A good night for boxing though, this debacle (yes, yet another one) wasn't shown on a major tv channel.

It's nonsense like that which will be cause yet more people to watch more MMA and less boxing.

Only a matter of time till Sky Sports pick up major MMA events IMO. Tested the waters with the TUF series

Havent you ever said otherwise? Intresting. Are we still on which direction rather than which is bigger globaly? How much longer do you need? Of course UFC cards are going to be shown everytime lives how many cards do you show per month compared to Boxing? Its impossible to show every boxing card.
I totally agree and have done that Boxing undercard's could be stronger, that there is too many commentators now on Saturday fight night, that there are too many world titles? Another reason why not every world title fight cant be shown which explained to you countless times but you refuse to budge on.
I've already said that I agree with you that in North America the PPV attendance is more popular than Boxing. But teh world doesnt end with .
Will you budge thats its a absolute sham that a ex WWF susperstar gets a Heavyweight title shot with a superb record of 3-1 in the sport?

Tucker Max, I agree with you almost entirely and have made the same comparison before, the only difference being I'd say MMA is the
20/20 version though.

Sj,

that there are too many world titles? Another reason why not every world title fight cant be shown which explained to you countless times but you refuse to budge on.

I agree with this.  I always have done.  I don't know why you'd say otherwise.

The fact there are a ridiculous amount of world titles is a major reason as to why they're not all shown on tv and is also the point I'm trying to make.  Boxing not having anyone run the sport (like the PGA does for golf, the ATP for tennis, the UFC for MMA) is what is hurting it.  Imagine one association/organisation running the sport, with one world title, with all the fighters being told who they're fighting by those in charge and not by greedy promoters, who can sell the rights to the sport to a tv company, etc.  MMA has this and is growing as a result, boxing does not and its popularity is, in my opinion, decreasing.

Sj's other points

This thread is the direction of the sports.  I've said many times, we're looking at a 5-10 year period until the argument is, in my opinion, settled.  We're talking about a huge shift, a sport which is one of the most popular sports of all time versus a sport which was illegal in nearly all of the US states just 10 years ago.  Turning MMA into a more popular sport is not something that can happen in a short time period, although if in 2000 I'd told you that MMA would be outselling boxing in PPV sales and attendance in North America by a massive margin, you'd have thought I was mentally ill.

The increase in popularity will only come in a small part from the conversion of boxing fans.  It's the next generation who have grown up with MMA who will create/increase the gap in popularity between MMA and boxing.  Generational shifts take a generation, not one or two years.  It started 4 or 5 years ago and so will take another 5-10 years.  Just look ringside at a UFC event and a boxing event and have a rough guess at the average age.  You see virtually no 50+ year olds at an MMA event but boxing is full of them.

Brock Lesnar: there are a few reasons he got a title shot so early into his MMA career:

1) MMA is 'Mixed Martial Arts'.  Wrestling (we're talking of the real sport, not the WWE) is one of those martial arts.  Lesnar was one of, if not the, best of his generation at wrestling.  Wrestling is the best martial art to be an expert in for MMA.  It's very difficult to compare to boxing, but imagine there is boxing (MMA) and there are a number of other sports which can be used in boxing, sports such as 'jabbing' - where you can only throw jabs; 'uppercuts' - where you can only throw uppercuts, etc).  Would it really be incredulous to believe that the world's best jabber could spend 18 months practicing other punches and then get a shot at a title?  I'd say Lesnar's shot was more deserving than Dereck Chisora's (which, thankfully, is no more)...

2) The HW scene in the UFC was, much like boxing's, rather weak. 

3) He was a PPV draw.  As sad as it sounds, fans wanted to see the fight and so the fans got it.  That's how it tends to work in MMA, thanks to one organisation pretty much running the sport.

Worth bringing this thread up for today's announcement: the US television network has just signed a 7-year deal with the UFC.  As the head of Fox Sports said, this is the sport for the current/next generations, it is what boxing was to the last generation.  Exactly as I've been saying.

Four cards on Fox, 6 on FX, two series of live The Ultimate Fighters on FX each year and all the various programming on FX and Fuel. 

Remaining a predominantly PPV business but all the PPV cards but will be revamped.  No more gladiator man opening credits.

As an anti-UFC journo has just tweeted: People, a major network has made a multi-year, multi-platform, big money commitment to the UFC. This is the biggest MMA story ever.

First card is November 12th, same night as Pacman v Marquez.  Not ideal, going up against the main man in boxing, but it's the only gap in their schedule this year.

oh

Templeton Peck
Joined: 17 Sep 02
Replies: 3308 18 Aug 11 19:15   
Worth bringing this thread up for today's announcement: the US television network has just signed a 7-year deal with the UFC.  As the head of Fox Sports said, this is the sport for the current/next generations, it is what boxing was to the last generation. 


tbf temp they would say that as they have just bought the product

but sj this IS the biggest mma story ever, 44,000 is a great number but i would find it hard to believe they could sell that many tickets in america and you rarely get numbers like that in boxing these days unfortunately. ufc 129 a few months ago sold out in a couple hours and they had to put in more seats eventually topping 55,000.

btw i know it was in Manila but 70,000 turned up for a press conference for an up coming fight,not to shabby for a dying sport.

As i have said many times to TP,i have nothing against UFC fighters/fans but just cant understand why their fans keep trying to tell people boxing is dying.

im a boxing fan, but to say that compared to the hayday of boxing in the 70's and 80's boxing hasn't fallen in popularity so drastically, seems crazy to me.

razz Joined: 27 Nov 10
Replies: 473 09 Sep 11 12:22   


im a boxing fan, but to say that compared to the hayday of boxing in the 70's and 80's boxing hasn't fallen in popularity so drastically, seems crazy to me.

