Boxing

[Alpe d'Huez]

That's an interesting way of looking at it. Just from an entertainment, fan viewpoint, how much worse to watch can it be than the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight?

Again, not talking about sportsmanship, pugilistic skill, etc. just pure entertainment watching the fight to the casual, non-analytical fan.

“There have been very few Floyd Mayweather fights where people have walked away fully satisfied from the point of view of being a sporting competition,” said Thomas Hauser, a veteran boxing scribe and historian.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/boxing-mma-wrestling/is-floyd-mayweather-boring-only-when-hes-inside-the-boxing-ring/2015/04/30/f2e729aa-ef76-11e4-8050-839e9234b303_story.html?utm_term=.a09ea4b6b60b

 

[movingtarget]

The Decline of Boxing

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/19/will-mcgregor-v-mayweather-save-american-boxing-or-bury-it

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

The Decline of Boxing

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/19/will-mcgregor-v-mayweather-save-american-boxing-or-bury-it

I'll read the article this evening, but using the title: boxing is laying on the ground outside the cemetery gates. This fight has sparked/rekindled some interest, but it won't save boxing.

EDIT: “But who’s going to start talking about the purity and sanctity of boxing? Get the f*ck out of here with that. The holier-than-thou sh*t that’s coming out of this fight, a lot of it’s from people who wish they were economically involved.”... "But let’s cut all the self-righteousness, let’s cut all the pseudo-intellectual analysis and cut to the bottom line. It’s happening because a lot of people want to pay to see it.”

Graham touched on pay per view: Boxing should have their own channel with a reasonable membership fee (ie: $100 a year), I think that more people would watch. When more people are watching on a weekly/regular basis they start to feel part of it. Of course as has been discussed, boxing need to clean things up:
"Fifty years ago, there were eight world champions, from flyweight to heavyweight, and everyone knew who they were. But the sport’s lack of a central authority has wrought four major sanctioning bodies – the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF – that can each designate multiple champions, super champions, interim champions, regular champions and champions emeritus, in 17 divisions instead of eight. It’s created an alphabet soup that’s made the sport incomprehensible to casual observers while cheapening the currency of a world title."
I don't ever see combat sports being a regular thing on network TV again.

 

[jmdirt]

Thoughts on Crawford?

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Thoughts on Crawford?

Wasn't that impressed. Couldn't believe he was undefeated. Looks like a bit of a mismatch to me. The way the commentators were talking it was like he was the second coming of Sugar Ray Leonard ! Maybe it says a lot about the state of boxing today.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Re:

The Decline of Boxing
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/19/will-mcgregor-v-mayweather-save-american-boxing-or-bury-it

Read it as well. This fight will do neither, and is a long time coming, and it's obvious why. Too many sanctioning bodies, too many belts, too many weight classes, every fight is now a title fight of some sort. This leaves only match-ups to watch, where names mean everything, and belts nothing. The Mayweather-McGregor spectacle is just an extension of this.

“This fight isn’t bad for boxing,” DiBella says. “Boxing’s been bad for boxing for a long time now. It went from being one of the one or two biggest sports in America to, in a half-century, becoming marginalized.

For whatever the reason, he says that there is no monopoly - e.g. no singular governing body - this is very true. If you go back between the days of Joe Louis, through the 50's with all the great fighters at various weights, through the Ali, Frazier, Forman, Norton years, through SRL, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, etc. Boxing was one of the biggest sports in the world, and often 2nd, or 3rd in the US, behind only MLB, and then the NFL. Now, depending on what list you look at, it's barely in the top ten, passed up by motor sports, soccer (a good thing I believe) even pro-wrestling. At times it was the 2nd biggest in the world, behind only soccer. From what links I can find, it's been surpassed by the likes of Field Hockey, Cricket, Table Tennis, even.

https://www.pledgesports.org/2017/03/top-10-most-watched-sports/

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I don't gamble, but if I did, now would be a great time to make some quick, easy cash. A month ago Mayweather was -3000 in this fight. Meaning, if you put $3,000 down, and he wins, you'd only get $100 back.

