Is boxing dying?

[JPG1277]

when i was gowing up, i used to love watching boxing, but now i view it as an imcomplete fighting system. When i watch a fight it irritates me that they don't have to watch for takedowns, kicks, etc. I know that its set up that way, but i think that boxing is falling away except as part of a mma fighters overall skill set. Your thoughts please.

P.S. I mean no disrespect to boxers or their fans, its just a thought running through my head.

[michelle12]

Yeah John I think boxing is dying...MMA is taking over. I feel bad for the true boxers, but hey things change! And please let's know even talk about how much boxers get paid...in the millions!!! That why they only took fights once a year or even every two years!!!

[Harley]

As a boxer I don't think so, I just think it's evolving a little bit just like it did with kickboxing, boxing is one of the main fundmentals of MMA and you'll always need somebody with those fundmentals. I mean I love MMA and love watching it, but MMA isn't in the Olympics yet so I can't say has completely taken over yet =)! No, honeatly boxing is like baseball America's favorite past times I don't think America will let it die, I think they can co-exist together, and one day I would love to see MMA in the Olympics I think it's a great sport. In fact I have guys that are doing MMA here that go in the gym with me to learn boxing, because of my skills as being a right handed boxer that can switch south paw (left handed) and be just as deadly with it as my right, because of those boxers from the pastI'm able to teach that skill. My dad is left handed, and my coach was right handed so I got the best of both, and trained that way use both effectively with the same strength and enjoying being able being able to teach that and pass that on to MMA fighters.:cool:

[Mandy]

i used to looooove watching boxing, still do, but now when i'm watching all i can think is "take them to the ground.. do this.. do that..." Unless the fight is a great one, I lose interest realy fast.

[ProjecktMayhem]

i used to looooove watching boxing, still do, but now when i'm watching all i can think is "take them to the ground.. do this.. do that..." Unless the fight is a great one, I lose interest realy fast.

i completely agree. i think it will be around, but not as much as it was before. i was watching a repeat fight on showtime the other night, and they just looked so stupid. long trunks, big gloves, i was like "this isn't normal at all"

i'd rather watch Lifetime

[Lucky7]

Yeah John I think boxing is dying...MMA is taking over. I feel bad for the true boxers, but hey things change! And please let's know even talk about how much boxers get paid...in the millions!!! That why they only took fights once a year or even every two years!!!

So do you think MMA will eventually go that way? For the big names, a couple of fights a year, big payouts>

I think there will always be boxing fans and boxing purists. And I also think ypu can't have MMA without boxing.

[JPG1277]

i used to looooove watching boxing, still do, but now when i'm watching all i can think is "take them to the ground.. do this.. do that..." Unless the fight is a great one, I lose interest realy fast.

thats exactly how I feel, just can't get intersted in it anymore, I always look at the openings they leave and it drives me crazy

[michelle12]

So do you think MMA will eventually go that way? For the big names, a couple of fights a year, big payouts>
I think there will always be boxing fans and boxing purists. And I also think ypu can't have MMA without boxing.


I don't know if the MMA will go that way. Things are allways evolving with time…I do agree that boxing is a huge part in the MMA. The MMA fighters have to develop boxing skills as well as all the other skills in order to be a great fighter and to be at the top of there game. But I also agree with Mandy boxing is not as exciting now that the MMA has come to life. In my opinion the MMA is way more exciting then boxing.

Boxing does have a huge following though, so maybe the people that love boxing so much will put it back on the map!!!:)

[Lisa]

where is Felix on this? Hes a huge boxing fan.

Agreeing with Harley, I think boxing goes with America like apple pie and chevrolet. I dont think boxing will ever die, MMA will just continue togrow and gain support. No big thang.......

I got into watching MMA a little over a year ago and since then, I've found myself more interested in boxing as well. Weird maybe. I dont know.

