Boxings Recent Turnaround...Preassure of UFC or the Retirement of Marque Boxers

[acb]

Boxing has more big fights on the horizon, and has more big fights recently, than I can remember. Many people say its the preasure of the UFC that is making boxing clean up its act.

There is also the impending retirement of some of the games biggest fighters which is creating big fights, such as Mayweather, Mosely, Hopkins, Wright, Calzaghe, De la Hoya, Barrera, etc. While only a few have made retirement announcements, many are close to calling it a day.

So has boxing really turned itself around, or are many of the name fighters just trying to define their legacies and get paid a few more times before calling it quits.

[Lampley]

I think HBO is trying to set itself apart from both Showtime and MMA, as the network has done a great job basically forcing some of these big fights to happen. The network increasingly faces difficult competition from Netflix, et al, and now that The Sopranos is over and there's a little ebb in their original programming, they have some extra bucks floating around to stage huge fights.

Not only that, and maybe many will disagree, but I think GBP's emergence on the scene has helped. Arum is doing business with them now, and HBO *loves* doing business with them.

[Jason997]

Pressure to compete. The product was getting stale. Plus there happen to be a logical set of fights to be made. If Klitchko can come out in the next 6 months as the widely acknowledged heavyweight champ that will only add to HBO's position. GBP has been big, and I think they will only get bigger. The promotion of De la Hoya/Mayweather was brilliant, and the card they put together last weekend turned out to be well worth the price paid.

- Jason