But so much money has been sunk into McGregor, oddsmakers are getting cold feet, and with just three days to go until the fight, Mayweather's odds are down to -550 to win. Now if somebody wanted to win $100, they would have to bet just $550. If they wanted to win $2,000, they would have to risk just $11,000.

Anyone want a new bicycle? Because I don't possibly see any way McGregor wins this fight, period. Bet your house on it. Bet your 401k on it. Even if by some freak punch, McGregor is able to connect with Floyd and hurt him, floor him, Floyd's chin is decent, and his skills are such (and McGregor's aren't) that Floyd would very, very likely weather that storm fairly quickly, and never make whatever mistake he made to get hit, again. There's no other possible way McGregor wins the fight. He has to land one, massive, lucky punch, and early. And hope Floyd doesn't recover. This odds on that should easily be -3000, if not more.

http://www.businessinsider.com/conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-bets-2017-8

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I don't gamble, but if I did, now would be a great time to make some quick, easy cash. A month ago Mayweather was -3000 in this fight. Meaning, if you put $3,000 down, and he wins, you'd only get $100 back.

But so much money has been sunk into McGregor, oddsmakers are getting cold feet, and with just three days to go until the fight, Mayweather's odds are down to -550 to win. Now if somebody wanted to win $100, they would have to bet just $550. If they wanted to win $2,000, they would have to risk just $11,000.

Anyone want a new bicycle? Because I don't possibly see any way McGregor wins this fight, period. Bet your house on it. Bet your 401k on it. Even if by some freak punch, McGregor is able to connect with Floyd and hurt him, floor him, Floyd's chin is decent, and his skills are such (and McGregor's aren't) that Floyd would very, very likely weather that storm fairly quickly, and never make whatever mistake he made to get hit, again. There's no other possible way McGregor wins the fight. He has to land one, massive, lucky punch, and early. And hope Floyd doesn't recover. This odds on that should easily be -3000, if not more.

http://www.businessinsider.com/conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-bets-2017-8

Yeah well only the rich would normally take that bet. For the average person it's still quite a layout to win not much. That said only a lightning strike or something similar loses the fight for Mayweather.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I don't gamble, but if I did, now would be a great time to make some quick, easy cash. A month ago Mayweather was -3000 in this fight. Meaning, if you put $3,000 down, and he wins, you'd only get $100 back.

But so much money has been sunk into McGregor, oddsmakers are getting cold feet, and with just three days to go until the fight, Mayweather's odds are down to -550 to win. Now if somebody wanted to win $100, they would have to bet just $550. If they wanted to win $2,000, they would have to risk just $11,000.

Anyone want a new bicycle? Because I don't possibly see any way McGregor wins this fight, period. Bet your house on it. Bet your 401k on it. Even if by some freak punch, McGregor is able to connect with Floyd and hurt him, floor him, Floyd's chin is decent, and his skills are such (and McGregor's aren't) that Floyd would very, very likely weather that storm fairly quickly, and never make whatever mistake he made to get hit, again. There's no other possible way McGregor wins the fight. He has to land one, massive, lucky punch, and early. And hope Floyd doesn't recover. This odds on that should easily be -3000, if not more.

http://www.businessinsider.com/conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-bets-2017-8

Yeah well only the rich would normally take that bet. For the average person it's still quite a layout to win not much. That said only a lightning strike or something similar loses the fight for Mayweather.

Only the rich and crazy would bet that amount. The smart would bet in proportion to what they can afford.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Which is why I don't gamble. Still, McGregor has done a very good job convincing people he has a real chance.

A friend of mine who boxed some when young, and is a big fan of the sport says the only way Floyd will lose is if he gets a freak injury, but he also doesn't see Floyd knocking Connor out. He sees a completely lopsided decision, with Connor cut up and exhausted at the end, but Floyd unable to put him away.

