Wenn man dem US-Sportjournalisten Rick Woodson im "Rochester Business Journal" Glauben schenken darf (darf man das, denn er weiß anscheinend nicht, daß Joe Louis Max Schmeling im Rückkampf schon in Runde 1 ausgeknockt hat), war der Rahman-Toney Kampf ein Spiegelbild der Dekadenz des Berufsboxens in den Staaten.
Aber lassen wir ihn selbst seine These untermauern:
Empty seats say pro boxing is down for the count
“I’ve never seen a period of time where the heavyweight championship meant so little.”
—Bob Arum, boxing promoter
For those of us who go back to the days of Joe Louis, that quote from Bob Arum really hits home. No major sport, not in the United States anyway, has slipped into oblivion among the populace the way boxing has.
The NFL has grown into a $6 billion sport/business. You can practically hear the moaning and groaning when American football fans look at the calendar and realize there will be no football for six months.
Baseball is no longer king o’ the hill, but the Grand Old Game can still call itself “America’s pastime” without being embarrassed—the performance-enhancing substance issue notwithstanding.
Basketball—the NBA and college—is still packing ’em in despite all the palming of the ball and traveling violations that don’t get called anymore.
Thanks to Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam, et al., pro golf has never had more fans. Stock car racing has grown in popularity to the point that it’s on national television every week. Soccer has moved up the charts. Tennis has slumped some, but still holds its own.
By contrast, boxing—one of the 10 dumbest things human beings do (war is No. 1, hands down)—ain’t what it used to be. And in terms of public interest, it is far from it. There are no more Manassa Maulers, no more Brown Bombers, no more Brockton Blockbusters, no more Alis floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.
Last weekend, World Boxing Council champion Hasim Rahman (41-5-2 record) and challenger James Toney (69-4-3) fought—or is hugged the right word?—their way to a draw in Atlantic City. There were 8,427 fans in Boardwalk Hall and, the Hall’s marketing department said, an estimated 4,500 empty seats.
However, the Press of Atlantic City reported that Rahman threw 933 punches, an average of 77 per round. According to CompuBox statistics, that’s 29 per round more than the heavyweight average.
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Well, there was so much electricity in the air, so much tension, I heard one sports talk show caller admit that he went to sleep watching it on HBO.
As I have mentioned before in this space, the country’s sports editors were asked some years ago to name the most exciting sports event. A heavyweight championship fight won by a knockout. Hey, the numbers don’t lie.
When Joe Louis fought Germany’s Max Schmeling back in 1938 at Yankee Stadium, there were 80,000 people there to watch Louis win by knockout in the second round. It was one of 30 championship fights held in the House That Ruth Built. I doubt there were 80,000 people watching Rahman-Toney on TV.
Then there was the Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier title fight at Madison Square Garden in 1971. The Garden, which seats roughly 20,000 for boxing, was sold out months in advance. There were more than 700 working press credentials issued for the fight, and at least 500 more were turned down.
And there were celebrities everywhere. Barbra Streisand, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis Jr. and Hugh Hefner were among those sitting at ringside. It was reported that Dustin Hoffman and Diana Ross were chased out of the press section, and Frank Sinatra was allowed to stay there as a photographer for Life magazine.
I was at ringside for the 1980 Ali-Larry Holmes fight at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, and the guy sitting next to me was John Travolta. I wonder if Streisand or Hoffman or Travolta even knew Rahman was fighting Toney last weekend, let alone cared enough to show up.
Once upon a time, there were the Wednesday Night Fights and the Friday Night Fights on television, live and in black and white. And what a cast! Rocky Marciano was on his way to becoming the first and only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated—as in, 49-0.
Then along came Ali, who had to hold off Frazier, Ken Norton, Ernie Terrell and George Foreman, perhaps the greatest group of heavyweights ever in one era.
The light heavyweight division had Archie Moore. The middleweight division had Sugar Ray Robinson and Rochester’s own Carmen Basilio and, later, Sugar Ray Leonard. The featherweight division had guys like Henry Armstrong, Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler.
Back then, the media buildup to a championship fight stirred the pot and got the public into it, big time. There was so much anticipation you could feel it. Now, it seems, all that has been replaced by shrugs and yawns.
Ironically, boxing is one of the few sports where the greatest of 50, 60 years ago would be the greatest today. In fact, I can’t imagine Rahman or Toney climbing through the ropes to spend a few minutes with Joe Louis and a short time later remembering what day it is.
Will the Sweet Science ever regain its former prominence on the American sports scene? Not likely.