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[ambient sound of bar patrons watching fight]
It's fight night at Playwright's Tavern in Times Square. Around the bar, the patrons' eyes are glued to six bright televisions positioned around the room. It's a taped fight, and many watching already know the outcome. They're waiting for tonight's heavyweight bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov. This is Jennifer Sigh's first time at the bar. She came here looking for the excitement and camaraderie that a good fight brings.
AX[Jennifer Sigh]: We actually drove around for awhile to look for a bar that even played this match, so I'm hoping that people will get really excited, but it doesn't seem as packed as I expected it to be, so … (:10)
[more ambi - louder this time]
But the bar is packed by the time Klitschko finally defeats his opponent.
[bring ambi up briefly on cheering]
In order to see fights these days, boxing fans either have to watch in places like Playwrights or pay to see them at home. Cliff Rold is a columnist for Boxing Scene dot com. He says that boxing is reeling from bad decisions in recent years. Expensively-promoted fights turned out to be duds, controversial wins were handed down, and Mike Tyson, boxing's biggest superstar in 20 years, self-destructed in front of the world.
AX[Cliff Rold]: All of that together - boxing's popularity took a hit. It stopped looking like a legitimate sport to too many people, and when you lose your legitimacy and there's other things to choose from in a very varied mulitmedia market that we live in today - that's what happens. (:16)
[ambient sound from boxing gym - someone punching a speedbag]
A young fighter pummels a speedbag at the Church Street Boxing Gym in Manhattan. This is a white collar gym, meaning it gets a lot of bankers and other Wall Street types who take up boxing as a way to get exercise. The gym is packed. Justin Blair is the owner, and he says the loss of interest in televised boxing hasn't diminished the enthusiasm of boxers at his gym.
AX[Justin Blair]: We're doing just fine, so if you ask me personally if boxing is suffering, I would say no. Not locally.
White collar boxing gyms have grown in popularity in recent years. Several have popped up around the five boroughs. Blair has seen membership steadily grow since he opened the gym in 1997. At every station somebody's sparring or laying into a punching bag. Prospective members stop in to ask questions.
[Ambi of gym guy and Shantal Cooper]
Shantal Cooper is a student from Brooklyn. She's tried boxing in the past and liked what it did for her health. Several women train at this gym, and Cooper says she'll probably join in a couple of days.
AX[Shantal Cooper]: I like when there's a lot of guys and a lot of girls - like I've seen some girls in there, and they look like they can beat me down, so I like that. (:06)
Local boxing is stepping in to fill other voids left by televised boxing. Blair produces the Friday Night Fights, a series of local fights. He started them at his gym, but he had to move them to a larger venue near Columbus Circle, because he couldn't find room for all the fans. Blair says the fights are popular, because the fighters are more evenly matched than those on television. The fights are also more accessible to the public. There are other local fights at the Manhattan Center and the Paradise Theater in the Bronx. Fans of live boxing don't have to pay 500 or a thousand dollars to see an event at Madison Square Garden.
AX[Justin Blair]: for 35 bucks you get the value is so much better. They get more for 35 than they do for ten times that, 20 times that. (:25)
The next Friday Night Fight will take place at the 25th Street Armory on May 2. Blair says he expects over a thousand people will attend. Jed Kim, Columbia Radio News.