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Boxing Heaven

C

CJsE

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Mar 5, 2016
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May and June 2024 might be the best two months of boxing I have ever seen. Just about every weekend there is/was a good fight, with a handful of undisputed fights. I can't imagine there has been another time in boxing history where 8-9 of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers all fight in the same 60ish day stretch.

May 4 - Canelo
May 6 - Inoue
May 11 - Lomachenko
May 18 - Usyk v Fury
June 1 - WIlder v Zhang - (almost Bivol v Beterbiev until he got injured - Would have been a unification between two pound-for-pounds)
June 15 - Gervonta Davis
June 29 - Bam Rodriguez
June 29 - Teofimo Lopez
July 6 - Shakur Stevenson
 
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It’s a shame what has happened to boxing. The top boxers used to be household names. I grew up a huge boxing fan and consume sports all day long and have never heard of any of those guys that you listed. I assume that I am not alone.
 
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JD1976 said:
It’s a shame what has happened to boxing. The top boxers used to be household names. I grew up a huge boxing fan and consume sports all day long and have never heard of any of those guys that you listed. I assume that I am not alone.
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Then you don't watch any boxing, because there's enough on ESPN and previously on Showtime that you'd have heard of/seen most of those guys.
 
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JD1976 said:
It’s a shame what has happened to boxing. The top boxers used to be household names. I grew up a huge boxing fan and consume sports all day long and have never heard of any of those guys that you listed. I assume that I am not alone.
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I am not a boxing or UFC fan but how do you watch sports often and not know who Fury or Canelo are? There are ads for their bouts all the time.
 
JD1976 said:
It’s a shame what has happened to boxing. The top boxers used to be household names. I grew up a huge boxing fan and consume sports all day long and have never heard of any of those guys that you listed. I assume that I am not alone.
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It's a shame what has happened to cricket. I know this because I have never heard of any cricket players and haven't paid attention to the sport despite information being more easily available now than at any point in human history. It's fine to just lose interest in something, but that doesn't make it that things fault.

Top boxers used to be household names in the US because American's dominated the heavyweight division for nearly a century. Lewis and the Klitschko's basically destroyed the casual fan's interest. These boxers are absolutely household names in their own country.
 
CJsE said:
May and June 2024 might be the best two months of boxing I have ever seen. Just about every weekend there is/was a good fight, with a handful of undisputed fights. I can't imagine there has been another time in boxing history where 8-9 of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers all fight in the same 60ish day stretch.

May 4 - Canelo
May 6 - Inoue
May 11 - Lomachenko
May 18 - Usyk v Fury
June 1 - WIlder v Zhang - (almost Bivol v Beterbiev until he got injured - Would have been a unification between two pound-for-pounds)
June 15 - Gervonta Davis
June 29 - Bam Rodriguez
June 29 - Teofimo Lopez
July 6 - Shakur Stevenson
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I wish less of them were on PPV but at least ESPN and Plus still gets some good ones. The Kholmatov Ford fight a few months ago was great.

Not sure if the casino is still showing big fights, but Toms Watch Bar is and I watched Usyk Fury there.
 
Gunga_Galunga said:
Then you don't watch any boxing, because there's enough on ESPN and previously on Showtime that you'd have heard of/seen most of those guys.
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I remember watching as a kid, when Ali was on top, then they made it all PPV and at that point I quit paying attention. I think a lot of people did.
 
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CJsE said:
It's a shame what has happened to cricket. I know this because I have never heard of any cricket players and haven't paid attention to the sport despite information being more easily available now than at any point in human history. It's fine to just lose interest in something, but that doesn't make it that things fault.
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You're not in India or Pakistan
 
Lots of big names for sure but not a ton of big names fighting each other. Only happens a couple times a year unfortunately.
 
brdst11 said:
I wish less of them were on PPV but at least ESPN and Plus still gets some good ones. The Kholmatov Ford fight a few months ago was great.

Not sure if the casino is still showing big fights, but Toms Watch Bar is and I watched Usyk Fury there.
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Ford was on the card last night against Nick Ball and was the best fight of the night. They beat the shit out of each other for 12 rounds.

It's a bit of a mixed bag with the Saudi money flowing into the sport. They are throwing around so much money that promoters are actually fighting their guys against each other more often, but on the other hand it's pushing more fights into PPV.

I was hoping that the Amazon deal with PBC was going to have a bunch of title fights, but it seems like it's just the undercards before moving to PPV for the main event.
 
