Is Boxing falling out?

[bushido_man96]

Concerning bushidoman's comments about The Contender and fighting reality shows:

The Ultimate Fighter is more appealing to me than The Contender, and i'm sure that goes for everyone, if not, most.

More dynamic!

I do enjoy both shows. However, you are correct in stating that TUF is much more dynamic. I enjoy the all-encompassing feel of the MMA style of fighting, and the public has taken very well to it, as well. I can appreciate both, however. Not everyone is like that, though.

[nine_weapons]

boxing as a fighting system is great, but as a sport, yes it is declining.

1. the heavyweights in the past have been what made boxing what it was. These days there really are no exciting heavies. Most of the action is among the lighter guys.

2. the rise of mma. wwe and mma have both been outdoing boxing in ticket sales for a few years now.

[kenpo4life]

The problem is that boxing has too many "titles" Plus a lot of phony weight classes. Boxing in the golden days was more than just the boxing. It was the clash of personalities. All of the great matches from the old days were a gala spectacle. Hagler, Hearns, Foreman,Ali,Chavez,Whitaker and the rest all had a true rival. The fake WWE style stuff in MMA is not real rivalry. Plus, boxing is NOT fading.

Most people who watch boxing are not true fans. They just watch the huge fights like Floyd vs Oscar. They dont even know B hopkins, Winky,Shane or Cotto. Mainstream boxing may be slipping for now, but that has always happened in boxing.

[Mrt333]

Agreed, there's loads of problems with boxing now, the stupid number of 'world' champions is probably the biggest of all....

But... I think one of the things that make boxing so great is that politics keeps getting in the way, but eventually a truly great fight will happen (e.g Hatton Mayweather Dec 8th), and the fact that you've had to wait so long for it just makes it more incredible. I'm like a kid waiting for xmas about that fight and it's only September!!!

Don't get me wrong, I do love my MMA too, but just wanna argue a couple of points in boxings favour...

1) I look at the crowds at MMA fights - can you honestly say that the majority are truly 'into' martial arts in a broader sense? Seems like a lot of screaming blokes who want to see a brawl! Not saying that everyone at a boxing fight is a true boxing historian or anything but I do think there's a difference.....

2) The reason boxing always has been, and always will be a huge spectator sport is because it has one essential ingredient - simplicity. Two guys, punching only - anyone can watch and appreciate the skill. Much more difficult with MMA (and Thai boxing etc) because you need to be a martial artist to really 'get it'

I'm a martial artist through and through but I love boxing - when you get the (rare) opportunity to see a truly great fight nothing can compare (in my humble opinion)

Peace & love

Dave

PS COME ON RICKY HATTON!!!

[bushido_man96]

2) The reason boxing always has been, and always will be a huge spectator sport is because it has one essential ingredient - simplicity. Two guys, punching only - anyone can watch and appreciate the skill. Much more difficult with MMA (and Thai boxing etc) because you need to be a martial artist to really 'get it'

I would have to disagree with the Thai Boxing analogy here. That is mainly dependant on the culture. In Thailand especially, it is such a part of their culture that most of the people there can watch and appreciate it without experiencing it themselves. Boxing has the same cultural feeling here in the West, because it has been a part of the culture since the Middle Ages.

Otherwise, you do make some good points.

[lupus yonderboy]

I have been seeing the hype on the Floyd Mayweather, Jr vs. Oscar de la Hoya fight. I would love to watch this fight, but I won't get to, due to its availability. I saw that one publication was claiming that it was to be the fight that will save boxing. Apparently, boxing isn't as popular as it used to be.

Do you think that boxing has lost some of its quality and popularity? Do you think that this is due to the rise of MMA? Which do you prefer to watch? Do you think that there has been a decline in the popularity of the sport? Do you think that shows like The Contender help boxing out?

I would like to see boxing covered more often away from a PPV venue. One reporter also mentioned the need to unify the heavyweight titles. Apparently, there are currently 4 different heavyweight champions.

What do you think?

I thnk boxing was far more interesting back in the day. To fight the nubmer one man in your weight, you had to first defeat the number 4 man, the number 3 man and then the number 2 man.

There was no other way to get to the belt - you fought your way through the rankings.

THAT makes boxing really interesting. You saw the guy beat Jim, You saw him beat Ted, You saw him beat Robert.. Now he's fighing Gus.

He earned the right - now this is his shot.

The way boxing works now is depressing. It is more about who the fighter knows than strictly what he can do. They will keep their money-fighter from fighting guys that they think can beat him. This makes the sport ridiculous.

I think MMA, overall, brings more people around watching boxing. I do not think boxing suffers because of MMA. I think people who never would have watched much boxing become more interested in the fights find on tv - and mostly because they like MMA.

They are great sports and complement each other well. I think the relationship is symbiotic.

[Throwdown0850]

I'm guessing Chuck Liddell wouldn't mind taking on one of the current crop of boxers to see who wins.

I think boxing is fading and being replaced by football and MMA. MMA needs to clean up the tattooed street fighter mentality and become more professional if it hopes to supplant boxing, though. The money and the Olympics won't come until it does.

I could not agree more!!!

[bushido_man96]

Good point about working through the ranks in Boxing. That would be fun to see again. It would also help Boxing, I think.

[pittbullJudoka]

I think that the popularity of boxing hasn't really fallen. It's more that everyone has jumped aboard the MMA bandwagon. If the popularity has fallen it's among the younger generation. I personally prefer to watch MMA over boxing. My reason for this is I don't find boxing that exciting and honestly never have. But in boxings defense I'm able to watch a good close fight that is back and forth even if it goes the distance. Again I feel the same for mma fights as long as they are exciting of very techniqual. I just dispise a boring fight no matter the style.

I also feel if boxing was as advitised as say the UFC the popularity would not seem as low as it does. Just think about how many commercials you see for each UFC PPV on how many channels compared to how many you see for a big boxing PPV.

As for the champion question. I feel one or two can be justified unless you talking across for diffrent orginazations. This is just my 2 cents.

[yingampyang]

At the moment boxing is still the biggest martial arts sport in the world. But dont worry i think that in no time mma and UFC will come up and take over. Hey there is more action lol.