floyd.
If you go to the UFC discussions on this site you'll see how Conor's fans defend him even to the point of being irrational.

Boxing will always have a fan base. MMA will always have a fan base.

As far as being more mainstream, I think MMA in America is more widely spoken about or accepted. As you said, that may have largely been based on McGregor, but it's something I've noticed nonetheless in general conversation.

Mayweathers more popular in the aspect of being known.
I can't remember a fight where Floyd was the fan favorite. Generally its the other guy he's facing with the fan base. Hatton, Canelo, Oscar, Pacquiao.
I think the Zab Judah fight was split down the middle but alot of that was because it was very big fight in the Hip Hop community so you had alot of fans of both guys there. And Toby Keith was there for some reason as well.

I also think some of its racial. A brash Irish guy always gets the people going especially if they are Irish or Irish Americans. I think if Conor was a black guy he wouldn't have as many people on his side.

But we need to also include global aspects of boxing and mma, and boxing blows it out of the water.
Canelo had like 34m people watch his fight with GGG in Mexico alone. That's alot of people.
Canelo is bigger in Mexico than Conor is globally and the numbers would show that boxing is still bigger than mma in America

 

[bad seed]

Boxing had always been a niche sport...

When’s Hulk Hogan was popular in the 80-90s that world of entertainment was more popular than boxing. Venue attendance supported this

Boxing was the biggest sport of its day from the Jack Johnson to Joe Louis era. Louis vs Schmeling had an estimated 70 million live listeners for its radio broadcast. Which is even more impressive when you consider the smaller US population at the time.

 

[FightGuyOpenMind]

Mayweathers more popular in the aspect of being known.
I can't remember a fight where Floyd was the fan favorite. Generally its the other guy he's facing with the fan base. Hatton, Canelo, Oscar, Pacquiao.
I think the Zab Judah fight was split down the middle but alot of that was because it was very big fight in the Hip Hop community so you had alot of fans of both guys there. And Toby Keith was there for some reason as well.

I also think some of its racial. A brash Irish guy always gets the people going especially if they are Irish or Irish Americans. I think if Conor was a black guy he wouldn't have as many people on his side.

But we need to also include global aspects of boxing and mma, and boxing blows it out of the water.
Canelo had like 34m people watch his fight with GGG in Mexico alone. That's alot of people.
Canelo is bigger in Mexico than Conor is globally and the numbers would show that boxing is still bigger than mma in America

Floyd is hardly the fan favorite. His PPV success comes largely from an opponent with a fan base as you mentioned. His numbers were lackluster against Berto. Think he did less PPV buys than they even projected.

According to the site linked below, the Berto fight did the lowest of his numbers since his fight against Baldomir in 2006 which was his third career PPV bout.
(https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...es-will-reach-550000-to-600000-buys/99766208/)

Boxing on a global scale? I can see it being bigger than MMA.

I don't think boxing is dead. Not now, not ever. I think the popularity aspect comes from what the general public in America is most concerned about. Bring up boxing in a conversation, and I can almost guarantee if you're not with boxing purists someone will shift the talk to MMA. It is annoying at times, but it seems to happen without fail. lol

America is just one demographic.

It also can potentially have racial undertones, speaking on Mayweather's popularity. My friend and I were talking, and he made the statement that if Floyd were white he would be a national treasure and probably would have been invited to the White House by now. That is a whole other can of beans to open.

I can understand your points.

 

[Bamboozled]

Yeah, well WWE is doing a show in saudi arabia making yuge money and they don't even have to sell tickets.

WWE > Boxing=/=MMA

 

[DeJulez]

Floyd is hardly the fan favorite. His PPV success comes largely from an opponent with a fan base as you mentioned. His numbers were lackluster against Berto. Think he did less PPV buys than they even projected.

According to the site linked below, the Berto fight did the lowest of his numbers since his fight against Baldomir in 2006 which was his third career PPV bout.
(https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...es-will-reach-550000-to-600000-buys/99766208/)

Boxing on a global scale? I can see it being bigger than MMA.

I don't think boxing is dead. Not now, not ever. I think the popularity aspect comes from what the general public in America is most concerned about. Bring up boxing in a conversation, and I can almost guarantee if you're not with boxing purists someone will shift the talk to MMA. It is annoying at times, but it seems to happen without fail. lol

America is just one demographic.

It also can potentially have racial undertones, speaking on Mayweather's popularity. My friend and I were talking, and he made the statement that if Floyd were white he would be a national treasure and probably would have been invited to the White House by now. That is a whole other can of beans to open.

I can understand your points.

When we talk about the race issue, its not racism, I just think white people identify with white people on a more cultural level.
I've heard black people go "I'm rooting for the black guy" more than i've heard white people say "I'm rooting for the white guy".
Generally I'll hear a white guy go "I'm rooting for the Irish guy since I'm Irish". But honestly I kinda want a white American to do well.
I think white people should too. I wouldnt be offended if some white guy went "I'm cheering for the white guy" since there really isn't too many out there in the boxing world anymore, sorta the reason I like Joe Smith Jr. I think that would bring in alot of white fans who haven't been watching as much.

On a global scale boxing is 10x more popular than MMA. Only somewhere like Brazil, is probably one of the few countries that has mma over boxing, and thats simply because of the Gracies.

America its honestly about the same except that a big boxing match will overshadow a big mma match, but they are very close in popularity.