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Pitt79 said:
This I'd watch :)
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Its happening in July. I only watch these gimmick fights. I bought the Mayweather/McGregor PPV, probably the only PPV I ever bought for anything. 2 regular heavyweights fighting for some title, I wouldn't watch it for free.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
Its happening in July. I only watch these gimmick fights. I bought the Mayweather/McGregor PPV, probably the only PPV I ever bought for anything. 2 regular heavyweights fighting for some title, I wouldn't watch it for free.
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No, it's not happening in July. Tyson had a health scare on a flight recently and has a bad ulcer so the fight is postponed. Hopefully it gets cancelled because a 58-year old man shouldn't ever be sanctioned for a boxing match.
 
h2p_5150 said:
I am not a boxing or UFC fan but how do you watch sports often and not know who Fury or Canelo are? There are ads for their bouts all the time.
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I’m a huge sports fan and I’m only aware of Canelo, Fury and Wilder. I used to love boxing. Still do, but would never pay for a fight.
 
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h2p_5150 said:
I am not a boxing or UFC fan but how do you watch sports often and not know who Fury or Canelo are? There are ads for their bouts all the time.
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Of course I was being somewhat sarcastic because I have indeed heard of Fury and Canelo, but I wouldn’t know them if they walked in front of me on the street. That wouldn’t have been the case 30-40 years ago.
 
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CJsE said:
It's a shame what has happened to cricket. I know this because I have never heard of any cricket players and haven't paid attention to the sport despite information being more easily available now than at any point in human history. It's fine to just lose interest in something, but that doesn't make it that things fault.

Top boxers used to be household names in the US because American's dominated the heavyweight division for nearly a century. Lewis and the Klitschko's basically destroyed the casual fan's interest. These boxers are absolutely household names in their own country.
Click to expand...
The Bluey episode “Cricket” is the best 8 minutes of TV ever made.
 
CJsE said:
No, it's not happening in July. Tyson had a health scare on a flight recently and has a bad ulcer so the fight is postponed. Hopefully it gets cancelled because a 58-year old man shouldn't ever be sanctioned for a boxing match.
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Crap. Huge loss for the sport. Was really looking forward to that.
 
Pitt79 said:
I remember watching as a kid, when Ali was on top, then they made it all PPV and at that point I quit paying attention. I think a lot of people did.
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I grew up in the 70's (which was a great decade for boxing). I remember when everyone knew who the heavyweight champion of the world was. My kids know who the UFC champs are. But I'm certain that they have no idea who the boxing champs are.

I just looked it up. Looks like Okeksander Usyk is the current heavyweight champ. But look at all the asterisks. Who the hell can follow all of that? IMO, that and UFC are boxing's biggest issues.


https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/12370125/boxing-champions-list
 
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OH Pete said:
I grew up in the 70's (which was a great decade for boxing). I remember when everyone knew who the heavyweight champion of the world was. My kids know who the UFC champs are. But I'm certain that they have no idea who the boxing champs are.

I just looked it up. Looks like Okeksander Usyk is the current heavyweight champ. But look at all the asterisks. Who the hell can follow all of that? IMO, that and UFC are boxing's biggest issues.


https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/12370125/boxing-champions-list
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Usyk is the first heavyweight in more than 20 years to be considered the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion because he holds all of the available belts. At 6'3" 220 he's also small compared to most modern heavyweights.

I don't disagree with you at all, there are too many belts in boxing now. There were 2 belts in the 70s, but there are 4 belts now. Hell, we had an American Heavyweight Champion for the first time in ages just a few years ago and he was possibly the hardest puncher in the history of boxing. But he wasn't a household name because he only held one of the four belts.

Belts have always had their own boxer rankings and they always have a champion and a #1 contender which the champion has to fight or the council strips their belt from them. This happened in the 70s after Spinks beat Ali, then agreed to a rematch with Ali instead of fighting WBC's #1 contender Ken Norton. The WBC stripped Spinks' heavyweight champion status from him and gave it to Norton without a fight even happening.

Those asterisks are basically Ken Norton to Usyk. The councils have basically changed their title from #1 contender to names like "interim champion" because it sounds more important. Plus councils charge fighters more for "championship" fights, so they could now charge another tier of fight fees.
 
The last great boxing event was the Ward/Gatti Trilogy. After that there would be a top fight here and there like Pac vs Mayweather, but nothing to sink your teeth into for a great deal of time.

It was pointless to watch a Mayweather fight, the only question was how much was he going to out class his opponent. It wasn't like the 80's when I was a kid watching Hagler/Haynes, sugar Ray vs Duran, etc. Today's stars just don't shine like it did. Too many other options now.

I remember when Spadafora had the belt. It was fun and interesting but he was only good to bring in 7k to AJ Palumbo or the convention center. The one time he had a fight in the arena over half the place was empty.
 
Mikefln said:
The last great boxing event was the Ward/Gatti Trilogy. After that there would be a top fight here and there like Pac vs Mayweather, but nothing to sink your teeth into for a great deal of time.

It was pointless to watch a Mayweather fight, the only question was how much was he going to out class his opponent. It wasn't like the 80's when I was a kid watching Hagler/Haynes, sugar Ray vs Duran, etc. Today's stars just don't shine like it did. Too many other options now.

