Why is there no "great white hope" in boxing?
343609
There are two problems here. The first is that the "great white hope" has to be American, and there aren't any that happen to stand out right now. The second is that there would have to be a dominant black champion first in order for a "great white hope" to beat him, which isn't the case right now either.\n\nIn June 2003, there was a lot of excitement about the fight between Vitali Klitschko and Lennox Lewis, but of course Klitschko is Ukrainian and therefore couldn't be considered a great white hope. (Both are now retired.)\n\nThere is currently no dominant heavyweight champ at all, but there are four white boxers in the top ten, all ruled out of becoming a "great white hope" because none of them are American:\n\nWladimir Klitschko (Ukraine) - He's fighting Chris Byrd this Saturday for the IBF title. There used to be more excitement around him, but he's still working his way back from two knockout losses.\n\nNikolai Valuev (Russia) - A huge, seven-foot tall boxer with a great jab, but he's not entertaining enough to really get over with the fans.\n\nOleg Maskaev (Kazakhstan) - He's 37 already, which is old for boxing. I haven't seen any of his fights televised in the States lately.\n\nSergei Lyakhovich (Belarus) - Recently won the WBO title with a very entertaining and convincing victory over Lamon Brewster, winning over a lot of fans as well. He probably has the most potential of these four to become a really popular champion.
741386
This is an excellent question with a dissappointing answer.  There are presently no "champions" who meet your criteria, and your criteria is actually what the definition of a champion should be.  Heavyweight division saddens me.  No americans with a belt.  No belt unification.  No solid champions.  Middleweights  Pick and choose there opponents and seem primarily interested in the big pay per view paycheck.  Welterweights Have no true champions, however, I am intrigued by Ricky hatton and am curious to see what becomes of his record and career.  Jr.  welterweights and flyweights seem to change every week and I have  a hard time keeping up with them all.  Best champions ?- There are none!!
915561
Amy im not being funny but is this a joke question, you probably do know your boxing and meant to type Erik Morales from Mexico because Oscar Larios has proved that he cant do it.\nAnd even then Manny Pacquiao is gonna destroy Erik " El Terrible" Morales once and for all.
127685
Of course more fans watched boxing before pay-per-view, but most people were willing to pay to watch the heavyweight championship bouts. Making it pay-per-view actually helped get people together to watch it in the same place so they would talk about it more and build up more interest.\n\nThe problem now is that there are PPV cards every other week. This past weekend it was Mosley-Vargas, both of whom are already past their prime, and which many boxing fans didn't feel was worth their money. The week before was Margarito-Gomez, whom casual boxing fans may still not know about. There are so many pay-per-views now that fans don't know which ones to buy and end up not getting them. Many of the cards don't even have any advertisements to promote them.\n\nAs mentioned earlier, we do need a real heavyweight champ who can entertain the public. The Rahman-Toney fight (3/18) looks interesting, but Rahman isn't as much of a talker and Toney looks too pudgy to impress most people. As for the W. Klitschko - Byrd fight (4/22), well, most people would rather watch grass grow than watch Byrd's defensive style, and few people have any confidence in Klitschko anymore because of the two knockouts he suffered in recent years. Fortunately, I think both of these fights will be shown on regular HBO.\n\nI don't know who's going to be the next heavyweight to capture the imagination of the fans, but as soon as he comes around, I can guarantee you that there will be a lot more people willing to pay to see him on PPV, even if a lot of the less important PPV cards get overlooked.
414833
I'd love to see Klitschko work inside on Valuev, but I see a bunch of nobodies fighting him for a while until he (Valuev) can harness his size.  I could see Calvin Brock in Wlad's future.  But we'll have to see how he does against Ibrigamov.  It's about time Brock gets tested, as well as Ibrigamov, both undefeated.
831015
I can't see any of them "unifying" the Heavyweight Division for a couple of reasons, like Frank stated the politics involved. I'll elaborate since I just got finished reading an article last night on Boxing Scene. After Wladimir's win last night "unification" was tossed around at the post-fight press conference. When the match-up of Wladimir vs Valuev came up a spokesman for Don King Promotions (Valuev's Promoter) said if it did happen DK would have to be the Promoter and that the winner would be obligated to DK for at least two defenses of the title. Wladimir said in no uncertain terms he will not be obligated to Don King under any circumstances. So, forget those two getting together to "unify". \n\nMy second opinion why it won't happen (a viewpoint) is the division is made up of guys who are inconsistent. I wasn't impressed with Wladimir last night because he showed he still gets flustered in the ring, like he did after the cut (headbutt). Brock I now can dismiss altogether, he was pathetic. So ends his undefeated record. These two are reflections of the whole HW division, I wouldn't bet on any of these fights its too risky. One minute Brewster looks great the next fight he looks like Bone Crusher's Clone. \n\nThe division reminds me a lot of how it was in the early to middle 80s, the belts jumping around month to month and fight to fight. Don't look for it to change anytime soon. Thanks for the question.
