Just KC
09-30-2006, 04:04 AM
Boxing a real ''Contender'' for UFC
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7246/gradybrewermaingb6.jpgThere are some traditionalists that will never like 'The Contender'. To boxing purists, the show is nothing more than 'American Idol' with boxing gloves, a novelty act wrapped around the Sweet Science that somehow hurts the game’s credibility.
But it could be just what the game needs right now.
Why, you ask?
Well, I saw about 12,000-plus reasons at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Grady Brewer would upset Steve Forbes for the $500,000 grand prize in winning 'The Contender' championship in season two.
12,000 fans - on a Tuesday night no less, in a big metropolitan city that has plenty of entertainment options. This ain't Des Moines or Topeka, folks.
And it was a different type of crowd, one that isn't usually seen at fight cards.
“I would tell you walking around tonight I noticed far more families attending 'The Contender' tonight than for any of our other boxing events like 'Sugar' Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya, like the James Toney fight, like the Lennox Lewis fight, like the Klitschko fight," said Michael Roth, Director of Communications for the Staples Center, on Tuesday night. "This is more of a family crowd and these are people that rooted for boxing in a different way. I think they weren't quite as strategic in how they were rooting, but I think they also felt far more connected to the fighters. And that's what this type of series will do for boxing."
, 'The Contender' is important to the growth (some would say, survival) of boxing, especially with the continued rise in popularity of the UFC and other MMA art forms, which have eaten into boxing's market share.
“It’s a novelty, I think," says Wald dismissively of the UFC. "There are a lot of things that pulled big numbers. This is a 100-some odd year sport. I learned a long time ago, Sinatra once grabbed me by the head when I was real young and hot, he said, 'Kid, don't tell me how hot you are, tell me how long you've been there.' This is a big sport."
Which is true, but there's no denying the growing pay-per-view numbers that are being churned out by the UFC and the full houses it plays to across the country. Like it or not, they are here to stay. They may have become more mainstream than boxing.
“The thing that UFC does really well, they're really good about marketing their assets, they're really good about unifications, they're really smart about parlaying their show, 'The Ultimate Fighter' into a pay-per-view event," Wechsler says, explaining their emergence. "They really have it down as far as marketing their brand. It's something that I think boxing could learn from.
“That said, I am of the belief - and I watched both extensively - I think that boxing, while they're both contact sports, offers you drama, given that it's longer rounds."
What is most noticeable about the two groups of fans is that while boxing has become more and more slanted towards the Latin market in recent years, the UFC seems to have captured the white male, between the ages of 18-34, that is so desirable to corporate America.
"Clearly, they're getting a younger demographic, clearly their pay-per-views are strong and their gates are strong and I think that speaks to serving the fans," says Wechsler, whose show was able to attract sponsors like Polaroid and Toyota, who aren't usually involved in boxing. "They're definitely bringing the action and they're smart about marketing their stars. That's one of the things 'The Contender' does really well. We market stars and we're really smart about giving these guys a platform to get to know them, that they're just not fighters that you may or may not know - you get to know them."
It wasn't too long ago that boxers were household names, like its host Sugar Ray Leonard.
"Back in the day when boxing was on ABC Sports and it was really featured in the Olympics, that's why guys like Ray, Oscar De La Hoya, Muhammad Ali, you got primetime guys, Olympic guys - and the UFC has taken a page from that book and they're being smart about it.
“All boxing has to do is be smart about marketing its stars, getting the fans to really understand who these boxers are."
Credit: Max Boxing
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7246/gradybrewermaingb6.jpgThere are some traditionalists that will never like 'The Contender'. To boxing purists, the show is nothing more than 'American Idol' with boxing gloves, a novelty act wrapped around the Sweet Science that somehow hurts the game’s credibility.
But it could be just what the game needs right now.
Why, you ask?
Well, I saw about 12,000-plus reasons at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Grady Brewer would upset Steve Forbes for the $500,000 grand prize in winning 'The Contender' championship in season two.
12,000 fans - on a Tuesday night no less, in a big metropolitan city that has plenty of entertainment options. This ain't Des Moines or Topeka, folks.
And it was a different type of crowd, one that isn't usually seen at fight cards.
“I would tell you walking around tonight I noticed far more families attending 'The Contender' tonight than for any of our other boxing events like 'Sugar' Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya, like the James Toney fight, like the Lennox Lewis fight, like the Klitschko fight," said Michael Roth, Director of Communications for the Staples Center, on Tuesday night. "This is more of a family crowd and these are people that rooted for boxing in a different way. I think they weren't quite as strategic in how they were rooting, but I think they also felt far more connected to the fighters. And that's what this type of series will do for boxing."
, 'The Contender' is important to the growth (some would say, survival) of boxing, especially with the continued rise in popularity of the UFC and other MMA art forms, which have eaten into boxing's market share.
“It’s a novelty, I think," says Wald dismissively of the UFC. "There are a lot of things that pulled big numbers. This is a 100-some odd year sport. I learned a long time ago, Sinatra once grabbed me by the head when I was real young and hot, he said, 'Kid, don't tell me how hot you are, tell me how long you've been there.' This is a big sport."
Which is true, but there's no denying the growing pay-per-view numbers that are being churned out by the UFC and the full houses it plays to across the country. Like it or not, they are here to stay. They may have become more mainstream than boxing.
“The thing that UFC does really well, they're really good about marketing their assets, they're really good about unifications, they're really smart about parlaying their show, 'The Ultimate Fighter' into a pay-per-view event," Wechsler says, explaining their emergence. "They really have it down as far as marketing their brand. It's something that I think boxing could learn from.
“That said, I am of the belief - and I watched both extensively - I think that boxing, while they're both contact sports, offers you drama, given that it's longer rounds."
What is most noticeable about the two groups of fans is that while boxing has become more and more slanted towards the Latin market in recent years, the UFC seems to have captured the white male, between the ages of 18-34, that is so desirable to corporate America.
"Clearly, they're getting a younger demographic, clearly their pay-per-views are strong and their gates are strong and I think that speaks to serving the fans," says Wechsler, whose show was able to attract sponsors like Polaroid and Toyota, who aren't usually involved in boxing. "They're definitely bringing the action and they're smart about marketing their stars. That's one of the things 'The Contender' does really well. We market stars and we're really smart about giving these guys a platform to get to know them, that they're just not fighters that you may or may not know - you get to know them."
It wasn't too long ago that boxers were household names, like its host Sugar Ray Leonard.
"Back in the day when boxing was on ABC Sports and it was really featured in the Olympics, that's why guys like Ray, Oscar De La Hoya, Muhammad Ali, you got primetime guys, Olympic guys - and the UFC has taken a page from that book and they're being smart about it.
“All boxing has to do is be smart about marketing its stars, getting the fans to really understand who these boxers are."
Credit: Max Boxing