Boxing's absurd celebrity culture continues to damage

I got respect for barry as a fighter, but lauryn eagle sux. Barry has been all over mundine's tip for whatever reason for many yrs now. Geale won that fight against choc the decision was yet another blight on the sport. Susie ramadan is the real deal no question. But barry's comment about charlie not being able 2 be critical about the sport because he does not fight is laugable. Many great trainers never fought or were of limited ability. Last time i checked laurie oaks was never a politician .... hardly makes laurie unqualified 2 be a political journalist. Let's cut the bs eagle is attractive therefore very marketable, as they say dollars make sense. Backing up the likes of a lauryn eagle or an sbw are amongst the very reason why a serious wt elimenator and a like of resonably credentialed fighters lile billy dibb are still having too pligh their trades on fox sports at nowhersville rsl's in sydney on a random friday night. If your not par of the soloution you ar in effect part of the problem.Bill mordey is the last real deal promoter we ever had.

"Mundine has three world titles manufactured onto his record without ever having beaten a reigning world champion, let alone someone in the top five" So a win over Daniel Geale that included a knock down doesnt count?

Cmon Barry you can do better than that mate , Who the hell is Lauryn Eagles? , never heard of her . I know for a fact she has'nt tasted victory since October 31 , 2010 beating regular loser Christina Tai (4-11-0 1 KO) of NZ , her last 3x fights were a draw & 2x back to back loses to Morgan & Whylie & that she has'nt fought since copping a hding from Morgan in April , 2011 . With a record of 2-2-1 1 KO , she's not even worthy of fighting for the ANBF title , let alone a "World title" , maybe a NSW State title , Yes ! . I guess if your young , pretty model looks and a shit-record than you get a shot at a mickey-mouse "World title" , WBF (Worst Boxing Foundation) are a farce for sanctioning such a fight & the greedy Promoters lining-up the pockets with our $$$$$ , with there B/S fight-cards / Match-ups with " Ping-Pongs" from Thailand , "Has-beens"/Oldfarts" from NZ , Taxi-Drivers from Argentina/Fiji etc etc . Mate you can fool the un-suspecting public who know nothing about boxing , But you cant fool us Genuine Boxing fans who do know "a left-hook from a fish hook" . ..... Eagles should be fighting for a State title ( Vacant VPBF Vic State title) She sure not worthy to challenge of any title PERIOD ! . funny how Barry & Armatruda who try to justify Eagles right to fight for this meaninless "World title" , 10 bucks they will get a "Ping Pong" from Thailand , a human Punch-Bag for Miss Eagles , Im not surprised ! .

I am a female amateur boxer and I can tell you its hard work!. This hype around Lauren is ridiculous and I believe that if it wasn't for her already sort fame and heavy publicity we really wouldn't know who she was or what she has achieved. If anything this hype is favoritism. I mean would you know who she was if she wasn't on the Footy Show, The apprentice and blah blah blah There are so many fantastic female fighters in both Australia and OS, yet they receive hardly any publicity and they have been in the game for years. If you are going to hype up one then hype up the rest. They deserve to be recognised for their talents too not for being on channel nine!

Barry, good to have your input on this site, as someone that has been at the coalface of the sport in Australia for many years. Your words will be respected more than anyone else's. However, there is undoubtedly a perception out there that boxing is sick. This isn't just on our own soil but the world over. Mayweather carries on like a complete muppet and the fight that fans want to see against PacMan is unlikely to eventuate (people continue to think Mayweather is ducking him). Floyd heads to jail on 1 June anyway. The Haye v Chisora fight is just a bad look for the sport...2 nuffies carrying on like thugs, not athletes. Mundine seems to embarrass himself weekly and pays no repsect to fighters who are clearly superior on record. The reality is, these are the only people who are in the public eye...and others such as SBW, Hopoate and other celebrity fighters (see Barry Hall). To be honest, as an observer of the sport, I'm not sure where Lauren Eagles sits...but I take your comments on face value. That said, I stand by my comment that she wouldn't command an audience. That's just the reality. The likes of people like Sammy Soliman, who is loved as a journeyman but not classy enough to have title shots, cannot carry the image of the sport. In terms the big names, only the Klitschko brothers seem to act with any sort of class and have a sense that they are custodians not just of their titles but of the sport itself. At a time where MMA is increasingly taking a chunk out of boxing, the sport needs something better than reality stars and loud mouths.

