Promoters Need To Work On Reducing The Length of Fight Cards
The sport of boxing is in dire need of a change – one of them being getting rid of long fight cards. Boxing fans have been complaining and, in some aspects, falling asleep trying to stay up watching cards that start early in the evening but don’t end until after midnight. Promoters need to figure out how to cut down on the wait time.
Remember the days when HBO’s Boxing After Dark would come on and end within three hours? Probox TV has done an excellent job of keeping their cards within a reasonable time frame. The undisputed heavyweight fight that saw Oleksandr Usyk defeat Tyson Fury drew heavy criticism for its length of time.
HOW TO FIX THE ISSUE?
On May 4, this author almost passed out sitting through a 10-fight card before seeing Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeat Jaime Munguia. These recent undercards featured at least one or two intriguing fights. However, for the most part, one can predict who the winner will be.
Promoters need to get more creative with putting together a card that doesn’t have a 10-minute wait time between matches. In addition, they can do without the long intermission before getting to the main event portion of the card. Do we need mini-concerts during a pay-per-view event? No, we don’t! More often than not, it dulls the fans’ level of excitement.
In the 1980s and 1990s, pay-per-view events focused more on creating high-quality matchups. That kept the attention of boxing fans in attendance and those watching on television. That method made old-school promoters like Bob Arum and Don King household names and eventual Hall of Famers. We need more of that today. Most fans care about watching good fights, not the pomp and circumstance.
With the advent of social media and a society with an increasingly short attention span, a new approach must occur. For boxing to regain its proper place in the sports lexicon, it may need to turn back the clock and do what it once did.
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