re: Any true boxing fans here?

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You know you're losing an argument when you have to bring up Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis numbers

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I quoted the article that you linked.

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It really chaps your arse that mma has become so popular in such a short time. This sport is still in its infancy and hasn't even started to take off yet. Just wait until this new Fox deal starts and mma becomes more mainstream. Wait until a generation or two actually grows up with the sport. Boxing has a hundred year head start....

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I'm not denying that it's a sport on the rise, but every MMA fan I run across claims that it has ALREADY SURPASSED boxing. Which is simply not true.

Not to mention the fact that it's a moron's sport. And to be fair, I dislike the fan base, atmosphere and general overall personality of MMA more than the sport itself. Although, watching a UFC fight is akin to watching paint dry when those stupid fricks are rolling around on the mat playing grab arse.

Oh, we're into generalizing and stereotyping I see....
Well I dislike baseball fans in general

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Boxing will probably never be the same. The main reason is parents dont steer there kids toward boxing anymore. Unlike MMA it takes years to perfect boxing. You just cant jump into it at 15 and become great at it. Boxing is alot of hard work and dedication and most kids these days just dont wanna do the work. Instead MMA is the easier alternative and has become more popular. But to me boxing takes more skill and discipline. Anybody can fight/grapple but not many can stand toe to toe and box.

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Sir this statement is completely false. MMA actually takes more work.

I really hate the tone that these threads always take. It's always the same shite: MMA fan: "Lulz, boxing is an old relic and it's boring and an MMA guy could beat up a boxing guy in a fight, and y'all are corrupt, and you're just a bunch of old fogies who can't accept that MMA has taken over and boxing is dead, etc." Boxing fan: "Lulz, y'all are a bunch of ed hardy wearing douchebags, your sport is gay and boring, you're a flash in the pan, etc, etc."

I'm a "true" boxing fan. I love boxing, I love its rich history, I love the sweet science, and I don't think anything in American sports compares to a big fight, which hasn't happened in like 15 years.

I don't see a reason for fans of boxing to hate on MMA. I don't care for the sport, but I don't see it as playing any role in hurting boxing. They cater to different tastes. They're different sports. Just because they're both "combat" sports doesn't mean their success is mutually exclusive. People can be fans of both, just like basketball and football, or baseball and soccer.

Besides, boxing has not needed any help in burying itself. Shady/corrupt/greedy promoters, the 100 years of evidence of the long-term effects (which we don't yet have in MMA and it remains to be seen if the effects are similar), the successful but uninteresting style with which big heavyweights fight these days and lack of American fighters, which has led to lack of interest in the heavyweight division from American audiences. I think the most important thing is that there are just too many other ways to get rich in sports now that didn't exist in the past. Used to be people would find the kid kickin arse on the football field and try to turn him into the next heavyweight champ. Now, they see a beast in the ring and try to make him into the next great linebacker. Not the case anymore.

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Im sure im in the minority but I would rather watch a bigtime boxing match over a UFC title fight any day of the week.

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I'm with you.

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actually, the PPV buys are much more telling. boxing owns MMA in ratings for marquee fights.

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Slightly. For the BIG fights, boxing does better PPV numbers... but not by much.

Plus, you have to take into account that boxing has like 1 or 2 really big fights per year. More people are willing to watch because they can hype those up to no end.

The UFC puts on 2 or more cards PER MONTH. If the UFC only put on 1 or 2 shows per YEAR and stacked their cards, they could have incredible numbers, too.

Probably even better than boxing's numbers...

The one advantage MMA has over boxing is the quality of the undercards. By virtue of essentially being controlled by one organization (and signing contracts with that organization), the best matches are made. On boxing PPVs you are likely to see an up and comer against a tomato can. Promoters want their fighters to get an easy win. That just doesn't happen that often within the UFC (which most people associate with MMA). Fighters are matched with fighters of equal skill level, and the entire card is filled with good fights.

I find it amusing that boxing fans are trying to defend their lame sport by talking about popularity. MMA fans shouldn't even bother having this discussion. If popularity was the best way to judge the virtue of something, WWE would be the best combat sport and Two and a Half Men would be the best TV show. The reason why boxing sucks is because it does an inferior job of simulating real life combat. The whole reason people got into boxing to begin with was because they wanted to know who the baddest men on the planet were. For many years, boxing was the only way of doing that. For those of us who want to know the answer to the question in 2011, MMA is now the way to go. Boxers would get annihilated by MMA fighters in a fight in a bar or a parking lot somewhere, and it's not even debatable.

Boxing is necessarily inferior to MMA because MMA full encompasses boxing as well as every other combat art (except maybe Krav Maga).