Boxing: A Lost Art(Sport)?

  

    Last night as I was watching TV I noticed the movie “Ali” was on. First of all, I believe that movie is one of Will Smith’s finest movies. More importantly, I feel that it depicted a lot of went on with Muhammad Ali very well. The more I watched the movie, the more I realized that boxing is really like a lost sport, or as some like to put it a “Lost Art.” Everyone knows how big boxing was from the  mid 1930’s all the way through the mid to late 1990’s. We had Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson just to name some of the best boxers of all time. Every time I hear of a big boxing match going on, I always want to watch it, but honestly never get around to it.

    My number one question is why boxing was a top sport and then just feel almost all the way to bottom? It’s not lacking as far as superstar boxers are concerned. There is Floyd Mayweather and Manny Paquio just to name a few.  Every sport has their superstar(s), but is that enough to drive the sport to where it was? I believe part of it is marketing your superstar player.  We see how the NFL markets Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers or the NBA does with Lebron James. Should boxing do the same with its marquee boxers?

   Sometimes the MSG network has showing of boxing classics. In between rounds, they have some professionals who analyze the match that’s showing. While watching it, I like to enjoy it and at the same time like to see what may be different. First and foremost, I see why the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier are considered two of the best boxers alive. They tend show off their strengths while showing very little of their weaknesses. Today, it  more money driven(even a little bit more than the major sports).

   Everyone knows that Howard Cosell was the voice of ABC sports for decades. He covered a lot of boxing, especially Ali. Decades ago, we see that the premiere boxing matches were shown on local television. Now we see that it is shown on either Pay-Per-View or HBO, in which case not everyone has in their household. If they had something like Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Baseball, it may prove to be something different.

    Boxing is very similar to baseball. What do I mean? We see that it relies heavily on its history.  In my opinion, boxing is the second national pastime behind baseball. Its deep with history.  The difference I see is how baseball tries to tie in its past and make its future better with it. I don’t see that boxing has that so much. Boxing needs to be relevant again. It needs to make sure it relies on its past to see how it can make its future better. We don’t need someone biting an ear off (see Tyson vs. Holyfield), but we need another Thrilla in Manilla or Rumble in the Jungle. If boxing can get there, so many people will follow and want to watch.