Unfortunately boxing's problem is because a while ago (don't ask me to put a date on it but I imagine it has something to do with Don King) boxing promoters and managers forgot boxing is actually a sport. TBH boxing has a fair bit in common with pro wrestling (WWE) in terms of the way titles are created and stars are pushed. I'm not saying boxing is devoid of talent, in fact we may be currently witnessing two of the greatest light/welterweight boxers in the sports history in Mayweather and Pacquio and those two meeting up could actually re-kindle a lot of interest in boxing as a sporting competition. However the fact they can't seem to match up only seems to confirm my opening point more and more, boxing is no longer about a sporting contest.

Charles Paisley who wrote this article would not know a left hook from a fish hook. Promoters of boxing in this country do not line their pockets promoting fights. As promoters my partner and I have struggled to get main stream media for World class events including legitimate eliminators. Charles has no idea the pittance that fighters receive and Lauren Eagle who is trying to have a serious crack is no exception. For a start women fight 2 minute rounds and not 3 and they fight 10 rounds not 12. Susie Ramadan who is No 1 in the WBC Rankings and is the real deal is fighting for a prestigous title on the card that Lauren fights for the lightly regarded WBF Belt. Before having a crack at Lauren have a look at some of the females that have contested World WBC,IBF and Wba titles worldwide and you will see many have less experience than Lauren Eagle. Womens professional boxing and amateur boxing is still in its infancy and competitors are not that easily found. As for pay per view there are only a couple of boxers (not female) that people pay to watch. Last year Susie Ramadan and Alesia Graf put on one of the best bouts of the year including your Greens/ Mundines/ Geales etc . Our problem is trying to make people know about he quality events with class boxing that receive no publicity. Lauren Eagle who I actually thought did not have much ability but was obviously very fit surprised me when I had her do some work in the gym. I can assure you that when Lauren steps into the squared circle again she will be a different boxer than previously seen and regardless if she wins a minor WBF Title it is at least a stepping stone for a very fit girl who is willing to at least have a go and could go on to bigger things. In the mean time she will bring publicity to our great sport and as far as I am concerned can hold her head high and would probably punch the soulcase out of Charles Paisley.

Unfortunately gents, the promoters have alot to answer for. The majority of promoters in Australia are there purely to line their own pockets, by hook or by crook. They do boxing a disservice. Throw in a cheerleading and tame media, and you have a once major sport (the world heavyweight champion has always been looked at as an icon) that is struggling in this country. There are some terrific fighters in Australasia who deserve better treatment from the media and promoters alike. Who knows that Sydney journeyman Nader Hamdan went 12 rounds in Germany ten days ago for the WBO world Super middleweight title (dont knock WBO, Pacquiao holds the WBO welterweight)? Probably only the boxing fraternity. However on Fox news yesterday they were plastering it around that Anthony Mundine had been stripped of his interim 'belt' , and that he wasnt worried as the only boxer at 'his level' is Mayweather (what about garth old son). This Friday on Fox in Melbourne are several very good Australian boxers including unbeaten super featherweight Will Tomlinson (18-0-1), unbeaten cruserweight Brad Pitt (12-0-0), Australian lightweight champion Brett W Smith and Australian light heavyweight champion Blake Capello. Some of these boys are progressing onto the world stage. Were is the media spotlight for them?

It would cost Main Event more to produce than what they'd recoup. Just couldn't happen. Perhaps they could stick her on a SBW or Mundine undercard, but 12 rounds for an undercard match is again a big commitment from the broadcaster.

SEN radio has pretty good boxing coverage as well.

"boxing no longer builds its stars. It pre-selects them and then feeds them wins and titles so those stars can be used to make pay per view money." That is today's boxing in a nutshell. Who on earth would pay to see Lauren Eagle fight for a meaningless "title".

There's passionate and informed boxing coverage on C31 in Melbourne. The production quality could be better, but it isn't the worst. Are Main Event really selling a Lauryn Eagle title fight? How many subscribers would they genuinely expect to buy such a rubbish PPV?