Why don't you watch boxing?

[lapoker17]

i just got back from the diaz diaz fight and it made me realize something about boxing v mma: there are so many bad boxing matches, and not that many bad mma fights. now at its best i still prefer boxing - give me barrera morales I, or chavez taylor or hagler hearns over any mma, but day in day out, if i am watching mma i can be much more confident that i will see good fights.

i don't know why this is - is it just that the best boxers have a much bigger edge than the best mma fighters?

also, boxing just sucks so much overall right now - when they trotted tito and roy jones into the ring tonight to hype their upcoming fight i nearly wept.

and yeah indiana - you are lol. other people besides you and your friends "understand" boxing - it's really not very hard.

[dlorc]

Can't be bothered reading all the responses but its pretty simple that bad matchmaking, contenders ducking each other, no overall organistion - like 5394353 different belts - its retarded, too many promoters, too many canned records - people with 30-0+ boxing records, they dont actually have to "fight" they get maybe ~5 fights in their whole career vs opponents their own level, in MMA all the fights are vs legit fighters, as well as the bribery in boxing - its notorious for shady decisions.

[keikiwai]

personally, i don't watch boxing because i find a fighting sport where you're not allowed to use your legs boring

[Jon1000]

It seems like UFC dominates boxing in terms of general public interest. So why do top boxers get paid so much more than UFCers? My thought was that the UFCers are just quick tv show created stars, and that the UFC can replace them as soon as they do another TUF show. What are some better reasons?

[dlorc]

Kinda also with keikiwai on this one, I dont think you can claim to be a fighter when you're as one dimensional as just using your fists, ernesto hoost peter aerts etc would all knock the [censored] out of most boxers, its a sport not a fight.

most mma orgs provide a "safeish" set of rules for an actual fight, not a point scoring match a la mayweather/delahoya.

We've seen what happens when single stand up discipline artists come up against an alien element ( early gracie tapes and then the early ufc days ).

The "realism" in boxing isnt there any more, there are very few "fights" in boxing.

[Colm]

the notion that boxing is the 'sweet science' and lays claim to some subtlety that mma does not is pure hogwash. mma has more subtlety, but old school boxing fans that somehow attach their identity to boxing being the king of combat sports will not admit this. there are exponentially more variables in an mma fight, and technical combat exists in mma just as in boxing, only within a much larger set of variables. grappling, by itself has many more variables than boxing. as does kickboxing. combine them and we multiply them of course. many boxers and boxing fans attempt to deride mma by calling it glorified street fighting etc. the earlier comparison holds up here, as this is like a checkers champion deriding a chess champion.

this does not have much to do with the popularity of mma, however. if a well schooled boxing fan cannot understand the subtlety, the average joe off the street cannot either.

aside from the marketing, limited number of recognized titles, weight classes, and fighters, the popularity is due to the fact that there are more finishes due to the possibility of submissions and the small gloves contributing to knock outs. people like to see fights finished. they don't want to see two boxers pitter pat for 12 rounds and then go to a meaningless decision. people want to know who is the stronger, better, tougher man.

also, there is the mystique of 'the best fighter in the world'. in the public's eyes, this would now necessarily be an mma champion, as mma is so much closer to a real fight than boxing.

to answer the thread title, i do enjoy watching boxing, but it is a distant second to mma.

[MatthewRyan]

Boxing is almost not comparable to MMA. Boxing is a sport that happens to maybe/sort of resemble bar fights where players score points. MMA however is the real deal, a fight using everything you can to win. Guys realize this and prefer it.

[Gin 'n Tonic]

[ QUOTE ]
personally, i don't watch boxing because i find a fighting sport where you're not allowed to use your legs boring

[/ QUOTE ]

You're not even allowed to use your fists, except in approved ways - no spinning backfist here.

I used to follow boxing closely for many years, but not any more. Too many lousy fights, unbelieveable decisions and general assorted dodgyness.

I must admit though that I enjoyed the amateur Olympic boxing with the 'punch count' scoring. A few great bouts, and at least a basis for the final decision.

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
Boxing is almost not comparable to MMA. Boxing is a sport that happens to maybe/sort of resemble bar fights where players score points. MMA however is the real deal, a fight using everything you can to win. Guys realize this and prefer it.

[/ QUOTE ]

See this is the perception of mma, and its just not true. you "dont use anything you can to win" thats a joke, far from it. In boxing no one claims this, but everyone does in mma, one of the reasons I dont like it as much. Its a bunch of guys running around saying how hardcore it is when in all reality, its not, its just more "hardcore" than boxing.

[MikeyPatriot]

Guids,

One of the reasons you don't like MMA as much is because some people use hyperbole to describe what is allowed in a fight? What does that have to do with the actual sport? This reminds me of people I know who used to work in record stores and don't like the Beatles or Kiss because crazy fanboys are retards about it.