Showtime boxing KO'd

[Kirkland Laing]

Ahh... yes... UFC. That obnoxious uncle that manages to embarrass everyone at family Christmas parties, yet everyone wants to keep on inviting.

For the record, I've never been a UFC fan, and reckon I never will. I'm fundamentally against any sport where it's ok to pummel your unconscious opponent as he's lying flat on his back... or at least until the ref jumps in, which is usually a few punches too late. I also don't like wrestling. I respect the sport, but don't like to watch it. So the grappling part of UFC does nothing to spark my interest.

But yeah... UFC is here to stay, and has been for a long time. Something about a high-walled octagon and no-holds-barred fight in front of a bloodthirsty crowd seems to have a "gladiator-ish" appeal to it. I've always preferred boxing, even if it IS weighed down by all the factors already mentioned in previous posts and other threads.

Since I don't watch UFC, I have no idea whether or not it suffers from the same malady of corrupt/ inept judging that boxing does. I imagine there are no "Canelos" in UFC (coddled, cherry-picking, trinket-chasing, clause-demanding divas)... which is one big plus for them. The day that happens, we'll know UFC is ruined as well.

Boxing, as has been said many times before, has survived a lot of negatives. It's one of the oldest sports around. Us hardcore fans hang on to our fandom through good times and bad. But again... it's like watching the Titanic race toward the iceberg while not being able to do anything about it.

If I had to make a bet on the future it's that the guys behind UFC eventually end up running a boxing version of UFC that dominates boxing to the same extent that UFC dominates pub car park-style combat sports.

Boxing will continue to dwindle for a decade or three but will still have regulatory issues (Muhammad Ali Act etc) making it difficult for somebody to try and UFCise it. The UFC will have the money, the industry knowledge and experience and the political/lobbying connections (and the money) to remove any roadblocks and let them launch a boxing version of UFC. It may not happen for a while though, you have parts of the world like Britain where you can fill stadiums and boxing shows sell lots of tickets and there'll always be some kind of PPV outlet for those big fights. Then you have Saudi and sportswashing. Maybe another Mike Tyson comes along and delays things. But it'll happen first in America like UFC did and then go global.

[TIC]

thank you showtime

[ykdadamaja]

I thought they would have kept it since they killed HBO Boxing. I think women are behind this. Their pressure groups hate that we enjoy the fights. They want to change everything.

Women are not to blame for the demise of boxing. In fact women boxers are generating more interest than ever before for their sport.

Not the women fighters, but the tight ass women who ruin everything a man would potentially enjoy. Ever since we started letting them into the administration of professional sports we have been seeing a softening of the edges. From basketball to grid-iron football...