Boxing in the US: It's a Latin thing.

Ali gave me one of these recently when I said that Diaz could breathe life into Boxing. And I did not mean to rekindle the ole boxing vs MMA debate. I was speaking honestly, and I did not even think it was a controversial thing to say. Cause from where Im standing boxing has no sizzle, I know dozens of guys who are pretty big into MMA, buy the ppv's on a fairly regular basis. I can't remember the last time a buddy of mine laid down the cash for a boxing PPV. Bars everywhere fly the UFC banners, show those ppv's on a near weekly basis. Boxing? Even b4 MMA got hot I could not find a bar that would televise a big boxing match. Yes there still is a fair amount of boxing programming on TV, and somebody must be watching, but I'll be darned if I know any of them. And look at the lists of top fighters in the boxing game today, Mexicans, Argentinians, Russians, Brits, Manny. the majrity of big name US boxers are geezers. Hopkins, Mosley, even Floyd. Sure a guy like Paul williams is a top talent, but no one watches his fights. Go on the street and ask if anyone knows who Paul williams is. My guess is 97% say "who?"

But what I did notice watching some recent fights, and this might be old news to those in the boxing know, is that the hispanic speaking boxing market is growing here in the states. I caught the HBO replay of the Morales Maidana fight on HBO latino, in spanish of coarse. Jimmy Lennon's call for the Juan Ma vs Salido fight was half english, half spanish, and from the looks of the crowd, they could have gotten by just fine without the engish version.

Perhaps what I should of said was, Diaz could help breathe life into the caucasian US boxing market. Cause right now it is hard to deny that it is in a bad way. Even Larry Merchant, during the Berto(another guy who has not drawn well) vs Ortiz fight wondered if an American fighter would emerge from the fight that the US audience could get behind.

It goes without saying that Boxing is still top dog south of the border, and judging by the recent census(as well as simple on the street observations) the hispanic population is booming in the US, so that, more then anything will breathe life into the US boxing market. Though again I wonder if the white viewing audience gets behind it the way they did back in the day, or the way they are getting behind MMA.


Now across the pond there, and throughout europe, maybe boxing is still ruling the roost, maybe I was speaking from too small a vantage point, maybe the overall health of boxing is still pretty strong, but I do stand by the idea that the traditional US boxing market is hard to locate. But one thing that might bring the young adult white male back to the boxing table is an MMA crossover, and Diaz is a big enough name that it could be a story.

Diaz isn't really that well known, most casual fans (i.e UFC only fans) don't really know him. If he were fighting a top guy at 168-175 it would be a little different (most of John Q. Sportscenter have no idea who Jeff Lacy is). I don't see him in boxing doing anything more than bringing a few MMA-only fans for one fight that probably will be terrible.

Boxing's biggest problem isn't the fighters, it's the idiot promoters who don't want to give the fans the big match ups (Bob "I was lying yesterday, today i'm telling the truth" Arum being the worst offender).

Another thing that boxing needs in the U.S right now is a better youth program. I think of how many gyms that have closed in the last 20 years, and how many American fighters there could have been. The promoters and sanctioning bodies should at least be taking some of the money they steal and putting it into gyms. This leads to more local shows, which builds a bigger fanbase.

Of course why do that when you can get guys from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Phillipines, etc. for cheap?

Well he was one of the biggest draws on SF. So SF fans know him, UFC fans know him. He's an exciting fighter. I think people would tune in. and if he could win a couple.......

People will certainly tune in to see it, but I just don't see it being a big boost for boxing. If it were GSP fighting it might be a bit different, but even then, I don't think MMA guys boxing will be the kick in the ass boxing needs (in the U.S).

I still say promoters need to build up fighters amongst the local levels. A good example would be Tomasz Adamek. Main Events was able to build off the Polish crowd from NJ/NY, and start getting other locals interested to the point where he's become "Jersey's fighter". Plenty of newspaper articles on him leading up to the fights, and the smaller local papers usually feature the undercard guys. This also helps get people talking, and gets people interested.

Diaz is entertainment, he's a draw in either sport because he's a character that brings a fan friendly style

NJ said it, not one guy, its properly building up fighters like Top Rank & Main Events have done

Networks need to stop buying fighters and buy the best fights available, dont try and create a star like with Berto

HBO needs to get off Al Haymon's dick is what really needs to happen.

That and promoters (Top Rank especially) need to co-promote. It's not like Zuffa that owns virtually all of MMA.