 

[ferryman]

Re:

I don't gamble, but if I did, now would be a great time to make some quick, easy cash. A month ago Mayweather was -3000 in this fight. Meaning, if you put $3,000 down, and he wins, you'd only get $100 back.

But so much money has been sunk into McGregor, oddsmakers are getting cold feet, and with just three days to go until the fight, Mayweather's odds are down to -550 to win. Now if somebody wanted to win $100, they would have to bet just $550. If they wanted to win $2,000, they would have to risk just $11,000.

Anyone want a new bicycle? Because I don't possibly see any way McGregor wins this fight, period. Bet your house on it. Bet your 401k on it. Even if by some freak punch, McGregor is able to connect with Floyd and hurt him, floor him, Floyd's chin is decent, and his skills are such (and McGregor's aren't) that Floyd would very, very likely weather that storm fairly quickly, and never make whatever mistake he made to get hit, again. There's no other possible way McGregor wins the fight. He has to land one, massive, lucky punch, and early. And hope Floyd doesn't recover. This odds on that should easily be -3000, if not more.

http://www.businessinsider.com/conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-bets-2017-8

My bookie, Paddy Power, has already paid out on Mayweather. True.

 

[jmdirt]

A guy I lift with at the Y who was a GG boxer in the 70s, and a rabid fan, said the best thing about this fight is that it brought boxing together for the first time in a long time. "There's no confusion of which belt this is, it us against them."

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Which is why I don't gamble. Still, McGregor has done a very good job convincing people he has a real chance.

A friend of mine who boxed some when young, and is a big fan of the sport says the only way Floyd will lose is if he gets a freak injury, but he also doesn't see Floyd knocking Connor out. He sees a completely lopsided decision, with Connor cut up and exhausted at the end, but Floyd unable to put him away.

i see Mayweather winning by a stoppage but a KO would not surprise me. One combination could be enough.

 

[King Boonen]

I think it's fair to say that it would be the biggest sporting upset of all time if McGregor wins, at least in the running with the likes of Leicester winning the Premiership. As much as I would love it to happen (not because I like McGregor, I just really dislike Mayweather) I just don't see how it could possibly happen if Mayweather has been even slightly serious in his preparation.

 

[movingtarget]

Is McGregor safe ?

http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=pMJKdIFVI6pghfX2HXfSzxRpdoyDWYNW3fjiFYfs57vsuvyU6VpCvYyDT08g/32bvPBmIywSvouCGH1GV+1Vw/32OgB9a1JG80D3xDZoD9UYQb+z/4Z3VpGmY2liCPrKFJKeByKzkxWDfJpJmwWUxA==&campaign_id=129&instance_id=102098&segment_id=112302&user_id=12d98412e3bcc0522f6cfbf4c21c54e6&regi_id=42685115

 

[Red Rick]

I would love if they did an MMA match after. Just to see Mayweather go down

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Which is why I don't gamble. Still, McGregor has done a very good job convincing people he has a real chance.

A friend of mine who boxed some when young, and is a big fan of the sport says the only way Floyd will lose is if he gets a freak injury, but he also doesn't see Floyd knocking Connor out. He sees a completely lopsided decision, with Connor cut up and exhausted at the end, but Floyd unable to put him away.

Which to the McGregor camp and MMA community is a victory in itself, worthy of a billion dollar rematch - but in the Octagon next time.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

I think it's fair to say that it would be the biggest sporting upset of all time if McGregor wins, at least in the running with the likes of Leicester winning the Premiership. As much as I would love it to happen (not because I like McGregor, I just really dislike Mayweather) I just don't see how it could possibly happen if Mayweather has been even slightly serious in his preparation.

Or more like Buster Douglass beating Iron Mike Tyson in Tokyo....

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

I think it's fair to say that it would be the biggest sporting upset of all time if McGregor wins, at least in the running with the likes of Leicester winning the Premiership. As much as I would love it to happen (not because I like McGregor, I just really dislike Mayweather) I just don't see how it could possibly happen if Mayweather has been even slightly serious in his preparation.

