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Did anyone see the segment this month on HBO's Real Sports about Tyson Fury? You talk about a screwed up family AND traditions. He grew up a "Traveler" which is another term for European gypsy. His immediate family basically came from Ireland and resettled in Manchester England with money his father made from bare knuckle fighting. Apparently bare knuckle fighting is a proud tradition of the Traveler people and his family has been especially adept at it for generations.
I saw this on HBO last night and it will be rerun I'm sure quite a few times yet. If you're a boxing fan, you'll want to see this.
Huge Boxing fan. I watched it. The interview helped me understand his thought process, but I still think he is idiot that will get smoked by a good opponent.
Calling Wladimir Klitschko or Deontay Wilder; Either of you two please shut this clown up. He is not fit to represetn the heavyweight division with his childish antics. So tired of him.
Calling Wladimir Klitschko or Deontay Wilder; Either of you two please shut this clown up. He is not fit to represetn the heavyweight division with his childish antics. So tired of him.
Klitschko already had his shot, although the two have apparently signed to fight again in July.
It was a really terrible fight last time, I can't see anyone buying the rematch.
After Klitschko's performance in the last fight, I can't see him really giving Fury his comeuppance. He might win a decision, but I'd just as soon seem Fury take on someone with a little bit more.
The irony of his background and views on other 'minorities' was classic. The guy is an idiot and a bigot, like I said, ironically. Watching the fight he has zero skill, he's just a giant. It's no wonder the heavyweight division is dead and unwatchable.
I know people like to criticize the heavyweight division, but it's no fault of the fighters - they can only fight those who show up to challenge them, right? If better fighters exist - where are they? I'm not sure if I'm buying that they are all in the NFL. Pro football represents what percentage of the world's 200+ lb men? Surely all the world's big men aren't looking to the NFL. And I imagine most parents know if their 13/14 yr old looks like possible NFL talent...why not involve the kids in boxing?
The money/fame seems to be there too. I don't keep up with boxing much, but it looks like fighters like Adamek, Pulev, Haye, Fury, Glakov, Wilder, Povetkin, Vitali, Wlad, etc have all made millions at a young age.
I know people like to criticize the heavyweight division, but it's no fault of the fighters - they can only fight those who show up to challenge them, right? If better fighters exist - where are they? I'm not sure if I'm buying that they are all in the NFL. Pro football represents what percentage of the world's 200+ lb men? Surely all the world's big men aren't looking to the NFL. And I imagine most parents know if their 13/14 yr old looks like possible NFL talent...why not involve the kids in boxing?
The fighters aren't actually in the NFL. It's just that the allure of a football/basketball career siphons off a lot of athletes from the fight game. Consequently, the heavyweight division sees more and more fighters like Deontay Wilder and Bryant Jennings who didn't pick up boxing until their 20s. Tyson, Holyfield and Ali all started training around 12-13. So there is a very noticeable skill gap between this generation and the previous generation that took up the sport very early on.
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Originally Posted by eddiehaskell
The money/fame seems to be there too. I don't keep up with boxing much, but it looks like fighters like Adamek, Pulev, Haye, Fury, Glakov, Wilder, Povetkin, Vitali, Wlad, etc have all made millions at a young age.
Not really. Sure, champions get paid, but didn't Ruslan Provodnikov get paid like $10,000 for a fight not that long ago? Boxing pays out more to its top and lower tiers than MMA, but significantly less than the NBA or NFL. The lowest paid guy in the NFL earns at least $450,000 a year and doesn't have to pay for airfare, trainers, hotels, etc.
The big names in boxing aren't a good barometer of how lucrative the sport is for the average professional boxer. Most guys are fighting just for the chance to lose to a top-ranked fighter. So it's not like the money is all that attractive when there are plenty of other sports with significantly higher payouts and significantly less hazard.
In the 50s and 60s, boxing was more competitive with the NBA/NFL in terms of financial reward. That's hardly true in 2016 with the exception of a few top guys.
The fighters aren't actually in the NFL. It's just that the allure of a football/basketball career siphons off a lot of athletes from the fight game. Consequently, the heavyweight division sees more and more fighters like Deontay Wilder and Bryant Jennings who didn't pick up boxing until their 20s. Tyson, Holyfield and Ali all started training around 12-13. So there is a very noticeable skill gap between this generation and the previous generation that took up the sport very early on.
But the NFL can siphon off their ~500 potential heavyweights and that still leaves billions of men all over the world, right? And I'm sure there were still plenty of men back in the 60s that wanted to be NFL players rather than boxers...maybe a lesser percentage than now, but probably still more. Personally, I don't know any older men that boxed as teens, but I know plenty that played high school football. And heck, the NFL isn't even popular outside of the US so it's really just a drop in the bucket.
It seems like we can say "where are the great American heavyweights of the 60s/70s/80s" but couldn't we also say where were the great European heavyweights during the 60s/70s/80s?
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Not really. Sure, champions get paid, but didn't Ruslan Provodnikov get paid like $10,000 for a fight not that long ago? Boxing pays out more to its top and lower tiers than MMA, but significantly less than the NBA or NFL. The lowest paid guy in the NFL earns at least $450,000 a year and doesn't have to pay for airfare, trainers, hotels, etc.
$450k sounds like a lot until you realize the average NFL career is only 3 years. That's only $1.4M. After taxes, they are probably living like the common man if they don't have a backup plan and strict budget.
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The big names in boxing aren't a good barometer of how lucrative the sport is for the average professional boxer. Most guys are fighting just for the chance to lose to a top-ranked fighter. So it's not like the money is all that attractive when there are plenty of other sports with significantly higher payouts and significantly less hazard.
My guess is that the median boxer salary has always been lower than the major sports. I mean, is the 200th ranked heavyweight in 1965 making more money than an average football or baseball player? Median family income was around $6500 in 1965...from what I can look up, the average football player made around $35k in 1965. That's nearly 5x median family income. Would kids nowadays still want to play traditional sports if they were paid MD money?
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