Boxing Has Fallen And Can't Get Up

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By the end of the year or early next, the big fights almost always took place in late October or early November (after the World Series and before the stretch run of the NFL season), or late March or early April (after football, college basketball and before baseball regained its toehold in the papers and on TV) the guy we liked would fight the guy we didn't like. And we'd pay a lot to see them have at it. Sometimes we liked them both and simply wondered which guy was better. What fight fans had a generation ago was a significant sample size of personality and power to make an emotional and fiscal investment in the event.

There was a time when even a press conference to announce a mega-fight three to six months in advance was an event unto itself. Anticipation of the denouement was a delicious appetizer for the inevitable main event. Above and beyond the expected trash talking (which was considerably more civil than it is now), reading the body language of the gladiators was often a barometer of what might happen in the ring months down the road.

Boxing's public relations machinery had a relatively easy go of it on these events. The newspapers (the internet was not yet a factor), television and radio fed off the upcoming event, as much as the event depended on the coverage leading up to fight night. Mega-million dollar pay-per-view fight night. Super Bowl like hope, hype and expectation.

Did Ali still have enough left to beat his former sparring partner Holmes? Could Leonard outbox the taller more powerful Hearns? Was Bowe to big for Holyfield? These questions consumed water cooler conversation. For months, weeks and days leading up to events, these showdowns were primary topics of sports conversation. Boxing still had a toehold in our sports consciousness. Four major boxing events a year were common.

Major hotels, even countries ("The Thrilla in Manila" or "The Rumble in the Jungle") paid many millions just for the right to stage these events. Generally the fight was a fabulous investment. As reporters from around the world descended upon Caesar's Palace, or Zaire, or the Mirage, or Manila, the host was mentioned either in the dateline or the body of the story. The hotels would be overflowing with high rollers. The countries were banking on increased tourist trade.

But that toehold on the American sporting public was growing precarious. Little up and coming talent beneath the surface of the main events was on the way. Network broadcast fights were disappearing. Cable's narrowcasting (ESPN, USA, and pay networks HBO and Showtime) kept and continues to keep boxing on the air, but with a fraction of the audience it once had. Even Olympic boxing was relegated to middle of the night, tape delay status, right next to curling and synchronized swimming.

Boxing has traveled the same path as horse racing and hockey as secondary sports in this country, while football, baseball and basketball are in their golden eras. Some suggest all boxing needs is a charismatic, flamboyant, talented heavyweight to save the game, the day, and the sport. One heavyweight is not the answer. Nobody will pay 50 cents, much less than 50 bucks to watch solitaire on TV. What the sport needs is a major influx of talented fighters (the heavier the better). But where will they come from? Where will they be seen?

At last check four heavyweights claim to be champions of the world. I defy you to name one of them, much less all four. And here's the bonus question: Who is the man, who beat the man, who beat the man?

Boxing isn't going away. It just isn't going anywhere anymore. There is simply too much competition from the major sports, and not enough time on SportsCenter or space from newspapers and magazines. The occasional fighter will always capture our fantasy. Just as Barbaro did in horseracing (although he nearly died trying) or Sid "the Kid" has in hockey. But boxing's days of glitz and glamour as a major event driven, stop what you are doing, butterflies in your stomach anticipation are over.

Deader than Jack Dempsey.