How do you define this decade?

Fuck how time flies. Three more weeks and one decade is gone, the eighties were fucking thirty years ago.

I am writing articles about boxing in a couple of magazines and I was thinking, what will be the BIG stories of the 2010s, when all is said and done (and there is nothing more to say or do - the ones who know, they know).

Of course, the picture of decades changes and sharpens as time goes by.

When the 1990s were over, people mostly talked about it as a decade of alphabet madness getting totally out of hand, George Foremans comeback, Tyson's jail time, The Bite, and ODLH taking the place of SRL as the superstar of the sport.

If we think back now, the most lasting images of the 90s besides The Bite would rather be Roy, Whitaker, Oscar, Lennox, Tito etc.

What about 2010s? What are the big stories, what do we remember now, what shall we remember in twenty years?

What I remember from this year 2019 I guess is that several of the biggest stars struggled somehow. What about the whole decade?

 

The "Don Dunphy of Finland" is WRITING These Days?!

Post/PM Some of Your Work If/When You Can, Por Favor?

Totally Brainstorming...

The WAY Fans Consume Boxing has Changed Drastically in the Last Year or So...HBO's Out of the Boxin' Bidness Altogether, Showtime Seems to Be WELL on its Way; If 2020 is ANYTHING Like 2019 Was, There WON'T Be Boxing on Showtime in 2021...

DAZN, ESPN +...

Canelo was Obviously a MAJOR Player This Decade...Joshua...Renewed Interest in the Heavyweight Division...Pacquiao's Not Only Still Relevant, but ELITE...

WBSS Propelled Oleksandr Usyk, Callum Smith, Josh Taylor and Naoya Inoue to Higher Levels of Notoriety...

PBC Welters were a Consistent Theme, Crawford Fully Unified, Then Moved Up...

REED's Certain He's Leaving MAJOR Fighters/Events Out...






REED

 

Boxing's NEVER Been as GLOBAL as it Currently Is, From a Viewing Perspective, in REED's Lifetime...





REED

 

The story is manifold but one angle which cannot be ignored as Reed has already touched on vis a vis HBO and Showtime is how the Internet and global connectivity has utterly re-written the manner in which the sport, as a product, is disseminated.

In 1999, millions of customers in the UK missed out on De La Hoya vs Trinidad because of a cock-up over the digital rollout of the main Sports provider in the UK, Sky Sports.

Today, that would NEVER happen. That company would get bashed and eviscerated by the countless marauding competitors, online and otherwise, that now exist for the product.

In 1999, it was SKY or HBO/SHOWTIME. That's it. SKY SPORTS could afford to let the UK base miss out on the "Fight of the Century". They couldn't do that today...the sharks would be circling.

One thing you could focus on if you chose to write about it was the different way that different sports have been changed by the same phenomenon.

Boxing is now more footloose. Shows in Arabia, Chechenya, Moscow etc. It's not that there is more "Non US" shows....it's that they are getting made in weirder places.

You go back to 1999 and Roy Jones vs DM never gets made because neither guy wanted to leave his hometown.......and the fans of both guys were adamant that neither should leave his hometown.

That could never happen now, too much money would be put up by some obscure dictator country-site and the PPV fees, no longer some ridiculous fee charged by a network in one of possibly 3 countries.........would make it happen too. Cos a million casuals heard about some fight in the middle of a desert or despotic outlier country and it's "must see" stuff etc.

In much the same way as the NFL has gone on the road to London England, boxing has gone on the road. It's always gone on the road, a la Foreman vs Frazier in Nassau or Foreman vs Norton in Caracas but that was cos Dick Saddler didn't want to pay fees to somebody in the USA. Now it's totally normal to just have a megafight in some oddball place. In the 1990's you basically had NYC, Las Vegas, a bit in London. Since then German cities, London, Saudi, Moscow, etc...all more prominent.

In other ways nothing has changed. It's ok for Joshua to be Wlad-Lyte now that his Superman cloak has been torn off. What used to be stink is now skill. Similary, a Bowe vs Lewis thing has developed but the inverse is the case...........Joshua and his people don't want to fight Wilder. In the 90's it was Bowe who didn't want anything to do with Lewis. You still get fucked. You have this Canelo situation, a thousand times worse than the Oscar thing of 1999.

At least Quartey could be said to have lost the fight on the strength of the 12th round. Today he'd not even get close to a split decision. The lucrative nature and sheer PAUCITY of true stars {whether they can fight, or not} means the bullshit and the corruption is as strong as ever. It's not that it's more widespread, it's just stronger where it exists.

