The answer to the question is a long story, but could also be told as a short one. Because
I like being difficult, I’ll give you the long story first.
Crappy decisions have not helped the sport’s popularity. Who could forget the criminal decision loss suffered by Roy Jones, Jr. at the Seoul Games in ’88? Hard-to-follow scoring rules add to the confusion. An electronic scoring system registers a point whenever three or more judges press the button for one boxer within a second of each other. If you think that this is stupid, then you and I have something in common.
The biggest culprit is probably the television networks. Is it just me, or does it seem that boxing matches are only on when you are at work or yanking the cover from your significant other in the wee hours of the night? The scheduling may have changed a little, but I did happen to catch an awful heavyweight match on the treadmill today during my lunch break at work!
A TV exec could probably counter my finger-pointing, with "no one really cares about Olympic Boxing because many top athletes are playing other sports, resulting in sub-par American fighters." I guess it’s hard hard to market fighters who don’t win gold. They would also say that the decline of professional boxing has hurt the popularity of the amateur ranks. I’d be hard-pressed to argue.
The short story is that many People Hate Boxing. It’s actually a long story, but you know what I mean!
I believe Mixed Martial Arts are taking away what’s left of the disiplined fighters here in North America and in places like Brazil as well. When I go to the bar on a Sat. night to watch the fight, it’s usually UFC, not Boxing anymore. It’s still disappointing to lose what used to be a huge part of our culture.
R. Moyer, sadly, I must admit that you may be on to something here. I do think it transcends simple attrition to other combat sports like UFC, etc. For example, top athletes (i.e. heavyweights) who were often around 6’3″-6’4″ and 225-240 pounds, used to see boxing is a viable option. Most of those guys are either playing linebacker, tight end or power forward nowadays.
I like Olympic boxing but unfortunately it became a joke like figure skating. This was the first Olympics I didn’t see any fights. I think you both raised important points.
Alex, I only saw pieces of one actual fight between two European heavyweights. And yes, I had trouble following the scoring!