There has been much made about the rise of UFC and the slow "death" of boxing over the past few years. Whilst UFC Pay Per View figures have been booming, Boxings numbers have gone in the opposite direction.
The reasons...Boxing's distinct lack of big fights.
I have been a fan of boxing all my life, and whilst MMA has been around for the last few years, I never devoted any real energy to it until the last 2/3 years.
I would watch the occasional fight in the years of "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz and "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell feuds, but never in the capacity to which I do today.
These days, I don’t miss any UFC or Strike force PPV's and I make sure I keep an eye on Bellator and the various Australian MMA Promotions going around.
For many years it was the same case with Boxing, as I would hunt, deal and scrap to gain access to all fights, be it UK, US or Australia.
However, I must admit lately my boxing viewing is dwindling.
I am not the only boxing fan switching off.
Some fans have come out hailing the resurgence of boxing given the stack of upcoming "mega fights" for which boxing fans are licking their lips.
Manny Pacquiao v Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez v Michael Katsidis, David Haye v Audley Harrison, Danny Green v BJ Flores, Sakio Bika v Andre Ward...etc,etc,etc.
But are these the fights the "fight fans" truly want to see??
Take Pac-Man for example.
His next fight is an intriguing clash, given Pacquiao steps up to Junior-Middleweight in search of his 8th World Title, against his tallest and heaviest opponent EVER, whom is returning from a long suspension for shaming the boxing world.
Sure it’s an intriguing sell....but it’s not the fight Boxing fans want to see.
Magarito got destroyed in his last fight against Shane Mosley. Floyd Mayweather destroyed Shane Mosley. Pacquiao is looking at a rematch with Miguel Cotto, who Margarito destroyed, as did Pacquiao. Make Sense??..Didn’t think so.
Whilst hardcore boxing fans like me may stick around, casual fans with the sport are turning away.
The problem with Boxing is simple. Titles no longer mean anything.
World Titles are only good for marketing purposes as a fight billed as a "World Title", will ensure an increase in pay per view buys and gate receipts. The fact that we can have two boxers ranked outside the top 20 in the world fighting for some alphabet title, proves exactly what is wrong with the sport.
The UFC cuts fighters who don’t perform, and as a result ensures viewers that what they are seeing is "the best v the best". In Boxing, a promoter may cut a fighter given he is no longer in the upper echelon , only for that fighter to be picked up by another promoter looking to capitalise on the boxers "name".
Examples- Roy Jones Jnr & Evander Holyfield.
Both of these two men have been coveted by fighters in recent years, as they are easy victories, marketable and for the uneducated perceived as a "great scalp". Given their name, Jones & Holyfield are thrown into fights hailed as "World Titles" against fighters whom have never come close to winning such a belt.
If Boxing promoters steered clear, fans would realise their irrelevance and pay no notice.
If both of these men where in the UFC , they would have been cut 5 years ago.
Money is the only source of prestige in the sport these days. Such is the plethora of titles littering the landscape, a "World Title" no longer means much at all, whilst the prestige that is gained is as a result of purse and pay per view buys.
Floyd Mayweather Jnr said it himself when he stated "Titles just collect dust at the end of the day"
The Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao fight should have happened two years ago. The fact that it hasn’t is a result of greed. Both Mayweather & Pacquiao don’t have any desire to put it all on the line and "be the best". Both now seem to only fight for money, with each protecting their reputations with each fight. As each wins, the money keeps rolling in. But if they put it on the line against each other, the loser is going to be seen as less marketable and that is a risk both "Money" Mayweather and Pac-Man are not willing to take.
Instead, Boxing fans have to put up with the Bob Arum-Team Pacquiao partnership, with each of Manny's opponents seemingly from the stable that Bob Arum promotes. That way, Arum collects his 25% from both fighters.
Pacquaio's last fights have been against fighters all from the Top Rank/Bob Arum stable. Joshua Clottey,Miguel Cotto & Antonio Margarito, plus he was also linked with a fight with Yuri Foreman, another promoted by Arum.
On the other hand, Floyd Mayweather retires for the 26th time, returning sporadically, when his bank balance is in need of a quick rejuvenation.
When Floyd does fight, it is against "Name" fighters, such as most recently with Juan Manuel Marquez, although at a low risk option, with the fight being campaigned at Welterweight, a weight that Marquez is not comfortable at, given he is naturally a lightweight. ( Marquez fights Katsidis at Lightweight on Nov.26).
The Reasons fans are falling in love with the UFC is that the mega fights happen. All fighters are centrally contracted and Dana White makes fights as he sees them. If you don’t want the fight, well find somewhere else to ply your trade.
Sure other promotions such as Strikeforce & Bellator have their own versions of "World Titles", but none come with the prestige and lineage of the UFC. Everyone in the sport covets it, and only the man who holds it can legitimately call himself the best in the given weight class.
Boxing on the other hand can have as many as 8 different World Champions at anytime, this is even without throwing in the stupidity of "interim" or "super" champions.
If the MMA World can prevent a similar situation occurring in their sport, which ultimately came about in boxing through greed, then they will have tremendous success. Strikeforce & Bellator may rise in prestige but then we will still only have 3 recognised World Titles, and still a chance of co-promotion and unification.
MMA must not allow their sport to become like Boxing where the fighters are bigger than the promotions. The Promotions should dictate the terms and not the fighter.
Boxing has come too far, and it will never return to the glory days of one or even three world champions.
The amount of money it would take for someone to replicate a UFC model, where fighters are contracting to the promotion is ridiculous.
The Shambolic Super Six Boxing Series is proof enough that such a concept is a waste of time.
Fans are voting with their remotes by turning of the sport of Boxing, as fighters no longer look to knock of the top dog.
These days it is more about protecting their record, hand picking opponents and capturing world titles to boost their marketability and appeal.
If the superfight between Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao never eventuates, Boxing will begin to become even more irrelevant than it is already becoming.
Boxing has the "Silver Bullet" to fire the biggest shot in the fight between them and Mixed Martial Arts, and they may never use it.
Boxing's advantage over MMA, is its hundreds and hundreds of years history....yet we may never see the bout that would truly be perhaps the biggest in that history.
Boxing fans want to see "Mega-Fights" and the only place it seems for that...is the UFC.
By Adam Santarossa
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