I've been a big boxing fan for YEARS.
Myself. My dad and uncle were boxers in their youth and I picked up a couple of things here and there, when they fought it was all about bringing your best and hanging out after the last punch was thrown. They didn't talk a lot of trash and the big thing was the sport. What a grand one it was.
The only computer game that I play, nowadays is a boxing sim. What I see as the big problem in boxing is matchmaking. You have too many guys who's promoters "protect" them and their records. Also, rival promoters often won't pit their best against each other, causing fans to lose out on good fights.
Definitely the matchmaking, which is in my own opinion all part of attempting to make decent boxers look like true greats, it's a shame really because there could be an unknown with exceptional talent and class who gets ignored for a self-promoting loudmouthed palooka.
All this means that some of the best fights don't happen. Hopkins-Jones II should have happened years before it did. Mayweather-Pacquiao probably won't EVER happen. I know there are other reasons, but promoters are a big one. I liked the super middleweight tournament in concept, but in practice, it didn't turn out as well as it might have. Too many organizations, too, and organizations that don't cooperate with each other. Boxing is easily the worst managed major sport there is.
Absolutely right, for instance Don King puts a big name in an HBO fight against a guy who isn't going to go more than three rounds and all at a premium cost of 50-60$ PPV, when the big three carried boxing you got epic matches like the "Rumble in the Jungle", the Foreman fights, all the Ali greatness, and the other Frazier gems right there for all to enjoy. Promoters have lost sight of the sport itself and let quick money ruin the fan experience. I think the only way to revive the sport is for the associations to cooperate and for some standards being set for major title matches. We are losing the greats at too fast of a pace.