 

[FightGuyOpenMind]

When we talk about the race issue, its not racism, I just think white people identify with white people on a more cultural level.
I've heard black people go "I'm rooting for the black guy" more than i've heard white people say "I'm rooting for the white guy".
Generally I'll hear a white guy go "I'm rooting for the Irish guy since I'm Irish". But honestly I kinda want a white American to do well.
I think white people should too. I wouldnt be offended if some white guy went "I'm cheering for the white guy" since there really isn't too many out there in the boxing world anymore, sorta the reason I like Joe Smith Jr. I think that would bring in alot of white fans who haven't been watching as much.

On a global scale boxing is 10x more popular than MMA. Only somewhere like Brazil, is probably one of the few countries that has mma over boxing, and thats simply because of the Gracies.

America its honestly about the same except that a big boxing match will overshadow a big mma match, but they are very close in popularity.

I want the best guy to win. I don't care about their melanin or pigment. Boxing is a sport where you should stand on your own accomplishments. Most things I think should be judged that way, but people will find strength, and division in numbers however they can. If it's not white v black, it's Irish v Italian, Chinese v Japanese, North v South, Block A v Block B, tall v short. There will always be a division.

I don't know if I agree with white people identifying with white people on a cultural level. Eminem would probably disagree. Professor would probably disagree. There are outliers, and case by case situations. White people don't operate from one central nucleus. I formulate my own opinions.

If a group of people rally behind a person because they're seeking some cultural dominance it robs the sport of what it is......two men fighting. If you're a boxer fighting another boxer you probably have more culturally in common with the guy you're fighting than the fans who know nothing of the day to day hardships you experience. Countries, flags, rhetoric all surrounds it but it's two men fighting each other. You have to be your own man in there, and that is why I like the fighting arts.

I don't know about boxing's popularity on a global scale too much. If MMA is only bigger than boxing in Brazil I won't argue. I have nothing to present at the moment to the contrary.

 

[HelpYouFall]

Sheesh I wonder why it's always the insecure millenials from the heavies who make these threads and never the other way around.

 

[manlyseaeagle]

Boxing needs another Mike Tyson figure again to draw big.

Eh Boxing is going through a golden age right around the world from Canada, USA, UK, Germany, Poland, Russia and ex Iron Curtain countries alongside Mexico, Thailand, Japan etc etc etc

 

[Philtard]

I dont think you've watched boxing this year and are cherry picking.

Becasue I think although khabib vs Conor was massive (and to me was one of the events of the year)

The consistency in great fights this year has been in boxings favour..

 

[Philtard]

their fights were good but still does not compare to a top level MMA fight where anything can happen, someone can go stiff at the blink of an eye, a submission or takedown can come, etc

you just knew those guys were going decision

Yea. But thats your favouritism towards the rules set (which of course you're entitled to have) but in no way shape or form does it speak of boxing dying.

 

[Fisticuffa]

lol what an absolute mong the TS & mma fans in general are



Which MMA guy is getting his face plastered all over Times Square (Shibuya) & throughout NYC Metro (Shinagawa station in Tokyo, Umeda station in Osaka etc)?

Rizin's highest PPV sales was due to a kickboxing fight between Tenshin & Takeru. Tenshin then switched over to boxing even though he was getting offers from MMA orgs for the reasons mentioned here:

News - Nasukawa Tenshin: Boxing has an incredible level of trust from the Japanese public

Most in the West know Tenshin as the guy who got stopped by Floyd in an exhibition but he is an elite Kickboxer who did big ratings in Japan & his biggest Kickboxing fight sold 500K buys there (impressive because PPV isn't a thing in Japan like in the West). So I got curious on why he switched...

forums.sherdog.com

Inoue is one of the few fighters in combat sports who can carry a stadium event on his star power alone alongside Canelo, Fury, & AJ

100,000 people were in the lottery to watch him fight live in the 15K Ariake arena against Tapales which is why his next fight is said to be at Tokyo Dome which has a 55K capacity & last hosted boxing with Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas

As I keep saying, if you measure everything by what's popular in your American suburb you will get the shock of your life when you venture out into the world

 

[Blastbeat]

lol what an absolute mong the TS & mma fans in general are



Which MMA guy is getting his face plastered all over Times Square (Shibuya) & throughout NYC Metro (Shinagawa station in Tokyo, Umeda station in Osaka etc)?

Rizin's highest PPV sales was due to a kickboxing fight between Tenshin & Takeru. Tenshin then switched over to boxing even though he was getting offers from MMA orgs for the reasons mentioned here:

News - Nasukawa Tenshin: Boxing has an incredible level of trust from the Japanese public

Most in the West know Tenshin as the guy who got stopped by Floyd in an exhibition but he is an elite Kickboxer who did big ratings in Japan & his biggest Kickboxing fight sold 500K buys there (impressive because PPV isn't a thing in Japan like in the West). So I got curious on why he switched...

forums.sherdog.com

Inoue is one of the few fighters in combat sports who can carry a stadium event on his star power alone alongside Canelo, Fury, & AJ

100,000 people were in the lottery to watch him fight live in the 15K Ariake arena against Tapales which is why his next fight is said to be at Tokyo Dome which has a 55K capacity & last hosted boxing with Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas

As I keep saying, if you measure everything by what's popular in your American suburb you will get the shock of your life when you venture out into the world

I wish Inoue could sell like that here in the USA. Would be an absolute pleasure to see him perform live