When did boxing go downhill?

[Linx]

Boxing (especially Heavyweights) started to go down hill when other sports such as Football (American, Soccer, AFL, Rugby), Basketball, Baseball, etc started to get paid much more than boxing/boxers. Parents would rather have their kids play a "safer" sport than boxing and also star athletes who may have become great boxers, could have been drawn to another sport. This is why the Heavyweight division is so **** right now because all the talent for big guys are drawn away from this sport.

[fistlegend]

hmm yes true, but alot of people from the '******s'[which were alot of black boxers come from] are not good at football or any other sport come to boxing, because it relies on them to survive, which is what they have been doing all their life in the ******s, they won't be stuck up or have 'pride' so they will have the heart, like joe frazier who came from the ******s.

[habZ]

All the big guys are drawn into football or basketball.

[fistlegend]

true, but most of the black boxers are either from ******s or are school dropouts

[ceboxer15]

the heavyweight divison at the moment is very dull and boring, no amount of publicity can make it more interesting, unless another ali or tyson comes along

we may and may not see another tyson, but there is no way that we'll see another ali. ali was too great, too fast, and was very funny. a fighter like that is a very rare one, hopefully in the near future we'll see one.

[Linx]

we may and may not see another tyson, but there is no way that we'll see another ali. ali was too great, too fast, and was very funny. a fighter like that is a very rare one, hopefully in the near future we'll see one.

Actually we are probably more likely to see a Ali than a Tyson. With Heavyweights getting bigger and bigger, Tyson is probably the last of the great sall heavyweights under 6 feet.

[Dr.Depravity]

The birth of Don King for starters. Then when Tyson flaked out and switched trainers, then lost the HW championship. That was the end of an era. Ever since there hasn't been a completely dominant HW.

[blockhead]

ppv has made boxing less accessable than it used to be. not as many people have the ability to watch so interest has declined. it is very sad considering the power and inspiration that the sport provides to people who struggle.

[Tha Greatest]

$50...
I doubt it will last forever..

Rockin1, TV has been around since like the 1940's hahaha

No way has tv ****ed it up..

PPVS! **** PPVS!

[j]

i disagree with tv killing boxing as a prominant american sport. long before tv's were invented, people were glued to the radio. alslo, back then they had theater's with video from big fights that raked in a lot of money.

$50 ppv's, however, don't help. don king doesn't help by segmenting the heavyweight division. promoters, politics, and excessive amounts of money have hurt the sport. egotism as well i would add and of course racism.