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Nothing matches boxing for sheer drama, particularly when it's a big fight that lives up to its billing (JMM vs Juan Diaz tonite), or a huge upset (Mosley vs Margarito). UFC will probably live on with its fan base, but for my money... give me a great boxing match any day of the week. I just hope the things that ARE wrong with boxing (shady judging, the HW division in general), can be fixed by people who are not just there to make a buck, but truly care about the sport itself.
Sometimes it doesn't matter what is actually better, it matters what is more popular. Something can be as technically great as you want it, but if nobody is watching then there is nobody to witness its greatness. Boxing is a sport that isn't growing, but mma is. I think MMA fighters should accept boxing just like boxing people should accept MMA and K-1. I am a kickboxer, but boxing is my favorite sport. I've done my fair share of it, but I do kick boxing first and foremost.
I used to believe UFC would never have the legitimacy boxing has, but over the past few years my interest in the sport has grown. In it's infancy it was a sport that just about anyone could step into and wasn't much more than a step up from the drunken tough-man competitions. However, fighters like Anderson Silva, Carlos Condit, and George Saint Pierre are taking the sport to a new level (check out some of their recent fights - they do actually have some of the great drama we so cherish in boxing). Nevertheless, it is still an evolving sport with a lot of grey area (Showtime's version of the sport, EliteXC, is a prime example - in their premier showing, Jimmy Lennon Jr was inadvertantly put in the position to call a DQ in the main event, lol). As the rules become more tangible and the fighters (such as those I mention above) raise the bar in terms of skill, we'll start to see a more attractive (or more importantly, a consistently attractive) sport.
It could never, however, replace boxing, at least for me. The sweet science will always be the most pure sport, regardless of the rediculous judging we have to stomach a good part of the time.
Well of course MMA won't replace boxing but I disagree that boxing has more drama necessarily. It will always have more drama, atmosphere and the great fights will mean more to the boxing fan but to MMA fans I'm sure they have witnessed some legendary nights in their own sport.
Different people like different things and there is no objective 'best sport' out there.
I enjoy both boxing and MMA. I can't say I really think one is better than the other as they are different sports. I love boxing for its purism and history and I love MMA becuase it's new and fresh. With MMA just evolving in the last 15 years of so we are privaleged enough to be around for it's early evolution.
Guys like the Gracies, Sakuraba, Coutoure etc are the early protagonists, the Jim Jeffrires and John L Sullivans as it were.
Now we are into the golden era of Dempsey, Johnson, Armstrong etc. I think for those who like MMA it's an exciting thing to actually see the sport take shape and develop in front of our eyes.