Photograph from: Holscher's Hub: C Club Fights, Natrona County High School, April 1...: It seems hard to believe it now, but Natrona...
My goodness, the attitude towards boxing and its popularity have changed during my own lifetime. It's really noticeable. It was such a big deal when I was young. As can be seen from above, it was even done in our high school, something which can't even be imagined now.
Watching a big boxing match on television was a big sporting deal. A really big match was advertised for weeks in advance. Everyone watched them. Photos of boxers getting hit were a staple of sports columns and magazines, with the high speed 35 mm photos depicting sweat coming off a boxer's face due to the blows.
Now, in contrast, people hardly follow it. People who follow other sports yawn at boxing, and a fair number of people really disapprove of it. What happened?
Well, I suppose part of it might have been watching our favorite boxers get punchy or develop terrible neurological conditions as a result of the sport. That's hard to ignore. And the same thing, I'd note, is happening in regards to football now.
And the actions of promoters in the sport, when it was huge, acted to make the fights seem less big. Title disputes and splits, and the like, lead to a situation in which there wasn't an undisputed champion in some weight classes, which made the whole thing less interesting. Now, with big gaps in significant fights, the big interest is over, and I don't think its every coming back.
But, from about 1900 until about 1980, boxing was king.
Watching a big boxing match on television was a big sporting deal. A really big match was advertised for weeks in advance. Everyone watched them. Photos of boxers getting hit were a staple of sports columns and magazines, with the high speed 35 mm photos depicting sweat coming off a boxer's face due to the blows.
Now, in contrast, people hardly follow it. People who follow other sports yawn at boxing, and a fair number of people really disapprove of it. What happened?
Well, I suppose part of it might have been watching our favorite boxers get punchy or develop terrible neurological conditions as a result of the sport. That's hard to ignore. And the same thing, I'd note, is happening in regards to football now.
And the actions of promoters in the sport, when it was huge, acted to make the fights seem less big. Title disputes and splits, and the like, lead to a situation in which there wasn't an undisputed champion in some weight classes, which made the whole thing less interesting. Now, with big gaps in significant fights, the big interest is over, and I don't think its every coming back.
But, from about 1900 until about 1980, boxing was king.
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