Up for Review: The State of Boxing

Boxing

    There's just something about two men fighting for sport. The earliest record of men squaring off was in Iraq somewhere in the 3rd millennium BC. It became part of the early Greek Olympics and even became a major piece of American Sports History.
    I grew up in the late 80s/early 90s when Mike Tyson was running the world of boxing. To this day, if you ask me what the biggest fall from grace in the sports world was my heart has a spot for Iron Mike. Such raw power, such tenacity, and such a spokesman on the mic. Okay... Maybe one of those we could have went without. The other two, however, have never been matched and I don't think they ever will.
    Before Tyson, boxing was alive and well. It didn't start with him... Ali, Foreman, Dempsey, Hagler, Louis, Frazier, Marciano, Robinson, Duran, Chavez... The list goes on and on and on...
    After Tyson, we have seen a drop off in the excitement for the sport. Maybe it's because lack of quality competition, maybe it's the rise of MMA, or maybe it's Floyd Mayweather. I submit it is all 3.
    We've seen some champions come through with long win streaks but a quick look at their opponents would reveal they were fighting undercards or folks past their prime. In the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, it was delayed for years and only happened when Pacquiao was hurt (which viewers found out after the fight).
    Mixed Martial Arts has dominated the fighting world for years. The matches are close. The fights are exciting. There's a really good chance you'll see multiple knockouts or hyperextensions throughout the night. The women's matches are equally as exciting. It's just a better product entirely.
    Floyd Mayweather has singlehandedly made it difficult to get into boxing. He is 49-0 and only accepts fights on his terms. By doing this, he has made it impossible to lose his belt. So he continues getting cupcakes on the card and to make sure he wins. People can't stand it.
     Sometimes in business you have to throw a Hail Mary to get people back interested. Boxing booked Conor McGregor (of UFC (MMA)) vs Floyd Mayweather. It's huge. People are actually excited about boxing. Fans are excited to see if someone can transition from another sport and beat Floyd (the answer is "not a snowflakes chance in hell").
    The biggest question is will this work for boxing or is it another way for MMA to get exposure one of the premier athletes of UFC. I think Dana White knew what he was doing when he booked this. Not only does he see $$$ but he also puts boxing in a submission hold Royce Gracie would applaud.
    Boxing is going to do well financially for this PPV. I don't feel this is the start of boxing rising from it's ashes like a phoenix. It is a sport that has gone stagnant and will remain stagnant. That's not something two loud mouth trash talkers can fix.

Follow me on Twitter @ That's P4 review
Help me grow by sharing and/or retweeting this posting