Boxing and the Klitschkos are more popular in Europe

[Ben_London.]

From ESPN.com:

• The Klitschko brothers may not be able to gain much traction in the U.S., but the heavyweight title-holding brothers are stars in Germany, their adopted home country. Vitali Klitschko's title defense last Saturday, a ninth-round knockout of Juan Carlos Gomez in Stuttgart, was a huge hit in Germany. Besides a sellout crowd of 12,500, an astonishing 11.5 million television viewers watched it on RTL. That translates to 55 percent of the people watching TV at that time in Germany, Team Klitschko announced.

To put it in perspective, HBO's Feb. 28 broadcast of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz lightweight championship fight drew about 1.6 million viewers in the U.S.

I think a big reason for the decline in the popularity of boxing in the US and Canada is the poor media coverage. Not only are the biggest fights not on cable or free TV, we have very negative boxing commentators like Teddy Atlas, Steve Farhood and Wally Matthews, who turn the average viewer away. They are always complaining about one thing or another, or discrediting the fighters they don't like.

In contrast, the American MMA announcers tend to create excitement by being very positive and sounding excited about the fights. And the boxing commentators in Germany don't bash and discredit the Klitschkos the way Teddy Atlas and Max Kellerman always do.

[dchampishere]

i think you are right but i think the responce from this fight is a little misleading because both fighters turned pro and were groomed there, so the interest there was great. much more than a normal brother k opponent i think

[Pullcounter]

From ESPN.com:

• The Klitschko brothers may not be able to gain much traction in the U.S., but the heavyweight title-holding brothers are stars in Germany, their adopted home country. Vitali Klitschko's title defense last Saturday, a ninth-round knockout of Juan Carlos Gomez in Stuttgart, was a huge hit in Germany. Besides a sellout crowd of 12,500, an astonishing 11.5 million television viewers watched it on RTL. That translates to 55 percent of the people watching TV at that time in Germany, Team Klitschko announced.

To put it in perspective, HBO's Feb. 28 broadcast of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz lightweight championship fight drew about 1.6 million viewers in the U.S.

I think a big reason for the decline in the popularity of boxing in the US and Canada is the poor media coverage. Not only are the biggest fights not on cable or free TV, we have very negative boxing commentators like Teddy Atlas, Steve Farhood and Wally Matthews, who turn the average viewer away. They are always complaining about one thing or another, or discrediting the fighters they don't like.

In contrast, the American MMA announcers tend to create excitement by being very positive and sounding excited about the fights. And the boxing commentators in Germany don't bash and discredit the Klitschkos the way Teddy Atlas and Max Kellerman always do.

A couple questions:

what is RTL? is that public TV?

Boxing is a fringe sport in the US, how big is it in Germany? what's bigger than boxing in germany?

germany has adopted the klits, has the USA adopted jmm or diaz for their own?

what is better? Max and Teddy patronizing the audience like germans and mma announcers do or telling the audience what is really happening in the ring?

[Ben_London.]

i think you are right but i think the responce from this fight is a little misleading because both fighters turned pro and were groomed there, so the interest there was great. much more than a normal brother k opponent i think

But it's not only the Klitschkos who are popular in Germany. It's Abraham, Sturm, Huck, Dzinziruk, etc.

Nearly every week, boxing attracts more viewers in Germany, despite the much small population than the US.

There are many reasons for this, but I think ****ty commentators like Teddy Atlas are a major reason.

[Ben_London.]

A couple questions:

what is RTL? is that public TV?

what is better? Max and Teddy patronizing the audience like germans and mma announcers do or telling the audience what is really happening in the ring?

RTL comes as part of a cable package if you choose it, like ESPN, Showtime, and HBO.

Football (soccer) and several other sports are bigger than boxing in Europe. But boxing has a popularity similar to what it used to have in the US.

Max and Teddy don't tell the people what's really happening in the ring. They patronize the fighters they like (with Max, it's Zab Judah and Paul Williams) and bash the fighters they don't like (Klitschkos, Pavlik, Calzaghe, etc). They are NOT honest about what's happening in the ring, they come across as being very BIASED. And to make it even worse, neither has a good voice.

The German and MMA commentators don't favor or discredit fighters, they create excitement by being positive about ALL the fighters and the events.

[2501]

Too many sports to compete against in the US. I know Brittish and European boxers have more star power in their countries than US boxers do here.

[PittyPat]

The German and MMA commentators don't favor or discredit fighters, they create excitement by being positive about ALL the fighters and the events.

Ah, so totally the opposite of what 'fans' of the Klitschkos do, then.

[2501]

Ah, so totally the opposite of what 'fans' of the Klitschkos do, then.

right? any fighter who is suggested as a possible Klit opponent gets bashed on with the quickness by these guys.

"HE"S OVERATED AND A BUM! WHO HAS HE BEAT!?!?"

[THe TRiNiTY]

The Klitschko brothers' fans need to learn how to nuthug properly.

You need to build up ANY guy that your fighter fights. This way, you can always claim that the fight means more, and that the win matters. This way his resume looks better in the long run, and you don't have to contradict yourself by saying one week... 'This guys a bum.' And the next week you're saying.. 'He fights all the best fighters.'

Who cares if they're bums?

Jesus. Don't these people know ANYTHING?

[PittyPat]

I mean, there's vanilla nuthugging where someone will irrationally get behind their fighter and big him up to holy mighty... whilst still biggin up his opponents, for the desire to see a good boxing match. That, in turn, benefits all parties and the sport in general.

There are very few guys who I feel truly negative about (Chagaev, Valuev and a few others), and only then it's because they create negativity within the sport because either their promotional politics or ****ty styles. Their presence at the top rung of the HW ladder is a large part of the reason for all the needless hatred towards the division.

Whereas then... you have the genuinely hardcore nuthugging, which is evident in the Klitschko-supporting camp. As 2501 said, they'll talk down each and every opponent and subsequently end up negating the importance of their title defences. How detrimental is that? I don't think even the brothers themselves would want such negative 'fans' getting behind them.

If Wlad himself is taking Haye seriously enough to warrant a 3-match deal, then shouldn't his fans do so as well?