UFC versus Boxing; Losing the Battle of Evolution

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 28 Apr 2006, 10:58

Very important reading for all boxing fans.

By Keith Terceira

When Marc Ratner resigned his office and took a position with the UFC, in my opinion it signaled a major death toll for the sport of boxing. With MMA already grabbing a huge market share from boxing, the intelligent addition of Ratner as a mouthpiece to commissioners and politicians nationwide shows the dedication that UFC has to becoming the evolutionary replacement for our sport. Ratner who is a fervent advocate for fighter safety adds credibility to the UFC and further assists the genius business plan that someone has developed in that company.

Or perhaps all the UFC executives had to do was collect all the articles written by boxing people over the last two decades that have warned of boxing’s demise if changes were not made and applied the cure to the UFC business plan. Intelligently they decided that it is better to build the business of MMA instead of any one athlete. Competitive matchups, entertaining shows, a focus on the sport similar to the NFL model instead of a focus on individual hype, joined with positive reporting.

Writers have been pointing out boxing’s deficiencies for years only to be blown off by promoters as sensationalism. The difference now is that an alternative is available that excites people and absconds with our fan base. Now the UFC is successfully recruiting our most intelligent executives.

Promoters in our sport remind me of the husband that gains fifty pounds, begins giving gifts of toasters instead of diamonds, and considers a fishing trip to Montana a romantic getaway. Then when the wife takes off with her yoga instructor he cries foul and can‘t figure out what the problem was. Wasn't my fault he says as he lays on the sofa with a beer in one hand and the remote in the other.

All we fans warned you for three decades now that a couple of good fights a year would not keep us happy yet you continue to feed us with bouts like Samuel Peter versus Julius Long. What was your thinking that you could replace quality with hype and the next thing to come along wouldn't attract our fan base.

I don’t intend to pick on just one bout or event because the disease that took over boxing in the seventies is rampant yet still curable, but everyone is waiting for someone else to do it first. When pro wrestling and martial arts took a large percentage of our audience in the eighties promoters thought they would come back and it was business as usual. They didn’t ! The problem is that as we wait to correct our issues the competition grows stronger and we weaken ourselves.

Boxing’s death certificate will read suicide , because the cure is in front of us but like the answer to most of peoples problems, the solution isn't easy, often more painful than the problem. So much money is tied up in built fighters that fortunes would be lost if we changed things making the statis quo desirable.

Already our opponent pool is on the verge of extinction as every fighter that turns pro wants to be protected by someone. Never in the sport has so many belts, and so many undefeated records existed than today. Fighters in their late twenties and early thirties are entering the sport looking to stay undefeated for life.

We have gone to importing fighters from other countries that have ineffective commissions and it is only a matter of time before we see another rash of ring deaths. These countries allow fighters with a couple of dozen wins to box debut fighters and build ridiculous records and place safety at a minimum and building paper champions.

Promoters focus on churning and burning credible opponents as if another is just a day away but the truth is that less are turning pro and now another avenue exist that combative athletes can join avoiding the sport of boxing and the bad publicity attached to it.

In our gym I have had more grapplers coming in to learn hand skills than I have had boxers coming in to go amateur or pro. Where boxing is a singularly skilled sport, the UFC can draw personnel from all combat sports. Boxing once in schools nationwide, until its reputation ruined that pool of wealth, yet high schools furnish wrestlers to the UFC as well as judo, karate, and other martial arts.

Boxing trainers can now join with a grappling coach to form another stream of income which will build more wealth personally and further restrict dependence on local promoters. UFC knockoffs are springing up nationwide.

While promoters continue to focus on building individual fighter's records on the backs of a smaller pool of opponents not one promoter sets aside prelims to build those opponents back wins and the commissions retire more and more fighters based on losses. Purses are beginning to grow smaller as ticket sales decrease on smaller shows.

Frankly I have seen better fights between two 500 fighters than most of the main events in the last several years. Fighters, managers, and promoters continue to hype undefeated as a gauge for a fighters career while truthfully 80% of the undefeated fighters today would have been B fighters in the 30's.

