I was reading an article in The Ring about a bit of feuding between Top Rank Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions involving the possibility of a fight between J.C. Chavez Jr. and Miguel Cotto. The writer of the article, Ivan Goldman, stated, ". . .feuds are dumb. And they hurt business." He's right. More dissension is not needed in boxing. Instead, many improvements are needed:
1. A national boxing commission, the idea of which has been brought up by ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas and Sen. John McCain many times. It would cut down on professional boxers who shouldn't be fighting for various reasons including major health issues and loaded hand wraps, for example, attempting to get their licenses reinstated by commissions in different states whom they think will help their cause. If everyone is on the same page concerning the rules, then the sport is safer and fair for everyone.
2. One definite champ for each category. There was a time in boxing history when this was the case. Somewhere down the line, all the alphabet sanctioning bodies (as The Ring magazine refers to them) got involved. So we have several heavyweight champions, several middleweight champions, and so on. A few years ago, I had a guy tell me that was why he didn't the follow the sport any more; it was too confusing to keep up with which boxer was at the top.
3. Follow the lead of Cuba and other countries where boxing is regarded as a top-tier sport. Cuba has long been known as having an excellent boxing program that trains up world class fighters. I hear people complain that there are no major American heavyweight boxers, and most of the ones now are from the Ukraine and Russia. Obviously those countries still have a major respect for pugilism. Boxing used to have that kind of respect in the good ol' USA, but when was the last time you heard a major boxing match be the lead story on the sports segment of local or national newscasts? Every once in awhile, I hear of some college that has a boxing program as part of their overall sports program, but that's rare. I have yet to see the sport included in the physical fitness programs in grade and high schools (while the football, basketball, and soccer teams get top billing). Private gyms and city-run recreation centers offer boxing, but often times, the young people who really want and need to get to them can't afford to pay the gym fees.
4. Stop ignoring and dismissing the presence of women fighters, managers, promoters and trainers. I've mentioned on this blog before that the road to being a professional female boxer is not smooth. Males often start training younger and have more avenues to get experience. Before the boxing analysts start complaining about the quality of some the female boxers they see, they need to think about that. The boxing magazines rarely mention anything about female boxers, managers, promoters and trainers, and they certainly aren't doing full-blown articles about them. Despite the fact that there are plenty of female boxers -- both amateurs and professionals -- some still treat the women as jokes, or worst yet, insinuate that they should stay in their place, wherever the hell that is. A key to seeing that boxing survives is to acknowledge and celebrate everybody in it. The "old boys club" mentality is so 20th century.
5. Put boxing back on the TV networks. Hey, if I'm not able to pay my cable bill for any reason, then I don't get to see any boxing matches on TV. Don't get me started on those high pay-per-view fees for some of the bigger matches. I listen to those older than me talk about boxing matches regularly aired on the major television networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) back in the day, and I envy them. There has been efforts to have the major matches shown in movie theaters (Mayweather v. Mosley, for example), but not every movie house is -- or will -- show the fights. That could be a reason why the audience for boxing has shrunk over the decades because the fights are not accessible to everyone who want to see them. Personally, I can do without the constant football/baseball/basketball go-round on the TV networks.
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