Promoter Bob Arum Claims The Death Of Boxing Is A Myth Perpetuated By White Editors - And He Might Be Right

Mr Arum has given us something to think about

A lot of people are still talking about the fact that boxing is "dead," even - if not especially - now that Mayweather-Pacquiao is about to go down on May 2nd in Vegas. Why, one might ask, would people be so quick to write boxing off, especially now that it's about to present the biggest sporting event in the world for 2015 (sorry, Super Bowl)? Even more importantly, where do these second rate obituaries come from?

According to super promoter Bob Arum, they come from sports editors. Not just any sports editors, though...white ones.

Know something? The guy might have a point.

If you're a boxing fan (and chances are you are if you're reading this), ask yourself the following question:

What kind of person do you see perpetually writing off the sport of boxing as being dead?

Is it African American females? Elderly Hispanic gentlemen? Asian teenagers?

Or is it white guys who haven't seen a fight since Tyson was in his prime? If I were a betting man (and thankfully, I'm not) I'd bet on it being the white guy. Don't ask me why, but my Caucasian male brethren here in the United States love to tell me boxing is dead, that it's been replaced by the UFC, and that it just ain't good anymore anyway (like they'd know) more often than I care to imagine.

Come to think of it, white guys are the only people I've ever heard declare boxing dead. Of course they're correct in one sense. Boxing is indeed dead, or at least on life support, to white male America. That prominent, though declining, segment of our society moved away from the sport pretty much entirely around the turn of the century.

The rise of the white beta male had something to do with it, of course, so did the rise of mixed martial arts which, let's face it, showcased more white fighters. The fact of the matter, however, remains that these individuals simply aren't thinking beyond their own portion of the population when they declare the sweet science to be deceased.

Boxing sells out entire stadiums in Europe. In Mexico, major boxers are national heroes. And let's not even get started on Asia, where a single boxing match has brought in more viewers in China than the Super Bowl did here in the states and where a certain Filipino welterweight has become an international celebrity. Yet major American publications simply won't write on the sport anymore.

Why?

You tell me.

At any rate, boxing has pushed it's way back into the national conversation lately, thanks to the Floyd-Manny throwdown and the fact that fights are now being aired on network television again (to healthy ratings, no less). Who knows? If things keep going at this rate, white American males may return to boxing en masse.

Then again...