We must begin to use quality of opposition as a gauge instead of wins and losses. The power to change our extinction lays only in the people in the business. It could lay in the hands of commissions who should force a boxer to face similar opposition instead of allowing undefeated versus a .500 guy but why would he or she want that headache and conflict with promoters . The same commissioner can sit back and wait until the UFC replaces us and have the same revenue, same workload, less headaches, and a sport that is popular.

Being the commissioner of a popular sport that doesn't carry the baggage of boxing has got to be a better deal. Fact is with so short a history MMA and the UFC doesn’t have the ring deaths to turn off the tree-huggers and soccer-moms.

I was shocked prior to the Byrd - Wladimir heavyweight title fight just how many boxing sites didn't post staff predictions prior to the bout. Every answer I got as to the why of that, was that the fight was so predictable that it wasn't worth the effort. That is a major symptom of the illness that inflicts our sport.

I ask all our promoters out there, is the remedy of fighting your golden boys in tough fights consistently , being more concerned rebuilding boxing, winning fans instead of losing them such a bitter treatment, such a bitter medicine, that it is better to go extinct holding a phony title with a phony record, than to survive and thrive.

On January 20th I stood at ringside next to an ESPN camera-man watching as, J.C. Candelo was robbed of a win against Teddy Reid when the bout was declared a draw. The camera-man turned to me and said

“ New year, same old crap ”.

When the people that make a living from this sport have such a venomous opinion of it, why do we in the business expect our fans to return, time and time again to smoke and mirrors.

mailto:[email protected]

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 28 Apr 2006, 11:13

Great read, you pasted article twice though

I cant warm to UFC myself, I've tried watching it a few times but just cant get into it. I appreciate the technique and skill put into grappling etc but like I said my heart isn't in it.

It's true though boxing needs more big fights, and this years hasn't been that bad, we have quite a few big fights coming up to look forward to. It's mainly the HW div that brings down boxing as people see it and think what aload of shit and never tune in again.

However I will always follow Boxing, till the day I die

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 28 Apr 2006, 11:22

Yes, very good article. It’s a good synopsis of one of a few of the key illnesses that boxing has been suffering from for years. Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look very good for our sport. The present doesn’t look that great either.

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 28 Apr 2006, 11:39

Until the alphabet boys retreat and a body formed that drew up proper fights the sport will continue to diminish.

It seems to me that as soon as 1 very popular fighter doesn't want to fight a particular champion then someone somewhere just creates a new belt for them. If a fighter ever unifies the titles they are quickly stripped or dump one of them so as to avoid fighting a specific fighter until the pay day is bigger.

The obsession with undefeated records is a joke. Why this is so significant just doesn't hit home for me. It's better to have lost and learned on your way up than to be 30-0 and still amateurish.

Things started to get out of hand in the 1980s with Holmes and the IBF. Leonard's comeback didn't help much with his catch weight fights and ne belts. In the UK the WBO belts virtually became British titles.

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 28 Apr 2006, 11:46

Boxing is on a good high here in UK though. With Calzaghe, Hatton, Woods, Harrison, (missed anyone?) and now Khan coming along.

Also with ITV (terrestrial channel i.e free

) now showing live domestic fights, boxing is getting more coverage.

I can undserstand why its on a low in USA though, with all the alphabelts and people like PBF demanding insane amounts of cash doesn't really help does it..

Forgot Haye

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 28 Apr 2006, 11:56

I think boxing is getting fans back in UK. The casual sports fan is becoming interested again thanks to ITV and other terrestrial channels.

I do wince when I write this, and I don't mean any offence, but a white American HW champion would, almost overnight, put boxing back on the map in US. That's my opinion. It's cynical, I know...

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 28 Apr 2006, 12:17

Ezz I'm going to disagree, I don't think it's about race or nationality here in the U.S. it really has more to do with "COMPETENCE" on behalf of the fighters and less corruption.

If another Joe Frazier or Ali or a Foreman would show up in the rankings Boxing would be back on it's feet. I might go so far as to agree that if it was a Dempsy or a Marciano it might pick up a tad more. But it wouldnt be a huge difference. So I'll sadly go along with your statement to the tune of about 10% but 90% of this is about competence and corruption.

