The future of the boxing forum

[RDW]

Folks,

For those of you that have not already heard, Hero is stepping down as Founder of the site and I am taking over running the forum. I'm sure most of you probably haven't heard of me, mainly because I have almost exclusively posted in the rugby forum over the years! I am really keen to promote and better the entire forum however so I'm wanting to hear from you.

I'm keen to hear your opinions on the boxing forum - you can bring up anything but these are my key questions:

- How are the numbers looking on this section
- Do you need more mods?
- Do you have any ideas of things that can be done to improve the forum?

Thanks,

RDW (Ross)

[Mr Bounce]

Ross

I think that the main problem is that the majority of big posters on this forum have moved on. I pop in from time to time, but it's very quiet. There's only a hardcore of say, half a dozen and you can go days without a reply to a topic simply because people aren't about anymore.

I will continue to post from time to time but I too am one of those who may drift away - there's a lack of contributors. We need them for good debate, and I don't want to end up talking to myself on here as well as at home

Cheers Mr B

[captain carrantuohil]

Ross

Wish you luck in your new role.

I'm one of those contributors who left these boards, basically for good, around a year ago.

The reasons - well, more than one really. In the first place, one ends up with the feeling that you're starting to repeat yourself after a long stretch on any forum. However, I doubt that my departure from the boxing forum especially would have been as permanent were it not for the quality of some of the posters and the debates that had started to take over the discussions.

The louder and more insistent contributors began to dominate and as fewer people could be bothered to scroll through their endless puerile efforts to annoy or provoke others in order to find nuggets of gold amid the dross, the drifting away of fine posters became a stampede. What you have left on the boxing board now is one or two of the original irritants, one or two extra stones in the shoe, a very few good posters still fighting the good fight and a whole swathe of articulate, informed opinion that has decided that it has better things to do with its time.

What to do about it? Difficult one and it's hard to escape the conclusion that the horse has bolted, I'm afraid. I don't know about more mods being the answer; the ones that exist could give zero tolerance for the cretinous fringe a try, I suppose, but it's a difficult and thankless task and I don't envy them, or you, your job. It's a pity, because it used to be a lot of fun here, not mention an education at times, but the salad days have definitely passed. From my point of view, I prefer to look back fondly on an enjoyable time that's not likely to be repeated to expecting a return to form. Time moves on, people move on and I suspect that the opportunity to crack down on the people whose aim was only ever to spoil things has long gone.

Not very optimistic, I know, but there we are. I still wish you every success with your attempts to stem the tide.

[rapidringsroad]

The quality of the posts on this forum have declined over the years and I think maybe because boxing isn't as popular as it was in the 80s and 90s. I used to enjoy reading the debates from some of the more knowledgeable contributors, Bloody John Wayne, One two for ever. I'm still as keen on boxing but there is such a big gap in between bouts and quite often they don't live up to their hype. I'll be sorry to see the forum go so good luck in your efforts to keep it going.

[milkyboy]

I think the captain, one of the most respected contributors back in the day has summed it up pretty well. I think there are probably occasional readers who just can’t be bothered to contribute any more... there was a domino effect and the rush to the bottom became inevitable.

Forums always attract wums, but when the proportions tip in their favour it just accelerated the inevitable.

The other factor at play is that while boxing itself is doing fine it’s doing it by pitching to the casual fan in the uk. I don’t mean that on a derogatory way, but guys who are passionate about the sport have become a bit disillusioned.

How to fix it? You need a few people who are passionate and prepared to instigate threads, a mix of current and historical topics. If they don’t get trashed, people may start to reappear. I don’t know with gdpr whether you could contact old posters to see if they’ll come back after a fresh start... If you go to the hall of fame sticky, you’ll see a lot of names no longer posting who all had something valuable to contribute.

Even last year a few old names surfaced wondering where everyone had gone... there are probably lurkers out there.

Truss probably kept this site going over the last few years with a heady mix of forthright or controversial views that could trigger a reaction. I guess you could say it also attracted some wumming!

I’m a passer by these days, though seeing the odd old name appear encouraged me to comment. So, with more regular contributions from others maybe i’d visit more frequently (and frighten them off!)

It used to be a great forum with a mix of banter and informed debate. I think those days are gone, but remembered fondly. Good luck with kick starting things.

[El Radar]

After the passing of Windy the forum always seemed to be on its last legs and once the actual debate died down anarchy soon ensued.

[milkyboy]

The quality of the posts on this forum have declined over the years and I think maybe because boxing isn't as popular as it was in the 80s and 90s. I used to enjoy reading the debates from some of the more knowledgeable contributors, Bloody John Wayne, One two for ever. I'm still as keen on boxing but there is such a big gap in between bouts and quite often they don't live up to their hype. I'll be sorry to see the forum go so good luck in your efforts to keep it going.

The highlighted words have never knowingly been used in the same sentence, other than by one two himself, until now!

Only teasing fella!

[milkyboy]

After the passing of Windy the forum always seemed to be on its last legs and once the actual debate died down anarchy soon ensued.

As I can’t recall any fervent Benitez fans... who’s this?

[Atila]

What's stopped me from posting is not the forum, but boxing itself. I don't follow it anymore. The last straw for me was the first GGG v Canelo fight. I was so disappointed with the scoring and people saying that a draw was the best result because it meant the fighters had another chance to make money.

