So how can boxing follow UFC's lead? According to McCullough it's a as easy as a one - two combination. "Firstly we need to see better fights. Ok we've had some good fights in boxing this year but the UFC are putting on competitive match ups week in week out. The best simply fight the best all the time and boxing needs to have that too. http://fightbeat.com/article_detail.php?AT=489
He's so punch drunk that he thinks UFC is the only MMA org out there. UFC have many stars under contract. While boxing have many different promoters having many different fighters under contract...of course you won't see compelling fights each and every month. Even so, I don't know of ANY MMA fight that I could watch on tape a hundred times and never get tired of it.
I think the point he's making here is that promoters are somewhat to blame for the downward spiral the sport has taken. They need to learn how to promote their fighters and get the fans to take a personal interest in their heroes. Cupey
I didnt read the article but I know Waynes views on such matter. U cant deny that the UFC marketing is very good, and there undercards are much better than most big boxing nights. IMO Promoters are to blame for the decline in the sport.
He is still mad @ boxing because the commisision stopped the 2nd Larios fight. Get over it already :doh:
McCullough is correct in a lot of ways (though as an employee of the UFC, he's not exactly unbiased: "The crowd at a UFC event is nearly always there for the whole night because the undercard bouts are always competitive and interesting." ) The UFC does a much better job of producing their live events (much of which seems to be borrowed from pro wrestling). I've said it before, the people at the UFC did a great job of studying the way both boxing and pro wrestling are marketed both in the arena and on television, and have implemented much of that in the way they market their product. McCullough is right about this: "At a UFC event they interview the fighters on the big screens and profile them before all the undercard bouts." They have videotaped vignettes introducing every fight/fighter on their cards, as well as some music video montages and what not. From what I've read (mainly from Steve Kim), Top Rank has tried to take some steps to involve the crowd more and create atmosphere at their events, but it will take more than just playing music between rounds.
The problem is with the promoters as well as HBO and Showtime. I personally feel that a fighter as well as a promoter should be able to terminate a contract at any given time. As a fighter if I feel that my promoter is trying to freeze me out and prevent me from fighting then I should be able to terminate the contract and vice versa. If the promoter isn't happy with the fighter then that promoter or promotional company should be able cut ties. Just like when I was with my agent. If I felt that he wasn't representing me or promoting me very well then I could have fired his ass. Also the networks need to stop that only HBO fighters are allowed to fight on HBO and Showtime dudes only allowed to fight on Showtime. My last point. Guys need to fight to maintain there rankings. No more sitting on your rankings. I'm not saying that this will prevent all the issues that is hurting boxing but I think that it will start things going in the right direction. I'll Holla 5000
