Occupy Boxing: Why millions of fans are protesting

( Editorial: The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author. )

Boxing - Occupy Boxing is a protest movement. Through blogs, Facebook and Twitter, it's revolutionizing how fans react to the actions of fighters and decision-makers.

Numerous factors have led to protests in light of Mayweather-Pacquiao deciding not to fight each other, yet again. People have grown tired of perceived corruption in the sport stemming from its institutionalized monarchy. Boxing's establishment is creating a counter-culture of grass roots dissension that yearns for change.

Social Platforms >

Social media has transformed boxing by connecting its fans around the world, and by giving them a platform for voicing their opinions. This fan base has evolved into a self-aware organism that, to an extent, displaces traditional media and old-school power brokers.

These days, anyone can be a publisher. Thus, anyone can voice out their frustrations in an age of mobile devices and real-time publishing. The proliferation of technology means that your average Joe can go to the mall and buy a microphone and camera. YouTube, U-Stream, and blogs have removed barriers to entry that previously shielded large media organizations.

Today, it's much harder for a decision-maker to set the agenda. Customers, thinking they are the king, are the ones trying to set that agenda. You are watching a grand power struggle. Top vs. bottom. Principal vs. masses.

Forrest Gump: 'Stupid is as stupid does'

The 'social revolt' is low-level, mass mutiny. Social networking sites represent an extreme form of democratization that cater to instantaneous opinionators and wannabe talk show hosts.

In ancient Greece, voting rights were held exclusively by landed aristocrats. That system ensured that only educated elites, who presumably possessed more inside information, could steer public policy, and ultimately, the direction of Hellenic society.

There was a vetting process that weeded out incompetence or irrationality. In the United States, voting privileges require U.S. citizenship, a felony-free record, sufficient age, and proficiency in English.

Boxing's online protest movement has drawbacks in that social media is equivalent to an Emancipation Proclamation for dummies. "Slaves" have been liberated, and can now freely exercise their illiteracy.

In today's new media, qualifications are not necessary. Both a 70-year old grandfather and a 13-year old student can populate the internet with hearsay, however true or false.

Whereas the Arab Spring is driven by a frustrated, albeit educated, middle class, Occupy Boxing is often driven by unruly passions and incoherent thoughts.

Consequences >

Publish that Oscar de la Hoya is an alien from Neptune. There are no consequences.

Publish that Mayweather-Pacquiao is "definitely scheduled" for May 5th. There are no consequences.

The threat of losing one's credibility holds no water in an age of information overload. Mass posts are obscured in a sea of computer text. When a CNN sports writer posts inaccurate reporting, she gets fired. Immediately.

Not in blog world.

Occupy Boxing is virtual anarchy. It has no structure or guiding principles. Its ramblings contain spelling errors, incorrect syntax, sensationalist intrigue, low-grade satire, recycled barb and intentional misdirections that proliferate like hi-tech cancer on web hosting servers.

It's the un-holy communion from which this self-aware organism (the fan base) feeds off at the altar.

Virtual Megaphone >

While millions of users can voice their authentic expressions, they might do so on data that lacks accuracy; or they may promulgate invalid arguments. The amplified voice of boxing fans can be powerful. Social media is a megaphone. However loud the expression, opinions don't mean it's based on sound insight.

Boxing's most popular fighters get inside the ring just once or twice a year. However, the internet ensures that fight fans can religiously argue about the day's intrigue each day of the calendar.

The industry is no longer a sport. It died when Tyson retired. It briefly resuscitated with Mayweather and Pacquiao, then collapsed back into flat-line unconsciousness.

The problem is boxing has evolved into a poor man's reality show -- a soap opera constructed by the amateur, the unemployed, thugs, and the degenerate, all of whom thrive on haphazard flights of intellectual bestiality.

Its credibility was shattered when clowns got press credentials so they could steal food at media buffets and watch fights for free. The mainstream tuned out and switched the channel to mixed martial arts.

Occupy Boxing - for all its idealism - has been infiltrated by freeloaders and low-lifes. They hold placards aimed at reforming the system, but can't make detailed, sound recommendations.

UFC did what boxing should have.

Arab Spring >

About 40,000 people have died from the Arab Spring within the past year. Mediterranean regimes and dictatorships have grown fragile due to the activism of millions of Arab dissidents.

Similarly, Bob Arum, Al Haymon, HBO, Showtime, and Golden Boy are losing power. They lose their grip when people get angry.

Through the internet, fans inform themselves and voice their disenchantment. Power brokers are viewed as selfish autocrats engaged in the art of exploitation.

The establishment is being exiled by its own cash cow. When your image falls, people stop listening. Marketing programs become less effective. You find thousands of empty seats at self-described "world championship bouts".

The business model is changing. Yet, the Old Guard remains transfixed in archaic methods.

Boxing's customers want steady delivery of pugilistic violence. For years, the customer has been offered a substandard menu of $59.95 pay-per-view products.

They protest on the web. Their rage burns as if it were flamed torches on the streets of Yemen.

Occupy Boxing reflects interwoven frustration. It's here to stay because the industry refuses to change.