Is Boxing Lost in America?
By Space Coast Daily // January 20, 2019
Long gone are the days of Heavyweight greats like Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali. Boxers like those demanded recognition and fame to the level sports stars have today like Lebron James and Tom Brady.
Since the fall of Tyson in fact, popularity in Heavyweight boxing has decreased by 215%. It is no secret, however, if you asked the average sports fan who the current heavyweight champion was you would be met with a stutter and a dated example.
WHY? Has this gladiatorial sport fallen by the wayside to NFL, NBA and UFC? The sweet science is a sport most primitive going back thousands of years to the root of humanity, are people going soft?
One of the reasons Boxing is losing its fight in the cultural mass is the media outlets willing to show.
Once Boxing went PPV it cut out the common man and woman. Yes, it brought a bunch of money into the sport, but the demographic appeal is shrinking like the ice caps and eventually, the initial boost in revenue will fall when no one is watching anymore.
Sure Floyd Mayweather has some global recognition, but as his name states, it is probably more dependent on his financial Status. Floyd “Money” Mayweather makes the headlines and still draws people to watch him fight as apparent on his recent ridiculous endeavor with a little know Asian Kickboxer but it doesn’t seem to have the same heart as decades past. Kids do not look up to the boxing champion as a hero anymore.
Perhaps the current political sensitive climate has something to do with it or the fact that toxic masculinity is being demonized to a point to where it is not “right” for men to be physically violent.
Perhaps the current Boxers lack that certain pizazz that brings the attention of the media.
Or maybe UFC is giving the American public their fill on combat sports. Maybe its association with online sports betting or unsavory characters.
However, there is a beacon of hope on the boxing horizon. Alabama native, Deontay Wilder, whose sole reason for becoming the current WBC Heavyweight champion of the world exudes a moral fiber very polar to the mass media boxing Stereotype.
Not a born and bred fighter, but a promising basketball and football player who go into boxing to provide his for his daughter, and that he did. In 2015 he became the first American to lay claim to a title in over 8 years.
A recent controversial fight with Tyson Fury which ended in a draw it resulted in the most lucrative Heavyweight boxing fight on American Soil in over 15 years. Deontay has brought boxing back to the forefront of American sports culture and it is set to rise from here with a looming rematch to be scheduled.
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