Did you catch Kelly Pavlik's upset knockout of middleweight champion Jermain Taylor on HBO Saturday night? I'm glad that I did, but not because of the result--at least the immediate result. I'm a Taylor fan. Old-school FlynnFiles readers may recall the site tooting Taylor's horn back in '04 (or, they may not, given that I'm the only one here who seems to care about boxing). He's probably the most athletic of all the elite boxers. But he has a habit of dropping his hands. His amazing hand speed does not, as it does with other fighters, translate into elusive quickness necessary for good defense. And, given that he's gone several years without a knockout, the fans and boxing writers have really gotten on Taylor to let his hands go. All of this played into Kelly Pavlik's very powerful hands on Saturday night in Atlantic City.

From the opening bell, Taylor responded to his critics by letting those hands go. In round two, he sent Pavlik down. But by round seven, Taylor's sloppy defense and inopportune aggression gave Pavlik the opportunity to send Taylor to the canvass for the first time in his pro career. And on the canvass Taylor remained. A rematch clause should ensure these two battle again. This is good for boxing. Both fighters are class acts. And hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas and Youngstown, Ohio, respectively, each is the largest professional sports franchise in his hometown. In other words, they put bodies into all the seats. Taylor hails from a hard-knocks background, doesn't show-up or taunt opponents, and didn't whine or complain after his draw with Winky Wright or his loss to Pavlik. He's a man in a sport filled with brats. What is most conspicuous about Pavlik is a). he fights; b). he knocks boxers out; and, especially, c). he is white and speaks without a foreign accent. This is a curiosity in boxing, and, given that most American fans are white and speak bad but not broken English, opens up marketing opportunities.

I would say that highlighting a fighter's race is taboo, but for the fact that the mythical Great White Hope is one of the most widely discussed topics in boxing. American whites, for the most part, lead too comfortable lives to participate in as uncomfortable a sport as boxing. But by virtue of those confortable lives, they have the money to participate, vicariously, as spectators. But the people they watch don't look like them. And when they do, they don't speak like them. Thus, through some subconscious form of racism, they tune out, or anoint Oscar De la Hoya an honorary white dude, or watch Rocky for the 261st time. The lack of a credible Great White Hope, I think, is one of the reasons boxing has declined so presipitously during the last half century or so. I prefer my boxing exciting, but the reality is that some people prefer their boxing white.

From Gerry Cooney to Tommy Morrison to Joe Mesi, fight fans, and, especially, promoters have been searching for that All-American white guy to place before television audiences. They find the Great White Hope every few years, only to discover, before long, that they have found the Great White Hype instead. Pavlik, by knocking out one of the most highly touted boxers on Saturday, and by winning a thrilling eliminator fight against Edison Miranda earlier in the year, has demonstrated neither hope nor hype, but here--as in, "The wait is over. I am right here, right now."

“The lack of a credible Great White Hope, I think, is one of the reasons boxing has declined so precipitously during the last half century or so. I prefer my boxing exciting, but the reality is that some people prefer their boxing white”.

I really don’t think that race has anything to do with boxing’s lack of popularity. The NFL is widely popular and 70% of the players are black. And it seems to me that most people don’t differentiate by color who they like and who they don’t like. Necessarily.

I would say that most people pull for their own and although (all) people remain tribal when it comes to their own lives, many race barriers have been crashed, especially with regards to forms of entertainment.

My take is, as I’ve said in the past, that boxing is linked to economics and lifestyle and most people these days just don’t relate as much to brawls. Suffice it say, as most people become better educated, more economically viable and, in general, more comfortable, the kind of sport that boxing denotes is just not as interesting.

ASDF: I don't know that economics has much to do with it. Rich or poor, everyone likes a good fight. Tickets to marquee fights are still as outrageous as ever, with rich people buying them.

Dan - I too watched the fight with great anticipation, so you're not entirely alone. I first saw Pavlik against Miranda and immediately found him likeable since he was an actual fighter, not just boxer. Was his race a factor? Possibly, cuz I'm white too, though I think its more because he's an exciting fighter.

I think much of boxing's decline has more to do with a lack of marquee fights that live up to the hype (De la Hoya - Mayweather), and a heavyweight division with no dominant fighter, no marquee match-ups and no personality.

DBJ, no doubt there is a wide range of interest among all socioeconomic groups with regard to boxing (I very much enjoy the fights too) . What I'm getting at is that the interest in boxing has waned and it is not as universally embraced as it once was. For a number of reasons.

I think with the emergence of other sports due to better and more frequent TV coverage along with other forms of entertainment like video games; the fact that we like our comfortable lives to be conflict free with regard to hand to hand combat (when I grew up, everybody fist fought, people rarely do this anymore); boxing/fighting is a blue collar endeavor and with a better educated and more refined (evolved?) and polite population there is less interest in brute sports.

In terms of the many of the 'high end' fans who buy expensive tickets to the fights, I think most are there to be seen more than any love for the sport.

Not saying that boxing isn't a great sport. It is. And it requires finely tuned athletes who work very hard to be good at what they do. I just see boxing's niche popularity decreasing over time.

kelly pavlik lives 10 miles for my town, but you wouldnt know it. boxing just isnt news around here. too bad, the kids great. hope he has a long reign.

I'm sorry, a World Champ named "Kelly??" That's a chick's name!