Boxing’s new paradigm is brought about by the very people that manipulate the sport.  The powers-that-be whose multi-million dollar investments hang in the balance of a boxer’s skills and boxing lovers’ addiction to the sport have committed some drawbacks that resulted into the entry of bigger “giants” than the  “gods” of the boxing world.

The “gods” are, of course, the promoters of matches, most notable of them are Bob Arum and Don King.  For many years, they have made and broken both boxing and boxers in the name of profit.  Also included in the “gods” are the alphabet organizations of boxing whose maneuvers fall nothing short of maintaining their pride as assessors of “quality boxing” but whose agenda is always connected with money.

Today, these “gods” are facing a “force” whose roots in boxing, while not that deeply holding, are getting the bigger share of the harvest. 

The “force” I’m referring to are media entities, bringer of the spectacles to the boxing-mad majority.  The “pay-per-view” scheme of these media giants is a take-it-or-leave-it offer which the gods-promoters cannot even have as a luxury in their business.  The gods promote the fights but the media forces show the bouts.  The gods-promoters make deals that are relatively inflexible in terms of profits, but the media forces have almost an infinite opportunity to make money out of the copyrighted boxing shows.

So what’s the whole point of this scenario?  The new paradigm in boxing–fighters especially the best ones, are not made anymore by the very vanguards of the sport.  The best fighters now have the luxury of refusing or even dictating how their careers should go.  The gods-promoters have sort of loosened their ties to alphabet title-givers and in the process made intimate connections with media giants whose entry into the picture has renovated the landscape of the boxing world.  That’s why the champion’s belt is not as palatable anymore as the winner’s purse in a well-hyped match.

Oh, I almost failed to mention.  Aren’t boxing publications also contributing to the new paradigm?  They are, denifitely.  One of them, in fact, has its own belt to bestow to the best boxer in each weight division. 

With the new paradigm, boxing has become more than a mere sport.  It has evolved into a passion, not just in terms of skills in the ring, but also in terms of jabs, uppercuts, and straight punches outside the square ring.

There’s more expert opinion here.

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Did someone ever say, “Boxing is for animals?”  NONE.