[Draven]

Boxing is suffering because of lack of personalities who can draw people in. You don't have your Roy Jones JR or De La Hoya, no Foreman or Tyson or Holyfield or Lewis. Also it suffers from promoters still putting their good fighters in against scrubs to boost them too often

[Felix]

JPG1277 - neither of your 2 posts here have said anything to back up your question as to whether or not boxing is "dying", all they're doing is stating that you, personally, are losing interest in the sport of boxing

as far as an "incomplete" fighting system - when you look at bjj, boxing, tkd, wrestling, etc etc, EVERY system is "incomplete". what's nice about mma, is that its athletes take pieces from many different martial arts so that fights are no longer one-dimensional, hence the named MIXED Martial Arts :)


michelle12 - what exactly is MMA "taking over"?

Cory - lifetime?? lol...if you're a fan of combat sports, or if you train in any discipline yourself, then you should be able to appreciate a good fight between skilled combatants. i myself enjoy watching a good fight, whether its boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, or mma - a fight is a fight :)

[Lisa]

Good points Felix. I knew you'd have some clever stuff to say. :)

[JPG1277]

JPG1277 - neither of your 2 posts here have said anything to back up your question as to whether or not boxing is "dying", all they're doing is stating that you, personally, are losing interest in the sport of boxing

as far as an "incomplete" fighting system - when you look at bjj, boxing, tkd, wrestling, etc etc, EVERY system is "incomplete". what's nice about mma, is that its athletes take pieces from many different martial arts so that fights are no longer one-dimensional, hence the named MIXED Martial Arts :)


michelle12 - what exactly is MMA "taking over"?

Cory - lifetime?? lol...if you're a fan of combat sports, or if you train in any discipline yourself, then you should be able to appreciate a good fight between skilled combatants. i myself enjoy watching a good fight, whether its boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, or mma - a fight is a fight :)

Felix, I completely agree with what you are saying here and I guess maybe the way I phrased the question is wrong, I was asking if other people are feeling the same way as I do about boxing. As i stated I used to really enjoy boxing, but cannot seem to get into it anymore. Interesting thought on all systems being imcomplete, the only thing about that though is that i can go to a grappling tournament and be completely enthralled with the action all day. It might just be that mma and grappeling has piqued an interest in me that boxing never did but for lack of competition then i just didn't know it, but now with other combat sports out there i realized boxing just didn't do it for me.

As far as respect though, i have total respect for any combat athlete, doesn't matter what you do, i will always tip my hat to these athletes. Like I stated in my original post, I mean no disrespect to bowers or boxing fans, just asking a question.

[Felix]

i agree that boxing has lost TONS of popularity. i've been around/involved in boxing since a little kid, and its nowhere near the same level of popularity now as it was then

my opinion:

back in the day, you'd have title fights on FREE, daytime & primetime television. since the PPV system exploded in popularity, promoters have forgotten that you need to make your fighters bankable ("household" names) BEFORE you throw them into PPV...young boxers, and boxing in particular, doesnt get that kind of exposure to the casual fan anymore




boxing taking place only in Vegas & NYC has killed the sport. its good to see (because of the recession), boxing moving back into the hometowns of fighters. i remember as a kid watching tony the tiger lopez fight here at arco arena, and if you thought the crowds at the WEC/UFC in sacramento were electric - the boxing crowds back in the day would make them look tame. promoters need to go back to having fighters box in front of their hometown & regional fanbases


lack of an american heavyweight champion...3 world titles, and all of them Russians. in the US, we have this attitude that if it doesn't happen here, it doesnt matter.


HBO/boxing commentators: larry merchant, jim lampley, harold lederman, emanuel steward....larry in particular should retire. not that these guys aren't good, but if you want to attract the young demographic, you can't have all your guys (except max kellerman) being in thier 60's & 70s!!! bring in a crew of young, knowledgeable, intelligent, and well-spoken individuals and get them groomed to carry the torch! those same guys have been boxing's main commentators for 30 years, right after howard cosell (!!!) - ENOUGH ALREADY! :)






one thing i will say about boxing, is that NOTHING brings out the stars like a title fight in vegas. MMA still has a looooooooooong way to go before it becomes the darling of celebs & old-money. :)

[Cory]

I used to watch boxing. The point I was making is that I'm so used to watching MMA fights now, that Boxing no longer interests me. I respect the guys that box (and girls, what up Amy, sweetcheeks :D), but I have much more respect for an MMA fighter that has to expand their skillset besides just boxing.

