Why don't you watch boxing?

[PartyGirlUK]

Hey guys - the UFC thread got me thinking why it is so much bigger than boxing amongst the young male demographic, and why in all demographics it has gained remarkedly on boxing over the past few years.

I don't want this thread to degrade into a mudslinging contest. The issue about which athletes are better, which is more gay, who wins a street fight Tyson or Fedor or any other such nonsense isnt the point. fwiw I enjoy both sports, and obviously anyone who gets to the top of either sport has to have a bunch of bravery and be an incredible athlete.

20 years ago boxing was pretty big. I can't remember the last time I heard people outside my boxing friends talk about 'the fight', except for DeLaHoya v. Mayweather. imo the problem isn't that people don't like boxing, it's a matter of marketing. There have been some exceptional fights in the past couple of years, but for whatever reason most people haven't seen them (I think Corrales - Castillo made it's way into the mainstream a bit......).

Here are some things that UFC does really well that boxing doesn't

i) The UFC decides who fights who. In boxing, the fighters/promoters do. So in UFC the best guys are going to fight each other, in boxing each guy acts in his best interests (which often leads to top fighters avoiding each other for easier fayre) which devalues the product offered.

ii) UFC has 4(?) weight classes and one champion in each. Boxing has 16 and 4 or 5 world champions in each division. There is the issue in MMA of multiple fighting organizations, but UFC seems to be solving that by monopolizing the best talent out there. So, in MMA, there are 4 legitimate world champions, average fan knows who they are, the champs have to fight 3 times a year, against the best opposition available. Compelling. Boxing is a mess.

iii) Network effects. People like to watch sports with other people. UFC has done a great job of appearing cool and in fashion, took off amongst some people, and right now if someone is indifferent between watching boxing or UFC on a Saturday night, they are more likely to plump for UFC, because that's what their buddies are watching.

iv) (Edited in): Boxing revolves around the heavyweight division and the HWs bloooooooow right now (and all the top ones are non-Americans). It's interesting that MMA seems to have a more even distribution of interest by weight than boxing. Any ideas why this is?

Also to a large extent MMA and boxing are substitute goods, so the rise of the UFC almost necessitates a fall in the popularity of boxing.

Note that boxers are still getting paid WAY more than MMA stars. This is also interesting.

There's a lot more to it than that, and hopefully you can provide some insight. Two weeks ago was a fight for the legitimate boxing middleweight championship of the world. It was on regular HBO, not PPV. It was one of the best MW title fights ever, a real great watch. For those of you who watch MMA, I'd like to know i) Did you know the fight was going on ii) Did you watch it, why/why not, iii) Did you hear about the result/that it was a great fight.

Also, please start your reply with the number of currently active boxers you can name (list them for bonus points [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] )

D