If you?ve been following the sport for longer than Anthony Joshua?s (former) title reign, you had to see this coming. After years (and decades, actually) of the American fight scene gnawing at its own tail like a hungry, desperate sewer rat trapped in an unscalable water tank, the self-inflicted death gnash may be set to take place in, of all places, Saudi Arabia.
We all know by now that the big heavyweight title rematch between new champ Andy Ruiz Jr. and former champ Anthony Joshua is set to take place December 7 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. And what that should tell you?along with its start time set to appease the UK and Saudi Arabia markets?is that the US market has officially become an afterthought.
It?s not just this particular fight that marks the change, though. It?s understandable that a Joshua fight would play to the UK audience, where he is an undeniably huge star, for max earning possibilities. But this fight, along with everything coming before it and most things proposed afterwards, is screaming ?the end? for the United States? status as anything but an afterthought in world class boxing.
Promoter Bob Arum, even with a lucrative ESPN deal in the bag, is looking elsewhere to showcase some of his top talent because, realistically, you can only go so far these days by playing to a diminishing US boxing market being slowly strangled to death by pass-the-hat business practices perpetually, almost compulsively, siphoning bills and coins from loyal fight fans.
?…There are people around the world who want the opportunity to watch him (Vasiliy Lomachenko),? Arum said during a recent video interview. ?? My goal and I think Loma?s goal is to fight all around the world, because there is a tremendous market for him among sportsmen.?
Of course, the irony is that Arum has had a major role in establishing boxing?s suicidal American business model over the years. But he?s right in saying that the world awaits America?s losses with open arms. There are plenty of deep pockets out there willing to foot the bill for bringing big-time boxing to new, enthusiastic markets. As American fight fans grow weary and wary of being money-gouged at every turn for a product that has grown stale due to business conflicts between promoters and broadcast outlets, the money base in the US for big fights and star fighters continues to diminish. And, with the diminishing money base, boxing people look elsewhere for paydays.
Andy Ruiz, for example, should be a star after what he did to Joshua this past June in Madison Square Garden. A US-based heavyweight of Mexican descent playing to the Mexican-American boxing market, scoring the huge upset at, arguably, the most famous fight venue in the world? A generation ago, that would?ve been a sure-fire ticket to superstar status. But not anymore because Ruiz?s heroic feat was hidden inside of a subscription-only streaming app with a relatively small audience having access to see it firsthand.
The penchant for erecting paywalls everywhere?from streaming apps to a resurrected PPV business model?has hobbled the sport in the US and there?s no easy road back to good health. And if the foreign market continues to grab fights and fighters away from the American scene, there may be no road back at all.
It?s not a stretch to imagine a day where the US market becomes a dry well and most everything of note, boxing-wise, gets taken overseas. Actually, that trend may have already begun.
?They (Saudi Arabia) want to become the home of boxing,? Anthony Joshua?s promoter Eddie Hearn told reporters prior to the Ruiz-Joshua 2 press conference in New York. ?When they say that you have to take them very seriously?. The Saudis have told me that every promoter has told them they want to stage fights in Saudi. No country in the world right now can possibly compete with the money that is available in the Middle East?So we either embrace it or fighters lose out.?
When it?s legit international money men with legit interest in the sport versus lazy promoters perpetually passing the hat to collect from beleaguered fans, how can America compete?