The first thing I did when I decided to get into MMA was start to box. It's a prerequisite (in my opinion) if you want to fight. Let's face it, fights don't start out on the ground, or in a clinch.

[JBNTX]

Boxing has no poster boy anymore, and who wants to watch two dudes trade with 16 ounce gloves, when you can get the total package of many different disciplines with MMA. RIP DON KING !!

[CChrisman]

yes...yes it is

[tobias]

Boxing is not dead and is not dying. It easily outsells MMA PPV's on a whole. You must realize that there is a whole group of diehard boxing fans just like MMA Fans and they have been around for a hell of a lot longer. They've seen champs come and go and have also witnessed other combat sports like kickboxing in America rise and fall in the eighties. The customary boxing fan is usually a bit conservative so when a new sport comes along, they don't just jump on the bandwagon. I can't remember if MMA has been sanctioned sport for a decade yet. The sport is still very young and most of it's fans are casual unlike boxing. MMA still has a long way to go before it gain 100% acceptance like boxing has. If it were not for the TUF tv show, most Americans still wouldn't have a clue about MMA nor would you be able to watch it at a local or pub. The majority of all these clothing lines with similar designs and stupid fucking names would not exist and people would still fork out that $54.95 for boxing PPV's even though they talk big shit about he promoters.

I'm not the biggest boxing fan but I know the reality(Some of you know what sport I love). No pun intended to everyone reading this.

[JPG1277]

Tobias,

great points, but as far as TUF, didn't boxing do the same thing with the contender? TUF is still around, I honestly don't know if the contender is, i think i see it on VS every now and then, but wouldn't that go to show that the next generation of fight fans are predominatly mma not boxing.

Cool deal on the muay thai though, hardcore shit right there!

[Draven]

last I saw The Contender switched to Muay Thai instead of boxing

[tobias]

Tobias,

great points, but as far as TUF, didn't boxing do the same thing with the contender? TUF is still around, I honestly don't know if the contender is, i think i see it on VS every now and then, but wouldn't that go to show that the next generation of fight fans are predominatly mma not boxing.

Cool deal on the muay thai though, hardcore shit right there!

The Contender did not do the same as boxing because boxing is already established. If the The Contender and TUF began at the same time and boxing was new as MMA, then boxing would have lost but it is much older. The Bonner/Griffin fight was the match that put MMA in the public eye. If they would not have given it their all in the match then MMA probably would be where it is today. There still has not been a finale like it and I doubt there will be.The TUF finale came at the most perfect time also for the UFC. With the death of Pride FC a few months before, it opened the door for more fighters to make their way to the UFC and get some much needed exposure. Fighters like Mirko Crocop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, and even Rampage were unknown here in the states except to the hardcore fans that followed both organizations. Damn my heart ached when Pride went under. I went to both shows they had in Las Vegas. RIP Pride FC.

[tobias]

last I saw The Contender switched to Muay Thai instead of boxing

WHO IS TALKING ABOUT MY SPORT!? JK!! I would not say that the The Contender has switched to Muaythai, The producers are just going a different route for different market. TUF gets no airtime in Asia and never will. The Contender Asia puts nakmuays(muaythai practitioners) from around the globe in one house similar to TUF with teams and they have challenges to between the teams to see who is going to fight who. Muaythai is a much bigger in all European countries, Japan, Australia, and SEA than it is here in the States. So it will be broadcast there first. It was 1 year before it was picked up here and and the hardcore nakmuays like me stateside had already seen all the episodes and knew the outcome. If you are interested all the links are posted below to all of season 1.

Cheers mates! :D:D


Episode 1
http://www.megaupload.com/se/?d=1V4BU1OU
Episode 2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V8ZGHA7V
Episode 3
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F27A4UUA
Episode 4
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CEK3REX0
Episode 5
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JJIA85YV
Episode 6
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LPXQK38C
Episode 7
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7ANQB06Q
Episode 8
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C89NZ8SU
Episode 9
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C89NZ8SU
Episode 10
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EW1Y7SJG
Episode 11
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T62OAG4Z
Episode 12
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=006JLXYS
Episode 13
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FR6PXGUR

[JBNTX]

The Contender did not do the same as boxing because boxing is already established. If the The Contender and TUF began at the same time and boxing was new as MMA, then boxing would have lost but it is much older. The Bonner/Griffin fight was the match that put MMA in the public eye. If they would not have given it their all in the match then MMA probably would be where it is today. There still has not been a finale like it and I doubt there will be.The TUF finale came at the most perfect time also for the UFC. With the death of Pride FC a few months before, it opened the door for more fighters to make their way to the UFC and get some much needed exposure. Fighters like Mirko Crocop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, and even Rampage were unknown here in the states except to the hardcore fans that followed both organizations. Damn my heart ached when Pride went under. I went to both shows they had in Las Vegas. RIP Pride FC.

First off how the hell are you Tobias ? Are you still in Thailand ? If so I hope all is well with your training and your fam !! Very solid points you have made. Alot of the fighters that came over from pride were stars in their own right in Japan and they were making a good living. Having been folded into the UFC with the buy out has turned them into well deserved superstars and has gained them international fame. I too will miss Pride but we now have Dream which I watch every event on HDNET thanks to mark cuban. If not for the folding of pride we would never have gotten to see some of the super fights Joe Silva has put together and I am surre there are many more to come in my opinion it is a win win for mma fans !!

[Cory]

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=3984114

I haven't read this article yet, but it's ESPN's (Sherdog's) version of the difference between MMA and boxing.

[Terra]

I have to say I enjoy both boxing and MMA. One more than the other obviously. I think MMA is definately more action packed and that is probally why it is so big.

[Kimberly]

WHO IS TALKING ABOUT MY SPORT!? JK!! I would not say that the The Contender has switched to Muaythai, The producers are just going a different route for different market. TUF gets no airtime in Asia and never will. The Contender Asia puts nakmuays(muaythai practitioners) from around the globe in one house similar to TUF with teams and they have challenges to between the teams to see who is going to fight who. Muaythai is a much bigger in all European countries, Japan, Australia, and SEA than it is here in the States. So it will be broadcast there first. It was 1 year before it was picked up here and and the hardcore nakmuays like me stateside had already seen all the episodes and knew the outcome. If you are interested all the links are posted below to all of season 1.

Cheers mates! :D:D


Episode 1
http://www.megaupload.com/se/?d=1V4BU1OU
Episode 2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V8ZGHA7V
Episode 3
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F27A4UUA
Episode 4
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CEK3REX0
Episode 5
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JJIA85YV
Episode 6
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LPXQK38C
Episode 7
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7ANQB06Q
Episode 8
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C89NZ8SU
Episode 9
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C89NZ8SU
Episode 10
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EW1Y7SJG
Episode 11
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T62OAG4Z
Episode 12
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=006JLXYS
Episode 13
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FR6PXGUR

Thanks for the links. I saw most of the episodes but didn't get to see the last few so I have no idea who won! Will check it out.

[tobias]

You are welcome Kim. I want to spoil it for you but I'm not going to. :D

[Harley]

The last I saw the Contender it was still boxing.

[tobias]

The last I saw the Contender it was still boxing.

Have you watched any of the Contender Asia series?

[Kimberly]

You are welcome Kim. I want to spoil it for you but I'm not going to. :D

You should have spoiled it for me. Had problems downloading the videos. But I checked out the website, so I know who won now.

[tobias]

I didn't want to spoil it. Watching the matches is much more exciting.

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