I don’t know how many times I have heard people tell me “boxing is not what it used to be.” Countless sports fans tell me they don’t watch boxing anymore because it’s not as good as “back in the day,” and because of that, they don’t really watch anymore. My comeback to them is, “how do you know if you quit watching the sport?”
Often times guys tell me they have become fans of MMA, UFC in particular; and subsequently, in their opinion, feel MMA has taken over boxing as a more popular sport. My argument in support of the sweet science is simply related to money and worldwide popularity. I would say it’s comparable to professional soccer. Although not very popular in the United States; soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It has the most loyal fans and some of the highest paid athletes in sports. Boxing may have lost some appeal in the United States to some; however, similar to soccer, it is very popular around the globe. If you don’t believe so, start researching what top boxers are paid in comparison to UFC fighters. Let’s just take two of the most popular boxers and compare to the most popular UFC fighters.
For boxing, most people think of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao when it comes to mainstream and highest paid fighters. For UFC (which I enjoy from time to time), let’s say Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and George St. Pierre are it’s most popular and highest paid. For all you UFC fans and other sports fans who believe boxing is irrelevant or “not what it used to be,” even just looking at the money side of things tells it all. All these UFC fighters combined did not make what Floyd or Manny made in just in one fight in 2012. Mayweather and Pacquiao probably made more in 2012 what every single UFC fighter combined made and then some. I mean, we are talking about a ratio of around 20 to 1 for what boxing’s best make in comparison to UFC fighters.
Shoot, we can even take two of boxing’s best but less popular fighters, Mike Alvarado and Brandon Rios. In their rematch this past March, they made $625K and $1.25 million respectively. Jon Jones, maybe the best pound for pound in the UFC made $400K in his most recent fight against Chael Sonnen in April. Another jab and hard truth: Floyd Mayweather made $34 million in his fight on May 5, 2013 against Robert Guerrero.
That said, it’s not just about the money. Although boxing does not have a Mike Tyson who laymen boxing fans and general sports fans/UFC fans like to reference when they say boxing is not good anymore, boxing today has so many good and exciting fighters that the true fight fans will agree with you. Boxing is not what it used to be; It’s better!
The statement boxing is better today is a joke. It isn’t the fighters fault it is the coaches fault. They quit teaching defense, footwork, and body punching do to the changes they thought was needed in amateur boxing and particularly in the Olympics. The international organization for amateur boxing have just change some of their stupid rules which should help. Boxing isn’t only about how many punches you throw but ringmanship, defense, and punching with focus. I coached up at the Chicago Golden Gloves a couple years back and you were lucky if you seen a good jab thrown all night. Leading off every combination with a hook isn’t boxing from the old school. Let’s teach our fighters how to actual punch with focus and power instead of like a cat swatting at a bunch of flies. Let’s get back to fighting like real fighters.
What is this about fighters not wanting to fight because they don’t want to ruin their undefeated record. Top contenders fight champions no matter what their records are. That’s boxing that’s fair. What are Champions any more? A bunch of cry babies!
Opinion of Coach Thorpe
Ismael, I don’t disagree that I could talk about all the fighters out there right now making boxing better now than what it used to be and maybe there will be some follow up. What sparked this one was more for relevancy of the sport based on conversations I have had with people that don’t watch boxing and make comments without watching for themselves to know what they are really talking about. I watch both sports, but you are right I should have spoke about how there are so many more fighters carrying the sport these days and talk about them. However, as you know, there are so many to put in a short article but maybe you have an example of who and why it’s better which is another intention for the article. Don’t just criticize; spark it up unless you don’t agree that it’s better.
you should of defended your statement a little better by saying why its better instead of talking about ufc and crap. say why its better now name fighters and compare them to the fighters back than since that was your argument instead your talking about g.s.p .
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