07.03.06 – By Beau Bassett: Two undefeated champions fought last weekend to the great joy of boxing fans around the world. Here at eastside, we passionate fans deliberated, argued, enjoyed, and are now analyzing, explaining and recommending. We have treated this fight with the intellectual energy it deserved. On September 19, 1999, September 16 1981, and on June 15, 1996 boxing fans did the same, but there was a difference: We were accompanied by all sports fans..
It is a lonely time to be a boxing fan. I don’t get Showtime, so on Saturday, I went to a sports bar a few blocks away, counting on them to be showing the fight we all so looked forward to. It was 8:30 on Saturday, to the bartender I asked “When will you switch the channel to the fight?”
He replied, “The fights don’t start until ten.”
“I think your mistaken, sir.” I retorted. “You may not know, but the fight’s in Britain. I believe it starts at nine, so the fight wouldn’t start at too ridiculous an hour for the good people in England.”
“Fights at ten, buddy, now what do you want to drink?”
Maybe I was mistaken. I left the bar to have a cigarette, I was nervous (I’d bet fifty bucks on Lacy, even though I’d never seen Calzaghe fight.) Soon, two gentleman with heavy Canadian accents joined me outside. I overheard them discussing fighters I had never heard of with, the same fervor I speak of when talking boxing.
The reality dawned on me. The inexplicable, terrible truth was revealed. It was no longer just a dreaded nightmare. UFC is more popular than the sweet science. I returned to the bar where I had to explain, in utter disgust, to the owner of one of the finest sports bars in Toronto, the city where work almost stopped for Ali-Chuvalo, that there was a Super Middleweight
Unification Title Fight between two undefeated champions. Despite my anger, I was polite; walking to another bar isn’t fun during Canada’s winter. He changed the channel to Showtime, but only on one T.V, a small one at the the back of gigantic bar, that had no volume.
I watched in amazement as Joe Calzaghe took fifty dollars out of my pocket. The fight should have been pay-per view, so I figure I broke even. After Lacy was finally finished eating leather, the bar was filled to capacity for the UFC fights. A couple younger guys next to me were explaining to each other the best direction to twist an ankle, and who in the UFC had the best elbows. They really knew their UFC stuff, even as much as I believe I know my boxing.
UFC is still a small, niche sport. It’s results don’t generally get covered in most major newspapers, nor does it attract the same class of fan, one can only be so loyal to such a new sport. UFC is still on the fringe. Be that as it may Chuck Liddell is more well known than all the heavyweight champions combined – THIS IS A LONELY TIME TO BE A BOXING FAN
I’m tired of writers on this site with their theories of the ups and downs of boxing. Boxing is at an ALL-TIME low. Go out there, ask any average joe how many boxers he can name other than Roy Jones and Mike Tyson. I’ve thought of what we as fans can change in order to help our sport. Here are my (3) challenges to boxing fans:
1. Forget the heavyweights. None of the heavyweights are remotely recognizable. There are three variables a heavyweight era can be measured: A)The presence of an exciting or relatable individual, i.e., Ali, Tyson, Marciano; (B) The willingness of the best fighters to make the best fights; (C) The talent of the fighters. This era of heavyweights is worse in all three categories than the rest of the so-called bad eras. i.e., the Walcott-Charles era, the post-Dempsey pre-Louis era, and the Holmes era. Walcott and Charles may not have been great heavyweights but at least they were willing to fight each other. The heavyweights from Sharkey to Louis may have ducked every good black fighter but they at least had some charisma. Holmes may have not been able to “draw flies to crap,” but he sure did have a great jab. As fans, we must acknowledge that heavyweights may be a thing of the past. Teenagers with the athletic talent and physiques of Ali, Louis, Foreman, and Tyson no longer turn to boxing as a sport. They are recruited by college football and basketball coaches and dream of nike shoe deals. Look at our heavyweights, they aren’t athletic. Tyson could have been the best middle linebacker of all time. Imagine Ali at point guard. Our heavyweight champions of today look like a lineup at Coney Island Circus Sideshow. A previous article on ESB reads: ”Things are looking up for the heavy weights.” sounds like optimism during the great depression. The heavyweights are done for, so let’s stop talking about them. They will never save boxing again.
2) Stop ordering mediocre fights. In the past five years, pay-per view has taken over the great majority of quality fights. The standard of fights that we pay for has become lower and lower, in my opinion. Not too long ago, fights like Jones-Hopkins and Barrera-Prince Naseem were on undercards. Today, we fork over big money for main events of lesser quality. How are we supposed to draw new fans when all network T.V. shows are c-class fighters. Pay-per view should be reserved for heavyweight title fights (if there is a recognizable champion) and the most anticipated fights from lightweight to light-heavyweight. We should never have to pay to see feather weights. The UFC on the night of the Lacy-Calzaghe fight, I later found out, was a special Canada vs. America event. What a marketing ploy, I thought. I wondered about the possibility of a Mexico vs Puerto Rico night, or a Britain vs. America night, where all the great fighters from a country come together on one card in boxing. That, though, could never materialize today. Such great cards don’t exist in boxing this decade. It seems that people at HBO are satisfied with the sorry state of boxing. From my viewpoint, I am outraged at the major cable networks for taking advantage of the boxing fan demographic we represent, they are like a fascist government making it’s people pay for air and drinking water. We must not buy these lousy cards they sell to us. I want to watch guys like Barrera, Wright and Castillo fight as much as the next boxing fan, but at some point, we must ask ourselves, “If I pay for this fight, what fight won’t I pay for?” The only way to attract new fans is to let people watch good fights for FREE.
3.) Support organizations like the World Boxing League. Replace the major promoters with some kind of organization. There are many utopian ideas out there for the reformatting of boxing, including the World Boxing League. Nothing has been done by the people who claim to love this sport the most, i.e., Larry Merchant, Bert Sugar. Maybe they’re too old and have seen boxing run corruptly for too many years to believe that change is possible. They are the voices and faces of boxing. Sugar’s cigar holding posture is better known to the general sports fan than Mayweather’s right lead. If they endorsed a new system, people would listen. The World Boxing League is such an idea. Check it out if you haven’t heard of it.
To my fellow lonely boxing fans. We are a dying breed, a beautiful but endangered species. I know us to be the best sports fans in the world. Our passion and knowledge for our sport is unrivaled. Let’s return our sport and we the great lovers of our sport back to their rightful places.
Questions, comments, suggestions – feel free.