Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anthony Corona and I am a 22 year old fight fanatic currently residing in Northern New Jersey. I watch fights on TV regularly, and attend most big fights in New York City and Atlantic City.

Like many other boxing fans, I am saddened that it is not nearly as popular with mainstream audiences as it should be. I believe there are many reasons for this, and many reasons to go about resolving the problem. Here are a few…

The first reason preventing boxing from elevating itself to the next level is access to quality fights. In America, HBO and Showtime host the majority of fights between the elite boxers today. These are cable channels that many families do not have and it is hard to build on a fan base when many people cannot see the stars of the sport.

Anyone can turn on ABC on Sunday to see NBA stars, such as Lebron James or Kobe Bryant, but the same cannot be said for boxing and its stars. Most quality fights are shown on one of these premium cable channels or, even worse, Pay Per View (PPV).

If the highly anticipated fights could be seen on free TV, many people, including younger fans would be sucked into the sport by witnessing dazzling displays from the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, etc. If the powers that be involved with boxing truly cared about growing their fan base, they should look at the brain trust of Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), which have done an excellent job propelling their sport.

Showing quality fights on free TV, combined with a popular reality series, is a surefire way to generate interest in the sport. Just look at UFC's Pay Per View numbers, which are more than impressive, and you'll see what can be accomplished.

My suggestion would be to look to televise PPV caliber fights on regular television that the entire world could see. Fighter's purses could be paid with ticket revenue, television rights revenue, and the obvious increase in advertising dollars tied in to the event.

If boxing could slowly move its current business model back towards the old days, the interest should reach the heights it enjoyed back during the days of Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.

Boxing also needs to have more of a presence of ESPN's SportsCenter. SportsCenter is seen regularly by millions and millions of people. If boxing received a little more time on the program, it should also go a long way to bring in new fans.

HBO's "24/7" and "Countdown" series are a step in the right direction of promoting boxing, but again people without premium cable channels are neglected.

Another simple idea to draw more people into the sport is to broadcast past entertaining fights on free television. ESPN Classic sometimes shows fights, but again this is not a standard channel everyone has. If ABC, NBC or CBS showed a past quality fight once a week even, it would be a huge boost to boxing. Having a "Thursday Night Fight Night,” or whatever night they choose, could also pull audiences in. Showing fights, such as any fight of the Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward Trilogy, Jermain Taylor-Kelly Pavlik 1, and Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo 1 would surely grab people's attention and have them wanting more.

Cross promotion is another concept not regularly employed by fighters. Floyd Mayweather has started to do it, and I believe it has already helped him grow his fan base.

Fighters need to be involved in other entertainment/sports platforms to get their names and faces out to the public. Floyd Jr. has done this twice now; first by appearing on "Dancing With the Stars," and following it up with a match against “The Big Show” at WWE's Wrestlemania.

Tons of women across America watch "Dancing With the Stars," most of which I assume had no idea who Floyd was prior to his appearance on the show. Now after seeing him on a television show they watched on free TV, I am sure some interest was peaked. These women would be more inclined to ask their husbands or friends about Floyd, and possibly make an effort to catch his next fight. Even if they did not do this, at least they now know who Floyd is.

I am sure that many of the WWE fans who were introduced to Mayweather through his WWE appearances are now interested in seeing this champion perform for real in his sport, in addition to the scripted, phony nonsense that is professional wrestling. Floyd caught a lot of heat from many people for his appearance in WWE, but it was genius marketing that will create buzz and help him, as well as the sport.

All in all, I believe access is the main issue holding boxing back from being as popular as it once was. If fighters, promoters and regular television channels could work together, boxing could enjoy a resurgence it desperately needs.

With all of the excitement surrounding the welterweight division today, with quality fighters such as Miguel Cotto, Mayweather, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Kermit Cintron, Zab Judah, and Shane Mosley, it is deeply saddening that these athletes are little known outside of boxing fan circles.

Every kid today knows names like Michael Jordan or Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal, why shouldn't they know Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr.? If kids today could grow up watching boxing, just like they do with other sports, future generations of boxing fans will be groomed.

I long for the day I see kids on the playground talking about their favorite boxers, or shadowboxing with each other pretending to be their favorite stars of the fight game. I need to see a prominent boxer in a Gatorade commercial or print ad, or some sort of mainstream endorsement. Tiger Woods endorses just about everything, why can't a boxer get one major deal? Only then will I say boxing has truly made it back into mainstream sports.