Boxing's popularity 50 years ago?

[GJC]

I think that between Marciano and Ali the sport was at a low relative to before and after, but in much better shape than it is today (at least in the US). I think in SE asia it is pretty high and it certainly is in the former communist countries. Problem is that the depth of knowledge accumulated in the US gyms through the last century is most likely going to vanish.

Think it was just a matter that we had some huge names such as Charles, Moore, SRR, Pep etc fade away. Guys like that are bound to leave a void, also post war and 50s most entertainment was booming.

[StarshipTrooper]

As usual, you are barking up the wrong tree as usual....... You may be close as far as East Asia goes,,,,, but as I said, George Bracken or George Barnes or the great Jack Carroll and especially Vic Patrick and Burns were superstars here...... and there has never been any more famous and loved as Darcy in Australia... He is the boxing mega-star of our history. --------------------------- In the USA and Britain, you are also way off track,..... boxing in those places was 25 times bigger..... stop looking at the neon signs of Vegas and get real.

Back then fights in the US used to sell out Yankee stadium. These days Floyd Mayweather can't sell out the seating equivalent of a high school gym. PPV numbers? PPV viewership is miniscule next to the number of people who used to watch boxing on free TV. CBS and NBC had weekly fight cards ffs.

Poet

[Rockin']

Back then fights in the US used to sell out Yankee stadium. These days Floyd Mayweather can't sell out the seating equivalent of a high school gym. PPV numbers? PPV viewership is miniscule next to the number of people who used to watch boxing on free TV. CBS and NBC had weekly fight cards ffs.

Poet

television killed the club shows..........Rockin'

[wmute]

Think it was just a matter that we had some huge names such as Charles, Moore, SRR, Pep etc fade away. Guys like that are bound to leave a void, also post war and 50s most entertainment was booming.

Charles was never a big name unfortunately, not on the scale of others. That being said, it was a particularly bad slump because of the IBC scandal which I think became public sometimes 53-55 (please experts correct me), and kept going and getting worse for a while.

[SCtrojansbaby]

He most definitely was. Does the average Joe recognise Shaquill O'Neill, Roger Federer, David Beckham or Micahel Jordan more than Floyd, Klits or Pac? I'd say an emphatic yes.

MJ is for sure but everybody else I would say no.

As usual, you are barking up the wrong tree as usual....... You may be close as far as East Asia goes,,,,, but as I said, George Bracken or George Barnes or the great Jack Carroll and especially Vic Patrick and Burns were superstars here...... and there has never been any more famous and loved as Darcy in Australia... He is the boxing mega-star of our history. --------------------------- In the USA and Britain, you are also way off track,..... boxing in those places was 25 times bigger..... stop looking at the neon signs of Vegas and get real.

Who said anything about Australia or the UK?

Also I know Danny Green's fight with Tarver did pretty well over there and I know Mundine has a pretty big following(mostly as villian I would suppose).

[paulf]

i really hate that i always seem to come across UFC(championship fights none the less) on tv everynight but never boxing

it's sad and dissapointing

And that's why the new generation is embracing UFC and not Boxing. I mean, it's completely unrealistic to think that boxing is going to continue to be a relevant major American sport when so few people have access to the fights?

Think about how massive the NFL or NBA's popularity would shrink if the playoffs and Superbowl/Finals were on PPV. Or what if the games were only on HBO?

You wouldn't have kids walking around wearing Lebron and Favre jerseys. It would be a fringe sport just like boxing is becoming.

[McGoorty]

Back then fights in the US used to sell out Yankee stadium. These days Floyd Mayweather can't sell out the seating equivalent of a high school gym. PPV numbers? PPV viewership is miniscule next to the number of people who used to watch boxing on free TV. CBS and NBC had weekly fight cards ffs.

Poet

Very true my freind, and as a fella who can't afford Pay per View, it's always about catching up.... and youtube is a minefield for trying to find a decent video.

[McGoorty]

MJ is for sure but everybody else I would say no.





Who said anything about Australia or the UK?

Also I know Danny Green's fight with Tarver did pretty well over there and I know Mundine has a pretty big following(mostly as villian I would suppose).

The title of the thread implies the world,.... not just where you come from, where did you think we were talking about ???. And you are wrong in your address to the other poster,.. Those other names are bigger and so is Shane Warne,.... yes him, the next Mr. Elizabeth Hurley......... Maybe big-time boxers should hook up with a Hollywood star more often,... And Warney is regarded by 3 quarters of the world as the greatest spin bowler to ever live, so now you know who he is.......... and as usual you are barking up the wrong tree, I wish an Aussie Drop-Bear would maul you (drop-bears do exist, just that nobodies ever caught one on film.... they are transparent and 24 feet tall and weigh 3 and a half ton, and they don't like trolls.),..... they live up trees BTW.

[McGoorty]

And that's why the new generation is embracing UFC and not Boxing. I mean, it's completely unrealistic to think that boxing is going to continue to be a relevant major American sport when so few people have access to the fights?

Think about how massive the NFL or NBA's popularity would shrink if the playoffs and Superbowl/Finals were on PPV. Or what if the games were only on HBO?

You wouldn't have kids walking around wearing Lebron and Favre jerseys. It would be a fringe sport just like boxing is becoming.

I agree with that,, and the wording was perfect. The same would happen here to Rugby League if it became totally Pay-per-View, Australian rules football would take over my entire country, Rules is a game I can't stand (no real NSW or QLD'er could ever watch that, we are Rugby League country). Even free TV has a devastating effect on sport attendances, the RL record attendance in Australia was way back in the 60's... and in boxing worldwide, the world record attendance was for the Dempsey V Capentier,....... back in the early 20's..... almost One Hundred years ago. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The U.F.C. ??... Man I'd hate to see boxing go that way. One single man, a GIANT egotist, has ALL the power in the sport, if boxing ever descended to that fate it would be the total pits. Imagine Dana White as the be-all and end-all in boxing, --------- A Mayweather or a Pacquiao have ANY DISAGREEMENT whatsoever with this dude and it's goodbye,.... never seen or heard of again, we'd see a "World Champion" who is a pretender at all times. Just think of all those HW's who were called UFC World Champion while Fedor Emilianenko was frozen out (because he wanted to be paid properly for his status)............. Fedor is the unquestioned P4P GOAT of all MMA. But if you listen to that White ****head, Fedor is a complete nobody. A Dana White in boxing would see only Brown-noser's and ****lickers,.... any real men will be playing Rugby League..... the toughest team sport on the planet, with a major injury rate 10 times worse than boxing or MMA. -------- To the Pommy's...... is Wigan going to win the Superleague yet again ????

[SCtrojansbaby]

The title of the thread implies the world,.... not just where you come from, where did you think we were talking about ???. And you are wrong in your address to the other poster,.. Those other names are bigger and so is Shane Warne,.... yes him, the next Mr. Elizabeth Hurley......... Maybe big-time boxers should hook up with a Hollywood star more often,... And Warney is regarded by 3 quarters of the world as the greatest spin bowler to ever live, so now you know who he is.......... and as usual you are barking up the wrong tree, I wish an Aussie Drop-Bear would maul you (drop-bears do exist, just that nobodies ever caught one on film.... they are transparent and 24 feet tall and weigh 3 and a half ton, and they don't like trolls.),..... they live up trees BTW.

You quoted me and told me I was wrong and I said nothing about the UK or Australia in the post