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 28 Apr 2006, 12:24

I didn't mean what I said to reflect on anyone in a bad way. A Tyson or a Liston would bring back a lot of fans to the sport.

I agree that talent and dedication to the game would excite a lot of people.

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 28 Apr 2006, 12:50

One thing about Pride and Ufc . The MMA world is a way for both Amateur wrestlers and Judo Players who have devoted themselves for years in amateur sports to enter into Proffesional combat sports. This is a very large talent pool of guys looking to make a few bucks after years of trophies and medals. Of course the other amateur martial Artists would have to be included as well. So there is a grass roots feeder program into MMA. This leads me to believe its here to stay. But I dont think Pro Boxing is gonna die out. If the UFC and other MMA organizations are nippin at boxings heels a little bit thats a good thing . Competition may help it improve. Lets hope so.

AndreWardFan2006 · Post by **AndreWardFan2006** » 28 Apr 2006, 13:24

I don't understand why there has to be so many titles. I think the decline in boxing narrows down to the organizations. The ABC titles ruin everything completely. If boxing just went back to the way it was, people would come back and support it you think? Maybe bring back the classic 8 weight classes and have only one title for each weight. Also a good way to deal with the money situation that fighters always seem to get into, why not split the purse with the winner receiving 60% and the loser receiveing 40%. Maybe my ideas don't make sense, but I'm just tired of title holders avoiding eachother, suck it up and quit being a bunch of little bitches. I know if i were a champion I would love to fight the other top fighters and go down in history as a guy that actually has a pair between his legs. Oh and Don King doesn't help the sport a whole hell of a lot either, Don King is like a turd that wont flush, he's just there.

kidlefty · Post by **kidlefty** » 28 Apr 2006, 14:53

I think that reports of boxings death are greatly exaggerated. Don't forget, reports like this have been coming in steadily for at least the last 100 years. These other fighting sports will grow in popularity, but will never replace boxing. Boxing is special, a perfect balance of chaos and order, and while these other ventures will surely take some money out of the pockets of the promoters and alphabet organizations, I agree with expug when he suggests that the competition might end up being good for boxing. It will survive.

As for the very real problems facing boxing right now, none of them are insurmountable. I've been watching the fight scene for a long time, and one thing I know is that there's nothing the ABC's can do that can't be made irrelevant by exciting young fighters and good fights. Yes, there are a lot of undeservingly undefeated fighters around right now, but they almost always get caught and eventually beaten by hard-working club fighters looking to make their mark. The trend can't last forever, it's just not a very smart business model. If you want to develop big-time, big-money fighters, eventually you have to test them. And there is a great flow of fighters coming into the sport from around the world. The US might not be producing heavyweights like it used to, but eastern Europe is picking up the slack. We'd all love to see the alphabets disapear with their multiple titles and arbitrary rulings, but I think that they are more irrelevant now than they ever have been. The media is doing a better job of ignoring their foolishness and focusing on who the best are regardless of which title they're holding at the moment. When promoted correctly, a 12 round non-title bout between the two best fighters in a division should draw more excitement than a unification bout between two paper "champions".

jedijojo · Post by **jedijojo** » 28 Apr 2006, 15:53

I am very young compared to most of you, I didn't live the fab 4 era or the 90's heavyweights, I just became a real fan last year. But here in Quebec, boxing is doing very good. Every card that the group GYM is presenting is televised on Saturday afternoon! When Eric Lucas fought Markus Beyer, something like 2 millions people watched it in Quebec. The local amateur and professional fighters from here are getting some media coverage.... It seems almost dead in the rest of Canada though.... Something like half of the Canadian amateur champions are from Quebec (2 of them at my gym!).