I haven't watched a fight since, and if I turn on the TV and there's a fight going on, I may look for a second or two to see who the fighters are, then I switch channels and look for something else.

When I watch sports I don't need to be confused, it's supposed to be entertainment. Boxing for me, stopped being enjoyable.

[Derbymanc]

It's a really tough question as the forum used to offer a lot of different things to the many different boxing fans that posted here. You had articles/threads on older fights/fighters, modern takes on history etc etc.

With the forum slowly infected with Wumming for wummings sake these posters seemed to decide their time was no longer worth 'wasting' on the forum which is a massive shame as without your Windy's, Rowley's, Carrots then some of us wouldn't know half of what we think we do.

The time might be right for someone from the upper echelons to contact some of the older, regular posters to see if they would appear again but alas it won't take a quick fix.

A decline in the quality of boxing has led to more apathy amongst fans and less willingness to take the time to discuss. (Although I disagree with Atila the first GGG/Canelo fight was a great talking point if you could keep the insults out of it).

I still write about it every once in a while and will always post on here whilst it's available as I still hold people's opinions highly but think you need more promotion across social media and maybe a core group of posters (headed by Milky imo) to discuss upcoming bouts/controversies etc to drag us 'casuals' into a debate. Oh and a definite hardline against Wumming, differing opinions is fine but the constant spamming of 'Fury is King' is a waste of time.

[RDW]

Hi folks - thanks for your comments. I was deliberately planning on leaving this a few days to let the conversation flow but have ended up leaving it longer than planned - been a busy week - so apologies for that. I'll digest this over the weekend and come back with some responses

[spencerclarke]

I've stopped commenting for pretty much the same reasons as above. I used to love finding out all the history of the sport from the likes of the captain, milky, rowley, chris etc. But the wumming from others was just too much to scroll through at times. Having a laugh is fair enough but some of the comments were just sad.

My knowledge is nothing compared to most on here and a few bad eggs made it feel a little like twitter towards the end.

I hope it picks up again as I miss the old place and don't visit much any more. Good luck! :-)

[TRUSSMAN66]

Most of the People whinging on this thread never took the time to write anything...Not often anyway..

I'll plead guilty to wumming from time to time.....If you only have stiffs on a forum it gets very dull..

But it is worth remembering that when this section was thriving I was writing the majority of articles and I wrote my first 8 years ago..

Certainly took a long time for people to leave...

Saying that... There are plenty of knowledgeable posters offering advice on this thread that would reinvent this section...Not me I have lost interest in Boxing..

Take the time to contribute.....Like I did.

[milkyboy]

Most of the People whinging on this thread never took the time to write anything...Not often anyway..

I'll plead guilty to wumming from time to time.....If you only have stiffs on a forum it gets very dull..

But it is worth remembering that when this section was thriving I was writing the majority of articles and I wrote my first 8 years ago..

Certainly took a long time for people to leave...

Saying that... There are plenty of knowledgeable posters offering advice on this thread that would reinvent this section...Not me I have lost interest in Boxing..

Take the time to contribute.....Like I did.

Did it take you 8 years to kill this place fella...buck your ideas up, i bet you can do the politics board in 7

Can’t speak for others but I wasn’t aiming my comments at you beefster... you may have Wummed but you were our WUM.

It does take people with the time and inclination to start threads... sometimes with a controversial angle to stimulate debate... it was something i could rarely be bothered to do and i had more time and inclination back then.

[spencerclarke]

Sorry truss I missed you off the list of knowledgable posters I enjoyed reading stuff from. I don't mind a little controversial thinking but a few got very tedious with just sniping. I did try to start a few threads. The quality of them were definitely questionable though! Good to see some old names on this thread though. Hope all are well.

[Herman Jaeger]

Windy went and Trussman stopped posting and the forum died. Simple as that really

I think we’re all agreed the sniping has to stop but who isn’t guilty from time to time but it’s not pleasant behaviour no doubt about it

Let’s put it down to having one or two to drink and and make a fresh start. No personal attacks or as little as possible

It’s very quiet here now and it’s not coming back maybe that’s just the nature of forums they fall off a cliff so let’s at least try to make it quality over quantity and make the best of what’s left

[Herman Jaeger]

People who take forums too seriously though need to get a life imo

And if you can’t handle a few words as a boxing fan you need to follow a new sport

[Soldier_Of_Fortune]

Yes its a shame to see this place as it is now. I came over from the old BBC 606 and we had a good few contributors back when. Over modding and loosing good posters wrecked the boxing section.

I post on a couple of boxing forums now were banter is actually allowed! Posters are a lot more knowledgeable and can actually accept a difference of opinion.

Again, a shame to see the state its in today.

[Seanusarrilius]

Welcome, RDW. Like most above, I used to be very regular on here. But the forum hasn't attracted new posters when quality posters move on, or can only post sparingly due to life responsibilities -- so I would suggest you focus on attracting new posters.

Also, most people go to Boxingscene or YouTube comments for their discussion. It's hard to make a boxing subsection of a wider forum popular in that environment. kind of like trying to start up a subscription print magazine when it's all online for nada.

Good luck!

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