Popularity of peak boxing vs Soccer (imo it was as big as soccer)

Jonny Ninja said:
So you’re that boxing was bigger than football before it was a global game! That’s fair enough!
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Not taking the piss saying it was always viewed as a girls sport, it's just how it always was over here. Even with heavy promotion they still haven't been able to make it popular. Personally I never followed any code of football, footballers are mostly good for punching at the pub.
 
eternaldarkness said:
Not taking the piss saying it was always viewed as a girls sport, it's just how it always was over here. Even with heavy promotion they still haven't been able to make it popular. Personally I never followed any code of football, footballers are mostly good for punching at the pub.
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It’s viewed as a girls sport here as well by rugby fans. I can’t even really deny it much of the time. How can you defend diving and simulation to get players sent off/penalties.
However it isn’t a physical sport like Aussie rules or rugby, it’s not supposed to be. I can understand why fans who want some violence in the sports think it’s a game did pussys
 
Jonny Ninja said:
So you’re saying that boxing was bigger than football before it was a global game! That’s fair enough!

But if you compare boxing’s golden era with football today, there’s absolutely no comparison, and there’s no real point even discussing it
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Or course you can't compare them. Humans hadn't overrun them world back then and the population would have been nowhere near as big. Also they boxed in the original Olympics and the colosseum. Boxing has always been bigger than soccer.
 
eternaldarkness said:
Not taking the piss saying it was always viewed as a girls sport, it's just how it always was over here. Even with heavy promotion they still haven't been able to make it popular. Personally I never followed any code of football, footballers are mostly good for punching at the pub.
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It’s cus you Aussies love to project your macho persona lol
I’m glad you’ve never taken the sport serious, you fckers are generally good at everything, even with your relatively small population. Same with the kiwis. Must be something in the water
 
eternaldarkness said:
Or course you can't compare them. Humans hadn't overrun them world back then and the population would have been nowhere near as big. Also they boxed in the original Olympics and the colosseum. Boxing has always been bigger than soccer.
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So is chariot racing also bigger than football?
 
eternaldarkness said:
Yer never got that one myself. Although when was the last time someone died playing soccer? There was a casualty in cricket in Australia a while ago.
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Portuguese goalkeeper died last year colliding with a defender. But it is rare
Normally heart attack fatalities whilst on the pitch
Cricket is a terrible game. Any game that can take 5 days to complete and can still end in a draw, is not the game for me. Fuck cricket
 
Jonny Ninja said:
So is chariot racing also bigger than football?
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Just messi'n with ya. I know football is an absolute world phenomenon, but I think you should watch the documentary The Fight about Louis vs schmelling you might be surprised, pretty well half the "modern" world stopped for that fight.
 
Jonny Ninja said:
Portuguese goalkeeper died last year colliding with a defender. But it is rare
Normally heart attack fatalities whilst on the pitch
Cricket is a terrible game. Any game that can take 5 days to complete and can still end in a draw, is not the game for me. Fuck cricket
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Couldn't agree more. But they seem to like it for some reason over here.
 
eternaldarkness said:
And Australia and America have historically never cared much for soccer. Boxing was way bigger in both countries than soccer ever dreamed of being.
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Yeah but Australia and America don't make up the world, not even close. The World Cup is only matched by the Olympics in terms of world wide viewership but the Olympics is made up of 26 sports. Boxing just doesn't come close. Football is the biggest sport in the world, and this is coming from someone that can't stand it. I think it's a game made up of prima donnas who fall over when touched by a wet leaf.
 
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iwillbebackin3weeks said:
LOL

even non combat sport fans knew/know Ali.

I know what you mean, but boxing (peak) was the only combat sport that came close to soccer.
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KNOW IS A HUGE OVERSTATEMENT.
They know the name Ali... but every time i was watching a boxing fight on my phone or laptop in public only question i was getting "is that ali?"... they dont know how he looks like ffs! just by name.

but no, definitely Basketball, Tennis, and a lot of other sports are followed more than boxing cause it's stuff most grow up with or do at school. Who's school kids grow up watching boxing or play it all their school and college life? It's a huge reach, the whole world isn't cuba...
 
There's no comparison. Football is bigger than any sport by a massive margin and it always has been well by always I'm only talking in the last 100 years, maybe a bit more.

The only people who don't realise this are Americans, Canadians and possibly New Zealanders and Aussies as that's the only parts of the world where football isn't king by a very long way. Oh and India, Pakistan, Bangladesh too where cricket is their football.
 
aries said:
Yeah but Australia and America don't make up the world, not even close. The World Cup is only matched by the Olympics in terms of world wide viewership but the Olympics is made up of 26 sports. Boxing just doesn't come close. Football is the biggest sport in the world, and this is coming from someone that can't stand it. I think it's a game made up of prima donnas who fall over when touched by a wet leaf.
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The statement was that boxing at it's peak was nearly as popular as soccer. I disagree I think a lot of people don't realise what a cultural impact the likes of Dempsey had.
 
KillerIsBack V2 said:
KNOW IS A HUGE OVERSTATEMENT.
They know the name Ali... but every time i was watching a boxing fight on my phone or laptop in public only question i was getting "is that ali?"... they dont know how he looks like ffs! just by name.

but no, definitely Basketball, Tennis, and a lot of other sports are followed more than boxing cause it's stuff most grow up with or do at school. Who's school kids grow up watching boxing or play it all their school and college life? It's a huge reach, the whole world isn't cuba...
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We were talking about historically. And a lot of people used to box back in to day. It was part of the school curriculum.
 
eternaldarkness said:
We were talking about historically. And a lot of people used to box back in to day. It was part of the school curriculum.
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Huh, where?
For example if we're talking UK, it was banned from PE classes in 1962.
where I live, it never existed, same as most places I believe.

I didn't dig deep into the states side, but probably that wouldn't make a difference either. but There's wrestling all over the states in schools.

But definitely alot of sports are more popular than boxing in any century in human history.

Honestly, anybody who wants to support the bold claim in the OP, should have some serious statistics work to provide. TS didn't though, and nobody else either so...
 
KillerIsBack V2 said:
Huh, where?
For example if we're talking UK, it was banned from PE classes in 1962.
where I live, it never existed, same as most places I believe.

I didn't dig deep into the states side, but probably that wouldn't make a difference either. but There's wrestling all over the states in schools.

But definitely alot of sports are more popular than boxing in any century in human history.

Honestly, anybody who wants to support the bold claim in the OP, should have some serious statistics work to provide. TS didn't though, and nobody else either so...
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Just wondering what era do you think boxing was most popular in?
 
1920's was boxing at its biggest in North America. That and baseball were the 2 biggest sports. Babe Ruth and Demspey.
 
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