Don?t live in the past. Stop saying how boxing has fallen through the years. If we say it?s no good, how are others supposed to respect it?
Forget the talk that boxing needs a savior. Boxing doesn?t need a savior, it needs Don Draper. It needs people to sell the sport. The sport is great and always will be, but it?s suffering from poor public relations and a poor opinion of itself. And with no one like Mad Men?s boozing, womanizing Draper here to sell the product to the people, that job falls to the fans. And if you visit websites like this, that means you. There are a few things those of us who love the sport can do to make it a little more well-respected among the general sports population.
Don?t live in the past. Stop saying how boxing has fallen through the years. If we say it?s no good, how are others supposed to respect it? Ask yourself this: Would you start following a sport whose fans told you that all its modern competitors were garbage? There are great fighters today. Too often we think of the old greats as being invincible, recalling their highlight rails and forgetting their limitations.
When some guy with his own butt-print etched into a barstool dismissively says, ?Yeah, but what good fighters are around today?? let him know there are dozens of guys worth checking out. But don?t challenge the barstool genius too much. If you asked him to actually name five fighters from the last century he?ll mention Tyson and Ali before he start stammering. No need to embarrass these guys. We?re trying to win friends here.
People will point out that there aren?t as many gyms around today, so clearly there can?t be as many fighters. This is a good chance to tell them that boxing has grown into an international sport. It is conducted at the professional level in far more countries throughout the world than was the case in its golden years. All the old Soviet Bloc nations now have elite fighters scattered throughout the weight classes. In the past these men?s finest days stopped in the amateurs.
Quit the gloom and doom. We can talk like boxing is going through a biblical plague. As seen in our reaction to the UFC. When it comes to MMA, boxing fans have got to stop acting like a bunch of jealous ex-boyfriends. People like the UFC, let?s get over it. Admit there are good athletes in MMA and move on. These are two different sports. Liking hockey does not preclude you from liking basketball.
And if an MMA fighter would beat a boxer in a street fight, big deal! Boxing has never been about that anyway. Plenty of great boxers would have lost alley fights to other men. Wrestlers and linebackers would have the advantage over the ring champions?and so what? That?s the whole point of the sport. One man may be tougher in some areas of life, but the champ rules the ring. The champ has mastered the art that we respect so much. And we need to convince others that it?s worthy of their respect too. And whining about the popularity of another sport won?t convince anyone of anything; except maybe that we?re a bunch of babies.
Try a letter to your local sports page; you know, the one that doesn?t know that boxing exists? Just tell them that there are good boxers out there and an occasional article might be worth a try.
Don?t drown people in information. You might know how much weight Bob Fitzsimmons gave up when he defeated Jim Corbett, but other sports fans think you sound like a history book. Sports are about emotion, keep the conversation passionate. Throw out a few names and sound excited about them. Tell your friends that Triple G is the best middleweight since Marvin Hagler. Say that Ruslan Provodnikov is never in a boring fight. Tell people they need to see these guys fight.
Remind people that boxing is on regular stations now. They don?t have to go to HBO, Showtime, or PPV to watch a match. It?s on NBC, CBS, Spike, and ESPN. Spread the word. They don?t need to spend a Saturday night spending cash on premium channels. They can catch a match the same way they ?catch? a basketball game.
Get your friends beyond the idea that we need one fighter to lead the sport. It?s an active, multiple-fighter sport, led by numerous top fights and fighters, not just one individual.
Now let?s all grab our fifth glass of whisky for breakfast like a bunch of good little Don Drapers and go sell the sport we love!