I remember when Spadafora had the belt. It was fun and interesting but he was only good to bring in 7k to AJ Palumbo or the convention center. The one time he had a fight in the arena over half the place was empty.
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The third Fury/Wilder fight was a great one. Some good potential heavyweight matchups on the horizon. They will likely screw it up, though.
 
Mikefln said:
The last great boxing event was the Ward/Gatti Trilogy. After that there would be a top fight here and there like Pac vs Mayweather, but nothing to sink your teeth into for a great deal of time.

It was pointless to watch a Mayweather fight, the only question was how much was he going to out class his opponent. It wasn't like the 80's when I was a kid watching Hagler/Haynes, sugar Ray vs Duran, etc. Today's stars just don't shine like it did. Too many other options now.

I remember when Spadafora had the belt. It was fun and interesting but he was only good to bring in 7k to AJ Palumbo or the convention center. The one time he had a fight in the arena over half the place was empty.
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Spadafora couldn't crack an egg if you gave him a hammer. He won a belt just because of the way he was handled and matched up.
 
USN_Panther said:
Spadafora couldn't crack an egg if you gave him a hammer. He won a belt just because of the way he was handled and matched up.
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He was a poor man's Pernell Whitaker. None the less he was one of the most successful and popular fighters of his time, and still couldn't draw.
 
HailtoPitt said:
The third Fury/Wilder fight was a great one. Some good potential heavyweight matchups on the horizon. They will likely screw it up, though.
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Usyk/Fury was pretty damn great.
The Fury/Wilder 1 was also pretty great. I've never seen someone's head hit the canvas that hard and get back up before.
Klitschko Joshua was fantastic, but that was almost a decade ago now.
 
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USN_Panther said:
Spadafora couldn't crack an egg if you gave him a hammer. He won a belt just because of the way he was handled and matched up.
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If he had any power it would have been interesting but you’re correct. He was skilled and hard to hit but his punches weren’t a big enough threat. Or much of one.
 
Mikefln said:
The last great boxing event was the Ward/Gatti Trilogy. After that there would be a top fight here and there like Pac vs Mayweather, but nothing to sink your teeth into for a great deal of time.

It was pointless to watch a Mayweather fight, the only question was how much was he going to out class his opponent. It wasn't like the 80's when I was a kid watching Hagler/Haynes, sugar Ray vs Duran, etc. Today's stars just don't shine like it did. Too many other options now.

I remember when Spadafora had the belt. It was fun and interesting but he was only good to bring in 7k to AJ Palumbo or the convention center. The one time he had a fight in the arena over half the place was empty.
Click to expand...

Whatever happened to Sammy Vazquez? Another local fighter. He seemed to have a good run for awhile and I remember watching one of his fights and the announcer said something like fighters at his level dont draw like he draws. I think that was at PPG Paints.
 
I miss boxing being relevant. Used to love the big heavyweight fights and some of the lower weight big name fights.

UFC, for whatever reason, doesn’t interest me. I know a lot of people love it though. Maybe I just don’t get it. It seems like a lot of the “greats” have a lot of losses.
 
OhioPittFan said:
I miss boxing being relevant. Used to love the big heavyweight fights and some of the lower weight big name fights.

UFC, for whatever reason, doesn’t interest me. I know a lot of people love it though. Maybe I just don’t get it. It seems like a lot of the “greats” have a lot of losses.
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But that’s not a bad thing. A loss in boxing really used to derail guys. Still can but it’s not as bad as it used to be. A loss doesn’t matter that much in MMA which means the fighters are more willing to risk it instead of “building” by stomping people they know they can beat.
 
OhioPittFan said:
I miss boxing being relevant. Used to love the big heavyweight fights and some of the lower weight big name fights.

UFC, for whatever reason, doesn’t interest me. I know a lot of people love it though. Maybe I just don’t get it. It seems like a lot of the “greats” have a lot of losses.
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They have losses because they actually have a lot of big fights. That is why the UFC is great for the fans because they force big fights. In boxing the WBA Champ can avoid the WBC or IBF champs his whole career.
 
CJsE said:
May and June 2024 might be the best two months of boxing I have ever seen. Just about every weekend there is/was a good fight, with a handful of undisputed fights. I can't imagine there has been another time in boxing history where 8-9 of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers all fight in the same 60ish day stretch.

May 4 - Canelo
May 6 - Inoue
May 11 - Lomachenko
May 18 - Usyk v Fury
June 1 - WIlder v Zhang - (almost Bivol v Beterbiev until he got injured - Would have been a unification between two pound-for-pounds)
June 15 - Gervonta Davis
June 29 - Bam Rodriguez
June 29 - Teofimo Lopez
July 6 - Shakur Stevenson
Click to expand...
I might flip a couple of those on for a few minutes if I run out of yardwork and get tired of Below Deck and Real Housewives re-runs.
 
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