Boxing seems to be fairly popular in Europe. Hatton sells out everytime, Klitschko-Byrd 2 sold out in like 4 days, eastern Europe heavyweight domination....

kidlefty · Post by **kidlefty** » 28 Apr 2006, 16:04

jedijojo wrote:I am very young compared to most of you, I didn't live the fab 4 era or the 90's heavyweights, I just became a real fan last year. But here in Quebec, boxing is doing very good. Every card that the group GYM is presenting is televised on Saturday afternoon! When Eric Lucas fought Markus Beyer, something like 2 millions people watched it in Quebec. The local amateur and professional fighters from here are getting some media coverage.... It seems almost dead in the rest of Canada though.... Something like half of the Canadian amateur champions are from Quebec (2 of them at my gym!).

Boxing seems to be fairly popular in Europe. Hatton sells out everytime, Klitschko-Byrd 2 sold out in like 4 days, eastern Europe heavyweight domination....

This is what we're hearing more and more. I think that it is the US that is most disinterested in boxing these days. The way it is thriving in other parts of the world tells me that it is as healthy as ever. There'll never be as many American fighters as there used to be, but the sport is growing in other places. Calls for delivery of boxing's last rites are coming from a US-centric point of view.

jedijojo · Post by **jedijojo** » 28 Apr 2006, 16:24

kidlefty wrote:
jedijojo wrote:I am very young compared to most of you, I didn't live the fab 4 era or the 90's heavyweights, I just became a real fan last year. But here in Quebec, boxing is doing very good. Every card that the group GYM is presenting is televised on Saturday afternoon! When Eric Lucas fought Markus Beyer, something like 2 millions people watched it in Quebec. The local amateur and professional fighters from here are getting some media coverage.... It seems almost dead in the rest of Canada though.... Something like half of the Canadian amateur champions are from Quebec (2 of them at my gym!).

Boxing seems to be fairly popular in Europe. Hatton sells out everytime, Klitschko-Byrd 2 sold out in like 4 days, eastern Europe heavyweight domination....
This is what we're hearing more and more. I think that it is the US that is most disinterested in boxing these days. The way it is thriving in other parts of the world tells me that it is as healthy as ever. There'll never be as many American fighters as there used to be, but the sport is growing in other places. Calls for delivery of boxing's last rites are coming from a US-centric point of view.

Agree, boxing is ''maybe'' dying the US, but it is doing fine in most part of the globe

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 30 Apr 2006, 20:37

In order to survive I believe boxing will need a massive consistent effort and immediate bold action. So I will volunteer to put together a 10 year plan to study the problem further.

Tantum · Post by **Tantum** » 01 May 2006, 00:00

If anything UFC is taking over the Wrestling market.

ringsider · Post by **ringsider** » 01 May 2006, 00:49

If anything UFC is taking over the Wrestling market.

Bingo!!

We have a winner! Somebody gets it!!

adspath · Post by **adspath** » 01 May 2006, 01:00

ufc is a discrase of a sport

adspath · Post by **adspath** » 01 May 2006, 01:26

i see where your comong from but ufc is nothing compared to boxing. boxing has that specialty about it and the history with so many great fighters and personalities, ufc is just a fake in my opinion that has no class.

Migz · Post by **Migz** » 01 May 2006, 02:56

Decagon wrote:Boxing was just as much of a novelty at one point. The UFC fake? Not with all the betting action on it. People don't bet on fake fights (except from drunken idiots watching Wrestlemania).

Lmao hahahahaha

!! i didnt know people even bet on Wrestlemania

adspath · Post by **adspath** » 01 May 2006, 03:44

I'm not saying ufc is fake, i mean its fake in a way that its just hasnt that skill and history that boxing has

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 01 May 2006, 17:16

adspath wrote:I'm not saying ufc is fake, i mean its fake in a way that its just hasnt that skill and history that boxing has

Obviously true.

adspath · Post by **adspath** » 01 May 2006, 22:37

You know a lot about these sports and i see what your saying. Which of the sports do you like better?

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 02 May 2006, 01:50

...most interesting.....but the most distressing thing about this whole thread is kidlefty's misuse of the word "disinterested." got me so unsettled that i couldn't ask boxbuzz for more details on his ten year plan.

adspath · Post by **adspath** » 02 May 2006, 03:07

thanks for the info, you know your stuff. i've never been a big fan of ufc, i watched it once and never again but never the lighter divisions like you mentioned.