
The upcoming heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev will have an American television home, as ESPN Classic has decided to show the fight live from Germany on Saturday afternoon, June 20.


I don't think any boxing match -- not even one as big as Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao -- could sell out a football stadium in the United States. Boxing just isn't popular enough in the U.S. anymore to to get more than 80,000 fans in one venue like it did in the 1920s, when Jack Dempsey could sell out Soldier Field and the Polo Grounds.
As long as Floyd Mayweather is retired and Wladimir Klitschko and Vitali Klitschko obey their mother's command not to fight each other, there is exactly one boxing match that could possibly garner major mainstream media attention in 2009: Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton.
It's bad for boxing that WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will defend his belt against Juan Carlos Gomez instead of David Haye. But it's worse that this kind of thing goes on all the time in this sport.
Wladimir Klitschko defended his WBO and IBF heavyweight titles in Germany today with a lopsided victory over the American Hasim Rahman, winning by TKO in the seventh round. 

