"Prizefighter has brought boxing back to the people, " said Hearn.

BBC: Audley's final shot at redemption

"We're bringing boxing back to its roots, " says HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, who favors a return to a 1980s model where only big fights featuring the likes of Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard were deemed worthy of closed-circuit status (closed-circuit theater and arena telecasts being the forerunner of today's pay-per-view).

FORBES: Boxing

Back then, it rivaled boxing and baseball as the sport in America.

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