There, I said it. I feel better now. I've been feeling this way for years but after this past couple of weeks, I've finally come to grips with my sentiments regarding the sport. You see, I really enjoy this sport - when its good. But lately, it just hasn't been very good at all. It's been quite the opposite. And that has made it very tough to be a fan. But there were a few key straws that finally broke my back over this thing.
The first straw came when I was realized I had completely missed the rematch of Sylvester Stallone's boxing reality show, The Contender. It was scheduled to be a live full boxing match between the winner of the first bout, Sergio "The Latin Snake" Mora and "The Pride of Providence" Peter Manfredo Jr. When I finally found the results online, I read the recap of the match, which had ended with a controversial decision. Typical.
The second straw came when Vitali Klitchko, the one heavyweight fighter I cared about, retired due to back and neck injuries. So now the one universally recognized champion was gone, leaving an open division with three different title holders, one of which is John Ruiz. Put another way, think of your favorite sport. Now think of the worst team in that sport's premier league. Now imagine that team somehow becoming the champion of that league and somehow defending the title year after year with the most boring playing style you can imagine. That's John Ruiz.
Even worse is that the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Klitchko wasn't even that exciting as a fighter, compared to the heavyweight champions that preceded him. To use another analogy, it's like being in a class with a bunch of homely looking girls. Suddenly, every guy in that class is drooling over a girl that in other situations would be considered average at best. Klitchko is that girl...although I'd never say that to his face.
The third straw came when I went to a couple of sports websites, looking for boxing news. In all three sites I went to, the top story was Mike Tyson...on three different occasions. Mike is on a "goodwill" tour in some former Soviet country that has way too many consonants in a name that ends in "___istan." Then the Tyson Tour 2005 makes a stop in London and a fight breaks out in the crowd. Then the Tour heads south to Brazil where Mike confesses his respect for Diego Maradona and then gets arrested for assaulting a cameraman. Oh and don't forget Mike and Bobby Brown singing "Monster Mash" on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Actually, that was pretty good. But the point is the biggest newsmaker in the sport for almost an entire month is an ex-champion whose personal life is more interesting than anything else in boxing. It's not Mike's fault either. He's still a big draw and when he fights, he's still probably the biggest draw in the once great heavyweight division. I just think it's a sad reflection on the sport when stuff like this is the biggest news.
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Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
While boxing is regularly "fixed," I'm not sure there is any way to fix it.
How about we go back to the Roman era? Throw Foreman, Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, and (just for kicks) Golota into a steel cage. Four of them die horribly; the survivor becomes Emperor.
Sounds like fun to me! :-/
2 - sr
Im still waiting for the next Muhammad Ali.
sr
3 - JonB
MMA rocks. Its so real...a little too real at times. But compared to boxing, it is a breath of fresh air.
4 - big daddy
Boxing has become the joke of the past, there is only one ligitimate champion and that is floyd mayweathere, all the sanctions are money hungry and choose undeserving champions , most recently vernon forrest for example, this is the reason why ufc has taken over your pay per views, whats done in the ring is settled in the ring, another example of the unfairness was mayweather vs judah, obviously any idiot can see judah didn't belong in the ring with mayweather, but you still stripped mayweather, what a joke..as if boxing wasn't bad enough on decision making, well lets just make it more obvious, I used to be an avid fan of boxing , but I have realized ufc fighting is what walks the walk and talks the talk, without having any stupid judges deciding my 9 months of dedication down to a measley 500 bucks off the top decision, I don't see any improvement any time soon in boxing, and therefore treat it like a joke and will never ever pay for another fight until it gets better, I have been watching boxing since the early days when it was free on abc sports and thru the tyson era, but it has gone so ridiculous that now it's the one that looks like the joke and the ufc actually looks legitimate, sad sad sad
5 - imax
Yeah, I was an avid boxing fan throughout the 70's and 80's. I'm in complete agreement with this assessment of what has gone wrong with boxing. MMA ,imho, is WAY more entertaining to watch. One you have observed fights where so many strategies have to be juggled, going back to watching nothing but punching is just BORING. Boxing is on the respirator, but terminal.
6 - Fan of the sport.
I've been a boxing fan ever since junior school. I was never around for tysons prime but the first fight I can remember being hyped up about was Tyson v Bruno. Which all ended in tears (me being a brit). I really enjoy watching the sport and anything else just doesnt cut it. I've tried watching MMA and even tried to get myself into Kick Boxing but for some reason it always ends up with me sticking boxing back on. Having said that I dont watch boxing for the stars I watch the sport because I love it, doesnt matter who the fighter is i'll watch it sure it all comes down to standards and I totaly agree they arnt what they used to be but as long as theres two people in the ring fighting i'll be a fan of the sport. Would be good to have a few decent fighters in Heavy weight though I must admit. But for now i'm happy watching Ricky Hatton even Junior Witter (brits) and for USA i'd have to say Floyd Mayweather. Having said that, I like watching old tapes aswell guess I dont like boxers I like the sport.
7 - Fantasy Games
Yeah, I was an gay boxing devotee throughout the 70's also 80's. I'm force carry off verdict with this suspicion of what has disorganized wrong with boxing. MMA ,imho, is WAY further entertaining to watch. One you have observed fights where so many strategies have to be juggled, going back to watching nothing but punching is just BORING. Boxing is on the respirator, but terminal.
8 - christian
i box at a club and when i go fight, its gonna hurt when u get punched, your just watchn it on tv or may be a boxing fan but u dont know what its like fighting some one thats skilled. it may look boring sometimes but when your fighting in that ring ur gonna feel pain. and alot mma fighters were boxers or did boxing to get in there.
9 - chris_the_tian
1 word Pacquiao!