899249
UFC and pride.\n1 because I train in a more mma type situation.\n\nand 2\nboxing has become a shadow of what it was, and continues to become so with each passing year.  years ago when the welterweight division was the cream of boxing's talent and there was much competition it was still exciting, but I think that the fighters in ufc and pride are hungrier and looking to make a name for themselves where in boxing the alphabet titles and constant stream of dissapointing fights is not an issue in the UFC or pride.\n\nI think we are seeing the twilight years of boxing as far as popularity goes.
768964
White boxer tend not to be any good.  The last good white boxer was Joe Mesi, and he had his brains beaten in by a cruiserweight, and Mesi is a heavyweight.  You have to go down to the 140 pound fighters and below to find some real white talent.
946099
It was announced and it's for a charity.  Dana White was an amature boxer before he and two other men bought the ufc and turned it into a money making enterprise.  He also managed Tito and Liddel both when they first came into the UFC if i'm not mistaken.  But the fight was scheduled for the week after the Last pay-per-view and i'm not sure if it actually happened or not.  But I do recall the anouncement being made.
779063
It won't be enough until his dream has been realized.\n\nUnfortunately it hasn't and institutionalized racism is still rampant.\n\nBut I think the arguement most white people have is why they keep building monuments and naming streets and schools after a ni**ger. Is this the problem you have? If so I pity you and anyone else that shares that opinion.
1087147
I use to love boxing but rarely watch anymore. I would have better fight cards, make the champ defend the belts more often 4 to 5 months against a top 3 contender, promote better, give better less expensive access to top fights. Don't know if I will ever love boxing the way I use to now that UFC and Pride are around
242401
Naseem Hamed announced last November that he would be making a comeback, but he's said that before also. He commented on his prospected comeback: "I've really missed boxing because I've been doing it for a hell of a long time, and I consider myself not bad at it. But then again I think boxing has missed me and it's time to get back and do some stuff. My confidence has never really gone. I'm raring to go after a good three-year lay-off. I believe I can be even better."\n\nHe's also scheduled for a March 31st court date regarding a car accident he was in last year.
709374
He'd still be the greatest but with less exposure. America's the biggest market in boxing.
897327
i dont know most the boxer's that train at my gym are hispanic.. and im mixed... and i kick ass lol.i think it personally depends on the persons skillz and not really skin color. i can see where u are coming from though cuz alot of my white freinds ask if there is white ppl at in boxing in stuff.. i guess the general public sees boxing as a minority dominated sport.. well i know that it is better to be darker in a fight cuz then the bruises dont show up. we always have to fake bake before a match.
86528
When people think of boxing, they still think of Mike Tyson and he's done with boxing. There are some equally talented and charismatic boxers, but none at the heavyweight level, who are really the only people most people pay attention to.\n\nThere are four main boxing organizations (WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF) and each of them gives out their own titles and has their own champions. Four heavyweight champs right now? The title belts have to be unified by one person so that the general public has someone to associate with the phrase 'heavyweight champion.' There are a couple of good heavyweight bouts coming up, but nothing that will unify the title and prove dominance in the sport.\n\nPay-per-views are another problem. But a lot of the shows that aren't on pay-per-view are on HBO or Showtime, still. Telefutura shows Solo Boxeo every week, so they've gained a solid piece of the Hispanic Market. But ESPN's Friday Night Fights only airs for about half of the year. People who tune into that after a while forget boxing exists and aren't in tune at all as to when big events are coming up.\n\nIf they could get some of the bigger fights on network television like NBC or Fox, I think that would get a lot of people back into the sport. That, and unified heavyweight champ with the excitement of a Mike Tyson.
313878
Most of the Categories used on this site came from the previous Japanese site.  Boxing is not a big winner in Japan.\n\nWhen the list of Categories was edited for an English speaking group of Users, the people who did this were mostly "Southern California types" and the Categories reflect this.\n\nSubmitting a request for Boxing to be add will help, but Asking more Questions about Boxing might help as well.
1098595
Yes. College boxing still exists in the good ole US of A. For info on it, go to any college website to see if the college of your choice offers/ has a boxing team/program. Another option would be to go to the NCAA website and check there. The website name  is NCAAsports.com. I know for fact that some schools offer boxing, I've watched it on CSTV (College Sports TV on my satellite TV network <DISH>)