How Many More Big Fight Shams Can Boxing Afford?

b-hop/dawson, haye/Klitschko, pac/mosely, pac/clottey, haye/harrison, haye/valuev, ortiz/mayweather a lot of people were really annoyed at how fast hatton got battered!
these are just some of the recent fights that have annoyed a lot of people paying money on ppv on both sides of the pond. can boxing afford any more big nonfights from the casual fan? lets be honest the general public is where the big money is at and its clear that these nonfights do not help bring the sport forward, question is how much more can this be sustained?

I think its harsh to call Haye/Valuev a sham. Freak show champ admittedly but no other boxer had managed to look good against him/it yet, only one actually beat him, and most had been ko'd. Given how much Haye was giving up people were naive to think Haye should've gone in all guns blazing to spark him out in two. And the only sham about Ortiz-Mayweather was the ending, and that's Mayweather's fault not the promoters. Similar with B-hop/Dawson, Hoppo just got his comeuppence for a long reliance on dirty spoiling tactics to win fights, Dawson was well within his rights to shrug him off his back, nobody knew how awkwardly he'd fall, though admittedly the overall fight/result did leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

However, in respect to the premis of the OP, I think it'll continue as long as people make money from it. Fans barely come into consideration these days and are seen as gullable mugs which, with respect, isn't that hard to understand giving how many got taken in by Haye/Harrison.

7 this year.

Scottrf wrote:7 this year.

...and then another 11 next year, but after that people will say, "Enough is enough, I've had it with these shams..what? OK, another three but that really is the limit. I'm not stupid you know, I won't stand for it any longer...ok, we'll agree on five!"

I think there's a difference between a good match-up that fails to live up to expectation (Haye-Klitschko, Mayweather-Ortiz etc) and genuine sham fights such as Haye-Harrison or Paquaio-Mosley.

J.Benson II wrote:I think there's a difference between a good match-up that fails to live up to expectation (Haye-Klitschko, Mayweather-Ortiz etc) and genuine sham fights such as Haye-Harrison or Paquaio-Mosley.

Good point. Dawson / Hopkins was a decent match up in theory, but disappointed everyone. It is where the match up is uneven and everyone is telling us that it is a genuine fight when I get annoyed. The best example other than Haye vs Harrision in recent years is Calzaghe vs Manfredo Jr in front of how many thousands in Cardiff!! I have never heard an apology for that one!!

The way boxing needs to go is to make better undercard fights, that way all is not completely lost when the main event fails to reach expectations.

You do get some crackers which have saved the evening i.e. Linares/Demarco last weekend and Arce/Vazquez Jr on the Pac/Mosley event but I think promoters should at least arrange fights with proven entertainers so even if people are not entirely sold on the main event people will at least say for example "the main fight is a joke, he'll walk through him, BUT fighter x is on the under card and he's always worth watching."

The best card in recent memory IMO was the Maidana/Morales fight which also had Katsidas/Guerrero and Kirkland/Ishida in addition to name fighters like Campbell and Malignaggi, however these are few and far between.

It appears you can't mention MMA on this board without being shot down but you consistently get great cards in UFC events with normally 3 fights which in boxing would each headline their own event and therefore better value for money and avoids people not purchasing the PPV at risk of the main fight being poop.

Tend to agree Valero, promoters are not stupid they know when a main event has the chance of not delivering and as you say should tailor the cards to reflect this. Went to a couple of Naseem Hamed shows back in the day and obviously with Naz there was always the chance of him doing someone early, as he did at the Billy Hardy fight I attended but Warren usually put something decent on the undercard, remember seeing Reid v Wharton on one show and Winky Wright on a couple, definitely softens the blow if the main event does not deliver.

i am very worried about big fight let downs. Think about this. Devon alexander taking easy way out v bradley, zab judah v khan blatantly did the same, maybe hopkins (altho i am not sure on this one) even that pathetic larry hopkins tried to get dq v dewy bozella. People pay good money to see these fights and wee get fighters that just quit and take their paycheeque, look at cintron v williams for god sake, tactical quitting. Pathetic