Or more like Buster Douglass beating Iron Mike Tyson in Tokyo....

Nah, that was massive, but Douglas was a World Champion boxer.

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

I think it's fair to say that it would be the biggest sporting upset of all time if McGregor wins, at least in the running with the likes of Leicester winning the Premiership. As much as I would love it to happen (not because I like McGregor, I just really dislike Mayweather) I just don't see how it could possibly happen if Mayweather has been even slightly serious in his preparation.

Or more like Buster Douglass beating Iron Mike Tyson in Tokyo....

Nah, that was massive, but Douglas was a World Champion boxer.

How was Douglass a World Champion boxer? He was a massive underdog before the fight, as much as Coner Mcgregor is now. Nobody thought he had a chance in hell, but he shocked the world with the biggest upset ever at the time.

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

I think it's fair to say that it would be the biggest sporting upset of all time if McGregor wins, at least in the running with the likes of Leicester winning the Premiership. As much as I would love it to happen (not because I like McGregor, I just really dislike Mayweather) I just don't see how it could possibly happen if Mayweather has been even slightly serious in his preparation.

Or more like Buster Douglass beating Iron Mike Tyson in Tokyo....

Nah, that was massive, but Douglas was a World Champion boxer.

How was Douglass a World Champion boxer? He was a massive underdog before the fight, as much as Coner Mcgregor is now. Nobody thought he had a chance in hell, but he shocked the world with the biggest upset ever at the time.

I thought he won the title from McCall? Or am I getting my timelines mixed up?

He was still an actual boxer with wins over other actual boxers though.

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

I think it's fair to say that it would be the biggest sporting upset of all time if McGregor wins, at least in the running with the likes of Leicester winning the Premiership. As much as I would love it to happen (not because I like McGregor, I just really dislike Mayweather) I just don't see how it could possibly happen if Mayweather has been even slightly serious in his preparation.

Or more like Buster Douglass beating Iron Mike Tyson in Tokyo....

Nah, that was massive, but Douglas was a World Champion boxer.

How was Douglass a World Champion boxer? He was a massive underdog before the fight, as much as Coner Mcgregor is now. Nobody thought he had a chance in hell, but he shocked the world with the biggest upset ever at the time.

I thought he won the title from McCall? Or am I getting my timelines mixed up?

He was still an actual boxer with wins over other actual boxers though.

Tyson was the undisputed, undefeated, unified champion of the world. Nobody (outside boxing) had ever heard of Buster Douglass before the fight, he was supposed to be a meatball for Tyson to eat up but things went wrong right from the start.

 

[King Boonen]

Just checked his record. Wasn't for the title but he beat Berbick and McCall in his two fights before Tyson.

He might have been a very average boxer, but he was much more qualified to be in the boxing ring than McGregor is.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Just checked his record. Wasn't for the title but he beat Berbick and McCall in his two fights before Tyson.

He might have been a very average boxer, but he was much more qualified to be in the boxing ring than McGregor is.

No doubt, McGregor's qualifications to box Mayweather have nothing to do with boxing and everything to do with his ability for self promotion. It's all about the dollar and it could end up being literally a fatal mistake.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

Is McGregor safe ?

http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=pMJKdIFVI6pghfX2HXfSzxRpdoyDWYNW3fjiFYfs57vsuvyU6VpCvYyDT08g/32bvPBmIywSvouCGH1GV+1Vw/32OgB9a1JG80D3xDZoD9UYQb+z/4Z3VpGmY2liCPrKFJKeByKzkxWDfJpJmwWUxA==&campaign_id=129&instance_id=102098&segment_id=112302&user_id=12d98412e3bcc0522f6cfbf4c21c54e6&regi_id=42685115

You can say whatever about CMc's lack of boxing experience, but his experience in protecting himself might be better than a boxer.

Really the question is: is anyone safe between the ropes or in the cage? Combat sports are inherently dangerous.