Of course cos they were getting 40,000+ in Germany and Eastern Europe during the 70's and 80' mate Not everythign starts and ends with eth good ole U S OF A
How many viewers would you get if two British fighters fought for the doemstic title? I'm guessing less than three million

that *would'nt* be shown for free on national t.v

Well we'll have to disagree and Floyd V Ortiz and Pac-Man V Marquez in the next few months will show that.
As for Britian never ever been stronger, NEVER

I've said a number of times that boxing is incredibly popular in Germany, especially for the Klitschkos.  The Philippines too, and Mexico and a number of other countries.

Am I impressed by 12m tuning in?  Not particularly, it's goof but just a couple of weeks ago the UFC had 30m watching on tv in Brazil. Their next event there will probably be a 100,000+ stadium sell out.   

As I've said, this is a generational change and so we'll have to wait another 5-10 years to see the switch from boxing to MMA as being recognised as the most popular combat sport on a global basis.

Got to wait another 5-10 years now?

27 April on this thread is an example:

"The increase in popularity will only come in a small part from the conversion of boxing fans.  It's the next generation who have grown up with MMA who will create/increase the gap in popularity between MMA and boxing.  Generational shifts take a generation, not one or two years.  It started 4 or 5 years ago and so will take another 5-10 years."

sj i don't understand your point here, you keep saying that mma and boxing are 2 different sports.... of course they are, no one has said otherwise.
what do you mean dana white is a wanabee? a wannabee of what? you say dana white mentions boxing at ufc events when in reality he is on screen for a live event for about 1 minute out of the whole card when he talks about the main event. i watch every ufc event and the only time i can remember him talking about boxing is when james toney fought(i say fought but that implies a competitive fight.) lost to randy couture.
i think its pretty obvious he does an amazing job, and to have grown the sport this much in a decade is remarkable, especially when you think that he used to be a boxercise trainer.
Dana white was a boxing fan way before he ever got into MMA, his like of boxing you are confusing with his dislike of boxing promotions and promoters that have near ruined the sport over the last couple decades

Also you keep saying that the people your replying to are knocking boxing when they have said no such thing. what gives?

templeton peck is comparing viewing figures and points of view from people in the boxing community, he's not 'putting them up against boxing' .
the ufc is a business they cant not put cards on just because there's a boxing card on the same night, wwe is about as far from boxing or mma as you can get.
you say dana white rants about boxing on ufc cards when thats simply not true, maybe your thinking of youtube videos where he's interviewed and asked about boxing by the interviewers, but i have never seen one where he disses boxers, most of it is against the business side of it not against the fighters.
Just because someone says negative things about certain aspects of the sport doesn't mean they aren't an enthusiast, as you seem to be a big boxing fan its safe to say you watch a LOT more boxing than dana white as i dont think he really has time to watch another sport anymore, but that doesnt not make him a fan.

good video that shows the arrogance of boxing promoters bear in mind its 4 years old:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtKx41UdCj0

Dana White is a fan of boxing, he's like me though, not a fan of how it's run.  Way before he got involved in MMA he actually created a boxing program for inner city youth.  Also, he thinks they're different sports, not directly competing sports. he sees boxing as a competitor in the sense that the NFL/NBA/NHL/etc are.  If there's one boxing related subject which Dana frequently laments then it's Bob Arum.  He cannot stand Bob Arum.     

He's a promoter, you have to take what he says with a pinch of salt.  He knows who Marquez is, he was just making the point that it wasn't the fight the world wanted to see.  Mayweather had announced he was fighting on the same night as a UFC event and Dana was highlighting that UFC make the best fights whilst boxing so frequently doesn't.  I doubt he follows boxing closely though as being president of the UFC takes up all of his time.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/boxing/2631135/UFC-supremo-Dana-White-has-mocked-Juan-Manuel-Marquez.html

Here's an article detailing a twitter exchange between Dana and Oscar de la Hoya, where Dana's saying Oscar can save boxing and Oscar's saying he'd love to discuss ideas with Dana:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/494105-dana-white-and-oscar-de-la-hoya-create-a-bromance-on-twitter


WWE is suffering because of the UFC way more than boxing, a lot of boxing's problems are of their own making.  I did a comparison of WWE PPV figures with the UFC's on another forum a year or two ago and you could see an incredibly strong negative correlation between the two, i.e. as the UFC's PPV figures were shooting up, WWE's were plummeting.

Yep, there's a good amount of boxing on over the next few days, but it's very low quality.  Prizefighter is a bit of a joke (and bent).  Tyson Fury is in a 1.04 mismatch. Saul Alvarez in a mismatch. A shot Erik Morales against someone having his first 12 round fight. Mayweather's got an interesting fight, but there's no arguing Mayweather and Manny are massive draws.

The British HW title fight on C5 did good figures, it was a competitive fight and a fight fans wanted to see.  If Friday's fight was against David Price then it could also do well, but it's not.  It's back to the same old mismatch.  Instead of learning that people will watch competitive fights, they treat the public with disdain and pair him up with a bum.  This is why boxing is in trouble, not because there's a lack of interest in the sport but because those who run the sport are only interested in lining their pockets by arranging their fighters to compete in mismatches.

If boxing was run along the lines of the UFC, then Tyson Fury would be facing a step up in competition, not his promoter's hand-picked bum.

I'll be watching each and every fight.  Will I post something derogatory about one or more of the fights? Probably. Enough mismatches and potential for fixing for me to continue the fight to help boxing become a well managed sport.

Yeah you make some good points. Fury should be stepped up no doubt, you are just a troll on the boxing forum as I've said before. You've had Murray V Mitchell Chisora V Fury Degale V Groves the fights are going in the right direction.