Is US boxing on the decline?

[champion4ever]

Sure we have big fights every now and then, but it's not consistent in regularity, is it?

Fans probably need more of Probox TV fights or similar so we have more fighters to follow.

Where have you been? Boxing has been on the decline stateside for the past 25 years now.

The jump the shark moment came in 1999 with the Holyfield/Lewis I fight. Where most casual fans thought that Lennox Lewis deserved the victory.

However, he was only awarded a Draw. From that point on boxing has ceased from becoming a mainstream sport anymore in the U.S.

It’s now a niche sport. Not just here but all over the world its popularity is waning.

For the exception of ESPN;They have even taken the sport completely off of all television. Now you can only stream it online or over the internet.

[TelMex]

The ESPN TV app buries boxing in the main menu.

[Smash]

people say that but someone recently did up a list of top boxing prospects if i remember & most of them were americans

[TMLT87]

I dont think the current situation is much different now to what its been at pretty much any point post-Floyd/Pac tbh. And the few years in the mid 00s just before Floyd and Pac blew up werent much better than now either.

Theres no need to worry honestly - Tank, Ryan, Haney, Shakur, Boots, Teo, Ortiz, Zayas, Berlanga, Anderson, Carrington etc are all in their 20s, Moton even younger.

UFC has replaced it as the mainstream combat sport.

American representation in the UFC is actually much worse than in boxing now. They have to invent fake belts (BMF title) and artificially push American fighters to title opportunities to keep the illusion going. Next example being an All American "world title" fight where the "champion" has only ever had one fight in the division hes a champion of (and 2 fights total in the last 5 years) vs a challenger who hasnt won a fight in over 4 years.

[Elheath]

people say that but someone recently did up a list of top boxing prospects if i remember & most of them were americans

IMO a big reason top boxing prospects are mostly American is because promoters are so deadset in preserving undefeated record that they don't graduate the prospect status until much later in their career.

Random example but Junto Nakatani is 26 years old, which is younger than Bruce Carrington and Boots Ennis. However Carrington gets considered a prospect and Ennis was a prospect until recently, but no one will call Nakatani a top Japanese prospect right now.

[djtmal]

Boxing sucks.

Thank Floyd Mayweather for the current state, with all the cherrypicking and bogus ppv. Matches that should have been on regular tv.

[Chibelle]

That's an inaccurate opinion, respectfully.

Boxing is the number 4 most popular sport in the US - Harris Poll

Great news for real Boxing fans. Although no longer centered in the United States, Boxing is the 4th most popular athletic spectator sport in the US, the largest revenue contributing nation! (And the three that lead it are largely provincial sports).





By Karl Freitag

Hardcore boxing fans tend to gnash their teeth at the recent spate of exhibitions featuring former boxing legends, MMA fighters competing in boxing matches, combination boxing/Verzuz events, and Internet “influencers” squaring off in the ring. But there is a very bright side.

In the most recent Harris Poll, boxing now ranks as the fourth most-popular sport in the United States, behind only football, baseball, and basketball. And ahead of MMA. Ahead of ice hockey. Ahead of soccer. Ahead of tennis. Ahead of golf.

This is rather startling considering boxing wasn’t even in the top ten previously. And perhaps even more shocking is the fact that boxing is no longer just your grandfather’s favorite sport. Young people are flocking to the sweet science, even preferring boxing to baseball!

Harris poll? That poll looks like Top Rank paid for it.

I mean you could just see earnings, media coverage, social media, forums, celebrity status / mind share, etc. Who did Harris polled? A boxing gym? I can’t remember the last time a major boxing event was in the first 5 minutes of ESPN Sportscenter or covered in a 7/11 PM news coverage. Last time any of the boxer as a late night guest. Went viral. Oh wait… Jake Paul. That is probably the most “important” American boxer right now. Sheezaz.

it is just not in the forefront of the American mind anymore. I love boxing since I watched Hagler v Hearns with my grandfather. But it is a sports in a decline here in the US. It is not top 3, not top 5. Maybe top 10 when there is a major PPV. But in any given day? Nope. No one cares. It is healthy in some nations which is keeping it alive.

