The pre/post fight scraps, slaps, and spits that we witnessed this weekend between Chisora, Klitschko, and Haye have produced a range of opinions about their value to the sport. Some say this is exactly the kind of excitement/stimulus package boxing needs. Others disagree, arguing that it hurts the sport.
These points have been articulated and debated quite thoroughly here on BLH. In the interest of organizing opinions into a snapshot view, what is your position on this issue?
FanPosts are user-created content written by community members of Bad Left Hook, and are generally not the work of our editors. Please do not source FanPosts as the work of Bad Left Hook.
0 recs | 14 comments
Good for boxing.
Compare the amount of coverage pre-fight to post-fight. Say no more.
Shitali Klitschko - February 19, 2012 via mobile
I agree that it increases coverage
And that it may excite many in the established fan base. Just wonder about the extent to which this stuff is drawing in or turning off potential new fans.
ShrinkRap - February 19, 2012
The answer is little to no genuine effect. Yes, coverage increases, but not for boxing. Who’s talking about the fight yesterday?
Scott Christ - February 19, 2012
I don't mind them at all
adds to the excitement, imo.
So long as there are people there to break them up and they don’t get out of hand.
Haye should have put the bottle down before throwing the punch though.
Matt Mosley - February 19, 2012
This. This again. And Exactly this.
I’ve made this point to someone yesterday, and they argued he wouldn’t have known in the heat of the moment that he was even holding something. Their point of view was immediately rendered irrelevant: anyone who thinks that a professional boxer doesn’t know exactly the current state of his hands should be summarily shot for stupidity.
It would have taken approximately 0.1 seconds to release the bottle, and then having nothing in his hand would have probably helped his timing to the point he’d have scored a devastating knockout for the first time since Enzo Maccarinelli….
Olbas - February 20, 2012
As long as they're not hitting me....
Pops Daniels - February 19, 2012
It's not good for boxing, that's the only thing I can draw from it...
The only people that get excited by these type of brawls are boxing fans themselves who have at least a little knowledge about the fighters background.
I know this is a poor comparison, but Nathan Cleverley and Tony Bellew had a pathetic little scrap in a pre-fight press conference which was live on Sky. It was widely covered on Sky Sports’ news channel, but did it have a great effect on the viewing? No. Did the fight itself get half the screen time? No.
Dafs - February 19, 2012
Well by the time the fight actually happened
It had been postponed and then switched to BoxNation, where I doubt any weigh in or press conference was screened live on SSN
Sweet science - February 19, 2012
The question isn’t whether they gets attention, it’s whether they get the right kind of attention. The lot drawn into watching a fight by these events are not long-term fans, generally speaking, and the sport undeniably doesn’t gain dignity from these skirmishes.
El Destruyo - February 20, 2012
All the UK news channels were all over this story in Sunday, probably more so than if Chisora had actually beat Klitschko.
It annoys me that they only cover the sport extensively when things like this happen and not when a great fight occurs….Typical of todays’ media, i suppose, where, in their eyes, the only good news is bad news.
I had BBC Radio 5Live on this morning in the way to work and ludicrously they had some liberal idiot crawl out of the woodwork to rehash the old “this is another reason boxing should be banned bullshit”.
I hate tossers like that who you never hear from any other time, but as soon as something like this happens they are all over the freakin airwaves!
Matt Mosley - February 20, 2012
on, not in.
Matt Mosley - February 20, 2012
Well put. That said, the brawl is to my mind a police matter, just a couple of jerks being stupid, no big deal. The spitting and slapping were an offense to boxing, and really bother me a lot..
BoxAnne - February 20, 2012
It depends on how it all goes down. Not all pre/post-fight scraps are created equal. I cannot vote up or down on them as a whole, only specific events.
Matt Miller - February 20, 2012
No
Boss Man - February 20, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Bad Left Hook to post a comment.