Boxing seems to be the sport perennially on it?s last legs: Sometimes derided as boring, limited, passe. Those who love and stick by boxing do so not only for it?s balletic-athletic mechanics, setting up power shots with the jab or timing an opponent?s attack to effectively counter it, but also for its traditions which run deep in the sport. The third man in the ring making the rules clear to the combatants, the announcer, the scoring and of course the bell are just a sampling of the resonant elements that enrich the boxing experience.
Boxing needs to find a way to retain the customs that define it and add new elements that will energize the sport while maintaining the integrity. The promoters know the sport needs a jolt and last year we saw the unveiling of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a risky 6-man tournament initially intended to begin in October 2009 and end in May or June 2001. The tournament started off flawlessly but out-of -the-ring fights over bout locations, matches delayed due to injury and the withdrawal of Jermain Taylor and Mikkel Kessler, two of the tournament competitors, has severely hobbled the bold endeavor.
While some critics of the Super Six have called the tournament out as a major failure for the sport, it showed that the movers and shakers in the boxing world were willing to shift the paradigm of the sport in order to refresh it.
Here are a few more ideas boxing may be able to capitalize on in the future:
1. Different Venues: Kudos to Top Rank Promotions stepping up and moving boxing out of the arena into interesting locals for some cards. Cowboys Stadium for Manny Pacquiao- Joshua Clottey, Yankee Stadium for Miguel Cotto- Yuri Foreman and a bullring in Aguascalientes, Ags., Mexico for Antonio Margarito-Roberto Garcia were excellent ideas, proving that Top Rank was thinking outside of the ring