There was NOTHING like the Canelo stench in the 1990's. POSSIBLY Chavez getting a draw with Pea in the Alamodome or the late late stoppage of Taylor in 1990 but that's nothing like the utter outright fix of the Kovalev fight. Corruption today is probably a lot less commonplace but way more pronounced where it exists. In the 1990's, even Oscar got fucked. Canelo could die in the ring and get the decision.

 

I'm obviously speaking from a strictly UK perspective here for the most part...

I think globally the sport has improved massively since the major dip in the 2000's, it's still quite top-heavy across the divisions but the good fighters are really very good, and I think it's perhaps the old school fans who maybe need to let go of some the nostalgia and accept that some of these guys can really fight, instead of harking back to the old days.

For the UK it's been a particularly good decade, weirdly no superstars (outside heavyweight) or ATG's, maybe a couple of borderline guys like Froch but there has been a consistent crop of world class fighters come through that have made their mark on the world stage and generally acquitted themselves well. The sport as a whole has taken off massively here, and I know he's hated but that's largely down to Hearn. Obviously that means a ton of casuals, which can be annoying but we all started off as casuals so hopefully there will be a new crop of hardcore fans who come through as a result. I do like the fact that the UK is now genuinely seen as a viable venue for big fights as the atmosphere for big UK fights is unlike anywhere else.

I think the heavyweight division is fantastic these days, maybe these guys aren't as good as the likes of Lewis and Tyson etc but it's entertaining, new fans are entertained and it's an entertainment business at the end of the day for fuck's sake. Just enjoy it, there's no need to point out every single fucking thread how these guys just "don't compare". Shit gets tedious. For what it's worth, whilst none of the current top 3 would make my top 10 or perhaps 25 ATG heavyweights, I would pick some of them to beat a few of the guys in there. They're not nearly as bad as made out. Different personalities + different styles + different strengths + different flaws = Fun heavyweight era.

For the most part I think it's been good and a big improvement from the last decade.

 

I think the British scene has been helped massively by what has happened in other sports in general.

Soccer has turned into a rich mans racket attended in the main by total eunuchs.

They arrested a 13 year old boy the other today for making Slanty-Eyes gestures at Son Heung Min.

13 years of age.

People go to the fights cos they are cheaper and you get to act the cunt and roar your head off and be as partisan without being arrested by some twatlord in a vizzy vest.

It's a remaining bastion of the old Ben Sherman gang of the 1990's......Hearn has brought back the whole rave-up mentality via Sweet Caroline, etc.

FWIW I think that RIGHT NOW the British scene at HW is not as good as it was in the 1990's nor as good as the SMW scene of the same period.

Bruno would WIN the title in the 1990's and Lewis would UNIFY it or would have but for old Eugenia and her BS. And of course you had Benn vs Eubank vs Collins.

One thing which HAS changed is the ability of people to see the fights. The Collins vs Eubank fight took place in a converted horse shed. Today that simply wouldn't happen. They'd have a proper 25,000 seater venue for it.

 

One thing I do hate is the level of scrutiny contemporary fighters are put under. I kinda get it because we all grew up in a really strong era of boxing and the 2000's were unusually weak, but it seems like as soon as a modern fighter has an unexpectedly difficult fight we get the whole "well this is proof that fighter X could never beat fighter Y from <insert decade here>". Literally EVERY fighter in boxing history has had a tricky night along the way, perhaps even lost, chill out. It's infuriating sometimes.

 

That's the casual effect.

It used to be that Bunce/Mike Costello/Reg and Harry did the talking, a small gang of professionals..... now it's some Mongo on TalkSHITE or Fanny By the Gaslight on the BBC weighing in with their "important" opinion on all things fistic. So you get this influence of the casual into the reportage. There used to be a guy called Ben Dirs at the BBC.....he's gone now and some other lad is throwing in his opinion. It's not that one was great and the other was bad....there's no mainstays, no constant reporters, no guys who do the fights and nothing else.

 

I don't agree with arresting the kid who made the gesture but there should have been a reprimand of some sort, you can't go around doing that shit.

In regards to the heavyweight scene in the 90's, Lewis was head and shoulders above everyone in the UK, and he would be in this decade too, but imo he was head and shoulders above every heavyweight in the WORLD back then anyway. After Lewis, who have you got? Bruno, Mason, Derek Williams...honestly I'd favour any of the current crop to beat those guys, Bruno obviously has a punchers chance but that's it.

 

OH-OH-OH!!!





REED

 

I don't think there's a crop as such....{I genuinely think AJ is finished and will need ultra careful management. Fury is likely to implode.}

Fury has also been around since about what, 2008? AJ doesn't turn pro until 2013 some 5 years after. DuBois turns pro 4 years after that again. So you've got a 9 year spread there for the 3 boys and they STILL ain't fought each other despite sharing common opponents.

