Is boxing becoming the new WWE?

First topic message reminder :

I've been pondering this a while now. We're all aware that the entire sport is dominated by a relatively small number of key figures. Since the inception of gloved boxing promoters have been responsible for carving out the careers of legends. To a historian they're perhaps the modern-day equivalents of Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick: 'the Kingmaker'. We've had Rickard and Kearns; the pioneers. The sixties saw the emergence of Don King and Bob Arum, who between them are responsible for more classic fights than I know of, or would care to list. Other noted names are instantly recognisable to a good many on here: De La Hoya, DiBella, Duva, Goossen, Sauerland, Shaw, Warren. In addition to the promoters we have the likes of Jose Sulaiman, the WBC president who seems to possess more than a passing interest in the continued perceived success of boxers from a particular Spanish-speaking nation. In more recent years King's influence has diminished, and while to a certain degree many of the younger promoters have scurried to fill the relative void left by King's decline, none (barring perhaps the Golden Boy) have reached the level of Bob Arum, a man whose own influence shows few signs of abating.

Arum's mercenary business practices are well-documented (in Tex Cobb's case hilariously so), and in recent years his name has become synonymous with greedy, cynical match-making. He's increasingly turning to in-house fights in order to maximise his profits, to the extent that it's in danger of becoming a serious detriment to the well-being of the sport. The most high-profile instances of this involve a certain Filipino who shall not be named here, but one other incident which has imprinted into my recent memory is his handling of Cotto and Margarito, in particular the way in which the two have been carefully steered towards a rematch built around animosity and controversy. In a move which echoed nothing so much as the pantomime which is WWE, Margarito was shamelessly paraded onstage at the post-presser for a fight he'd not been any part of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL1cQ-V8f5o&feature=youtube_gdata_player#t=7m40s

This brings me to the crux of my argument: Is Boxing, through the actions of Arum and others like him, slowly becoming a charade of a sport?

We're seeing fights made depending more on the name of the promoters than on the desire of the fans or the prestige of the match-up. We're seeing boxers given opportunities they ill deserve. We're seeing rightful champions stripped of titles at the whim of withered old men. Most of all though, there seems to be a emergent feeling that the sport isn't being run in accordance with any kind of 'sporting' spirit, but merely to satisfy a script. Am I a pessimist beyond redemption, or are my concerns justifiably founded?

Thanks for reading this far. I don't doubt I've missed details or specifics, so I apologise in advance for any omissions.

You're all forgetting Dr Fox.

King Beer wrote:You're all forgetting Dr Fox.

He's a massive c*nt

Michaels, Sean wrote:

King Beer wrote:You're all forgetting Dr Fox.

He's a massive c*nt

Agreed.

On topic, John Cena was once known as the 'Dr of Thugganomics', which i presume means Dr of beating the sh1t out of people.

King Beer wrote:

Michaels, Sean wrote:

King Beer wrote:You're all forgetting Dr Fox.

He's a massive c*nt

Agreed.

On topic, John Cena was once known as the 'Dr of Thugganomics', which i presume means Dr of beating the sh1t out of people.

Is that a made up word..?

[quote="BALTIMORA"]

King Beer wrote:

Michaels, Sean wrote:

King Beer wrote:You're all forgetting Dr Fox.

He's a massive c*nt

Agreed.

On topic, John Cena was once known as the 'Dr of Thugganomics', which i presume means Dr of beating the sh1t out of people.

Another famous doctor, Dr Alban. Although I think he was genuine because he wrote a song that cured women who had the painters in.

Union Cane wrote:

huw wrote:Haha, ever get to the stage where you are taking a pee and suddenly have a 'moment' where you think - I really hope I'm in the toilet right now, did this again when staying with the same ex's who still lived with her parents, her Dad was a big scary scouser and I was half way though the pee when I suddenly thought I was peeing on his telly, luckily I was peeing in the toilet but judging by how that relationship went it would have probably been better all round if I had pee'd on the telly!

Reminds me of a time I had crashed at a mates house, I got up in the night, went upstairs (the toilet was downstairs), went into his spare bedroom and started to pee out of the window, without opening it. It soon filled up the windowsill and the sound if it dripping onto the carpet woke me up.

I turned, and I ran.

Nice, is he aware that this was you to this day?

What about Dr Hook? His brother was in the Navy. A captain, I believe.

huw wrote:

Union Cane wrote:

huw wrote:Haha, ever get to the stage where you are taking a pee and suddenly have a 'moment' where you think - I really hope I'm in the toilet right now, did this again when staying with the same ex's who still lived with her parents, her Dad was a big scary scouser and I was half way though the pee when I suddenly thought I was peeing on his telly, luckily I was peeing in the toilet but judging by how that relationship went it would have probably been better all round if I had pee'd on the telly!

Reminds me of a time I had crashed at a mates house, I got up in the night, went upstairs (the toilet was downstairs), went into his spare bedroom and started to pee out of the window, without opening it. It soon filled up the windowsill and the sound if it dripping onto the carpet woke me up.

I turned, and I ran.

Nice, is he aware that this was you to this day?

Strangely, it's never been mentioned. Not sure if he thought it was condensation, I had drunk rather a lot so it was clear pee, and there was no reason for me to have gone upstairs so it's not the first thing you'd think it would be. Could have been trickier if it was yellow.

what about dr steel hammer and dr iron fist? are they real doctors?

eddyfightfan wrote:what about dr steel hammer and dr iron fist? are they real doctors?

They both hold PhD's so can indeed use the prefix of Doctor without fear of being bundled in with the Mckeith's and Dre's of this world

i thought they had but was unsure and didnt want to commit and make a fool of myself. i would be very worried if either of them wanted to give me a examination though

eddyfightfan wrote:what about dr steel hammer and dr iron fist? are they real doctors?

They are indeed, two doctors.

Doctor doctor.

Can't you see I'm burning burning?

eddyfightfan wrote:i thought they had but was unsure and didnt want to commit and make a fool of myself. i would be very worried if either of them wanted to give me a examination though

You'd be right to be worried Eddie as to the best of my knowledge neither of them hold medical qualifications, they earn the title of Doctor by doing a Doctor of Philosophy qualification as opposed to having successfully completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery which I believe is the requirement to earn the doctor title in a medical sense. Hope this clears up the confusion.