[tyler87432f]

That's an inaccurate opinion, respectfully.

Boxing is the number 4 most popular sport in the US - Harris Poll

Great news for real Boxing fans. Although no longer centered in the United States, Boxing is the 4th most popular athletic spectator sport in the US, the largest revenue contributing nation! (And the three that lead it are largely provincial sports).





By Karl Freitag

Hardcore boxing fans tend to gnash their teeth at the recent spate of exhibitions featuring former boxing legends, MMA fighters competing in boxing matches, combination boxing/Verzuz events, and Internet “influencers” squaring off in the ring. But there is a very bright side.

In the most recent Harris Poll, boxing now ranks as the fourth most-popular sport in the United States, behind only football, baseball, and basketball. And ahead of MMA. Ahead of ice hockey. Ahead of soccer. Ahead of tennis. Ahead of golf.

This is rather startling considering boxing wasn’t even in the top ten previously. And perhaps even more shocking is the fact that boxing is no longer just your grandfather’s favorite sport. Young people are flocking to the sweet science, even preferring boxing to baseball!

The faith is a warrior's religion—a rigorous belief system that fosters discipline and resilience in its followers.

[Willow The Wisp]

Harris poll? That poll looks like Top Rank paid for it.

I mean you could just see earnings, media coverage, social media, forums, celebrity status / mind share, etc. Who did Harris polled? A boxing gym? I can’t remember the last time a major boxing event was in the first 5 minutes of ESPN Sportscenter or covered in a 7/11 PM news coverage. Last time any of the boxer as a late night guest. Went viral. Oh wait… Jake Paul. That is probably the most “important” American boxer right now. Sheezaz.

it is just not in the forefront of the American mind anymore. I love boxing since I watched Hagler v Hearns with my grandfather. But it is a sports in a decline here in the US. It is not top 3, not top 5. Maybe top 10 when there is a major PPV. But in any given day? Nope. No one cares. It is healthy in some nations which is keeping it alive.

What I'm seeing here is this: There are facts that are collected through scientific means, and then; there are options that are based on the impressions that individuals gather based on what they choose to be exposed to.
Here, we are examining how different the two things can be.

The UFC, owned by TKO Group Holdings, Inc, which markets both WWE Wresting and it’s close cousin, the UFC; is far, far more effectively marketed in the United States, than is Boxing; which is marketed by a collection of unconnected, self interested promotional companies who often sabotage each others businesses.
I imagine that THIS is the basis of your error in conflicting with an official Harris Poll; one of the leading data collection companies in North America.

[Chibelle]

What I'm seeing here is this: There are facts that are collected through scientific means, and then; there are options that are based on the impressions that individuals gather based on what they choose to be exposed to.
Here, we are examining how different the two things can be.

The UFC, owned by TKO Group Holdings, Inc, which markets both WWE Wresting and it’s close cousin, the UFC; is far, far more effectively marketed in the United States, than is Boxing; which is marketed by a collection of unconnected, self interested promotional companies who often sabotage each others businesses.
I imagine that THIS is the basis of your error in conflicting with an official Harris Poll; one of the leading data collection companies in North America.

With all due respect, the Harris Poll questioned only about 2K individuals. While it is enough to validate the poll, how accurate it is can be questioned.

let’s say Harris is correct and boxing is popular. What other evidence is there other than this poll that affirms this?

in the same poll, do you know who is highest most recognized active boxer ? At #10 Jake Paul. Above Canelo, Crawford, and Wilder.


this poll reeks of a paid poll by a boxing institution so they can publish a press release.

660 of 2K people say they like boxing and their most popular active boxer is Jake Paul. Come on.