Boxing’s New Breed Of Fan Luxuriates In October Doldrums
By: Sean Crose
Math. That’s right, math. I saw a comment thread the other night where several people were actually figuring out how much Canelo Alvarez earned in his pay per view fight against Liam Smith by doing math for the benefit of readers. This, my friends, is what happens when there are no major fights coming up week after week. Boxing’s new breed of fan just runs wild. Indeed, this is a perfect month for the new breeds because there isn’t much actual boxing going on. New breeds, after all, seem to appreciate the business of boxing more than they do the sport itself.
Indeed, a new breed can go on indefinitely discussing how, say, Billy Joe Saunders can make respectable money without having to actually risk getting his clock cleaned. That’s just the sort of activity a new breed would be engaged in. While, for instance, a traditional boxing fan is excited about the upcoming Kovalev-Ward matchup, a new breed is excited about figuring out how much Adonis Stevenson can still make if he avoids the winner. Needless to say, this sort of nonsense sickens traditional fans to no end, but promoters (and advisers) undoubtedly love it.
After all, when there’s a significant fan base – and, make no mistake about it, the new breeds are numerous – willing to support Danny Garcia for taking on a person no one’s heard of, the money people are very happy indeed. Why? Because the fighters they cash in on can reap rewards without any real risk of losing. In other words, the cash keeps flowing and the new breeds remain happy. Here’s the thing, though – more and more people in America are turning away from the sweet science. It’s already marginalized, and now it’s becoming even more so.
And, really, who can blame people for turning their backs on boxing during times like this? While this author clearly believes boxing will eventually regain its health, not everyone is so patient. What’s more, there’s things like UFC for fans of combat sports to engage in. Even those who like boxing better than MMA are willing to watch people fight in an octagon if the best is facing the best. The problem here is that the new breeds are on their way to becoming one of boxing’s few remaining fan bases. And, after pushing everyone else away, there’s simply not enough of them to keep boxing lucrative.
The new breeds may be numerous, but they’re not that numerous. Just how many of these people are there? I think we’ll be able to get an idea this November, when Danny Garcia fights the obscure Samuel Vargas on Spike the same night UFC stars Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez meet in a major pay per view event. We’ll find out who tunes in to watch Garcia earn what should be an easy paycheck. The numbers should be interesting.
