jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (11/20/84)
I was watching Monday night football recently when the announcers started
talking about how pro boxing had declined in popularity in recent years.
They said they figured that a big name fighter was needed to return its
popularity. I disagree. Larry Holmes is a 46-0 heavyweight and he should
be the big name fighter that they need. The problem, in my opinion, is that
there are too many boxing commissions, each of which has its own set of
champions that get stripped of their titles every few months. When there
was only one champ in each weight class, it was easy for the fans to identify
with him. The championship meant a lot more so there was more at stake in
a title fight, and even in fights between two contenders, because it was more
difficult to earn a shot at THE champ. As a result, fans were more inclined
to watch the fights.
The way it is now, the average fan probably doesn't even know how many boxing
commissions there are, let alone their champions. If the commissions know
what's good for them and boxing, they'll get together and agree to have only
one champion between them, and they'll come up with reasonable rules so that
the championship can be decided in the ring again, not in the office.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
{linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsrgv!dciem!jeff
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeff