Does anyone still watch boxing?

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 11/12/2006 8:08pm

I like (and disklike) watching both boxing and mma fights. When a fight is interesting, it is interesting, whether it's boxing or mma. For example, I liked Serra vs Shonnie Carter, but I found the finals between Serra and Lyttle kinda like bleh - no disrespect for both, but that fight didn't made me sit on the edge of my chair. Same with boxing.

In both sports, for every one great (or decent, interesting) fight, there are 5 or 6 that are just fillers. It's the nature of the beast. Any predilections in favor of one sport over the other is a little bit subjective IMO.

**Tangerine** · Posted On: 11/13/2006 4:00am

People like it when a striker Kos a grappler
People like it when a grappler subs a striker
People like it when a striker KOs ANYBODY.

So altogether, for most people, striking of any kind is more exciting.

But to watch two skilled technicians go at it on the ground or standing up, throwing caution to the wind--that's the best.

We all know why people don't post as much about boxing anymore on these forums.

Is there any proof boxing isn't watched by as many people? Are the ratings lower?

**PirateJon** · Posted On: 11/13/2006 7:29am

Originally Posted by Tangerine

Is there any proof boxing isn't watched by as many people? Are the ratings lower?

Some and yes.

The big discussion on boxing boards is that it's not bringing in new blood. Guys that used to head into boxing in the US go onto football or basketball or other sports. Less good fighters means less fans. I heard someone say (bob arum?) something to the effect that boxing is changing marketing focus on minorities (black, hispanic, etc) because all the young white guys like the UFC.

An exciting heavyweight champ would go a long way towards getting boxing back to the glory days.

**Goju - Joe** · Posted On: 11/13/2006 8:28am

1 champ is not enough you need at least 3-4 guys who are exciting and could challenge at any time.

Pride's got Fedor,Cro-cop and Barnet. noth that I see abyone beating fedor but there's always a good chance.

Fedor Vs Cro-cop is guaranteed to be an exciting fight

**yodaman** · Posted On: 11/13/2006 10:49am

Originally Posted by PirateJon

Some and yes.

The big discussion on boxing boards is that it's not bringing in new blood. Guys that used to head into boxing in the US go onto football or basketball or other sports. Less good fighters means less fans. I heard someone say (bob arum?) something to the effect that boxing is changing marketing focus on minorities (black, hispanic, etc) because all the young white guys like the UFC.

An exciting heavyweight champ would go a long way towards getting boxing back to the glory days.

Well, the UFC seems to be targeting minorities as well as of late. There's no other reason they'd start "UFC en Espanol" on a spanish language sports channel.

Most of the top boxing heavyweights are Russian. I don't know if this turns off casual fans or not when you consider MMA's king is a Russian, but there seems to be a serious lack of a dynamic champion. No one's generating talk or controversey, they're just there. And if you can't get people to talk, you can't generate interest, and if you can't generate interest, you're in trouble.

**dtrain** · Posted On: 11/13/2006 10:59am

I used to be really into boxing, but not so much so I got into MMA. The variety of techniques makes MMA far more interesting for me. Also, there are more exciting fighters and personalities in MMA than there are currently in boxing. Finally, good MMA is more accessible than boxing. I'm not likely to get PPV for either, but between Pride reruns, UFC reruns, the occassional kickboxing match, The new IFL (or whatever it's called), TUF, and Ultimate Fight Night Live There's just more MMA on TV. That means more exposure to more fans.