The main reason why I'm so excited about the Super Six World Boxing Classic is that for the first time in a long time, I feel like we have something new, something different, something modern.  While I love the fights we have seen in the last few years there is only so many times we can buy a fight with these guys that aren't in their prime anymore.  The Super Six is giving us new faces like Froch, Kessler, Dirrell, Abraham, and Ward (which is why I wished Bute was in and not Taylor) and Showtime is really trying to make stars out of them.  Its international as well, and for the first time since Calzaghe crossed the pond that European fighters are being presented as true equals.

So I decided to try and think of some ways Boxing can move back into the upper echelon of American sports again, where a fight is a true spectacle.  Here is what I came up with:

1.  Come East!

I understand why all the big fights are in Las Vegas - the betting.  Its big money, big entertainment, and big personalities.  But old school boxing, when boxing was king, was fought east in old fight towns like Philadelphia.  There are huge markets on the East Coast.  I think boxing is too Las Vegas-centric, and I think it prevents more people from being able to experience big fights.  The way boxing works is that a fight is either in Vegas, some European city of a European champion, or some small town that is a hometown for a fighter like Pavlik fighting Rubio in Youngstown.  Lets get some fights in Yankee Stadium, in Boston, in Philly, in old school towns with fight fans that can't afford to fly to Vegas or afford HBO and Showtime.

2.  Get on network TV

I know this is in the work, but another problem with boxing is how expensive it is to actually watch.  The UFC has shown how you can do fights on television with both live cards and recap shows and still maintain strong pay per view revenue.  Lets face it, its expensive to be a boxing fan, to afford HBO in general and the pay per views in particular.  One thing the UFC has done with their free numbered shows is to always try and get one star to anchor the show while using it as a way to showcase young fighters.  Their last few free shows have Randy Couture, Diego Sanchez, Mirko Cro Cop, and Rampage Jackson.  You anchor free shows with one guy.  It was good news to hear that Bernard Hopkins's tune-up fight for Roy Jones would be shown on Versus.  In the summer months, when there is nothing on television sports-wise but golf and basball, having some good fights live on one of the networks could do great business if they could figure out a way to make the money work.

3.  DVD Sales!

The most frustrating thing right now for me trying to catch up on fights is searching the internet.  Here, boxing could follow the lead of the WWE who have put out some of the best DVDs in all of sports for both pay per view shows, box sets of past shows, and documentaries of wrestlers careers and various topics.  The only way I can find old fights is on the internet or Puerto Rican bootlegs a buddy of mine has of Tito Trinidad fights.   If they could put out biographical documentaries with fights on it on a 3 disc set, it would sell like gang busters and learn the young fight fans of today about some of the great fights and fighters of the past.  I wish Showtime and HBO would sell their shows on their website, undercard and all and with the 24/7 on it if it had it.  Its like you either tape a show when its on, DVR it, or watch it live and thats it.  Can you imagine a 3 disc biography and fights with Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, or even someone compelling like Julio Cesar Chavez.  There is a disconnect in boxing, a perception that the madness of the heavyweight division in the post-Larry Holmes era is what boxing is about.  Making available all the history of boxing, of its great fighters, and great fights to connect the old school to the new school.

Perhaps all three of these will never happen because they haven't happened yet.  But still, it would be nice to be able to see free great fights, see fights in my area, and buy DVDs of events, history, and fighters of all eras.