That leaves........Chisora and Whyte, both drain circlers.

In 1999, Lewis had 5 years left in him and had the Holyfield, Holyfield Rematch, Grant, Botha, Tua, Rahman, Rahman rematch, Tyson, Klitschko, fights in him

Fury and AJ would do well to match that between them over the next 5 years.

Not complaining as such....just pointing out.

 

Sorry my bad, the 3 I was referring to were AJ, Fury and Wilder. Obviously yeah Dubois would be in the equation if we're talking British and I wouldn't be confident picking him in a big fight right now.

Whyte is kinda hard to rank, I don't think he's very good but he does have some good wins. He's at least as good as Williams and Mason imo.

I don't know if AJ is finished as such, I just think we're all that much more aware of where his level is right now. Honestly though I'd still pick him over any of the 90s Brit heavyweights, with the exception of Lewis obviously. Hide would be a danger early but his chin was even worse than Joshua's and he didn't have the size, the chin or the heart for that matter. Fury is a headcase but I don't see him losing to those guys either.

I think they all want to fight each other, personally, it's just more of the same political shit which has ruined boxing since forever.

 

"Even Sugar Ray Robinson Didn't Look Like 'SUGAR RAY ROBINSON' Every Time Out"

It Was Either Larry Merchant OR Original Fightbeater, John Garfield, That Said This...

REED's Leaning Towards Garfield Because Merchant CONTRADICTED That Quote Just About Every Time a Highly Touted Fighter Lost, as You Alluded To....






REED

 

Great contributions to this thread. Well played lads. Shades of what made this forum great. Shades of Ali.

REED... the videos you are putting out are being circulated in Reykjavik now and thoroughly enjoyed.

Good job fightbeat

 

Indeed, several fantastic takes, much more than I could have come up with.

Couple of other 2010s things could be:

the mega fights where one or neither guy was the top dog of a division but the bout was sold based on personal vendetta (May - McGregor, Froch - Groves, Haye - Chisora).

The shitloads of catchweight bouts

Amateur stars jumping quickly to the top (Rigo, Loma, Beterbiev, Usyk)

UFC challenging boxing and possibly forcing some changes, such as the tournaments

 

Actually thinking about it highlights what a weak era this is. There are a lot of quality Eastern Euro bringing up the average but still weak.

You think the divisions look top heavy now? Imagine if there was enough money and interest in the sport for the top guys to eventually fight each other. Half of the names we hold in such high regard would get knocked out and forgotten.

 

If the top guys fought each other, half of them would lose? Sounds like you know your mathematics

 

And then most of them wouldn’t be seen as top guys in the same way. The idea that’s there’s this certain amount of intriguing guys at the top is an illusion caused by the fact that there’s nowhere to cash these mediocre guys out.

 

That makes zero sense

 

Are you retarded or just Swedish?

 

If we could make MMs Ali vs Tyson, SRR vs SRL and Duran vs Whitaker, I bet HALF of these guys would LOSE, proving that they weren't actual all-time greats.

Terp knows his shit

 

So you are retarded?

 

How do you define this decade?

Least relevant or interesting to anyone except the boxing 'hardcore'.

 

So how was 2000-10 better than this for a casual fan?

 

Incorrect use of the adjective.

I used 'relevent' and 'interesting'

 

But since you ask, 2000-20009 produced far, far more intetesting fights by better fighters throughout 122 to 190lb


Except the Heavyweight division which was pure dogshit from 2004..

 

Good call on the whole vendetta thing................the one you missed was Wlad vs Haye. That was unreal over here, it started with Haye wearing a beanie hat confronting Wlad like he, Haye, was a trainee pursesnatcher {which his performance in the fight itself epitomized}...........that was 2008/2009............then the fight got nixed and it ran all the way to 2011, then there was the fallout where Wlad took to YT and made that silent video.

Same again with Haye vs Chisora, as stated, and Haye vs Fury- all of this was enabled by Sky copying HBO and doing these in-house face-to-face confrontations.

The reinvention of catchweight not as a deal-maker but as a fight-breaker, essentially used to to make sure a certain guy couldn't win a fight or was hamstrung to begin with.

Back in the day you'd have little men like Greb or Walker shortening fights.............today the preferred weapon is timing, catchweights and clauses and of course PED's.

 

Has it ever happened before that the weight limit of a middleweight title defense has been agreed to be below the actual 160 lbs limit?

 

Hopkins vs fishnets