Who cares whats been around longer. The fact is that MMA, as a legitamite sport/spectacle, has only been around for 14 years in North America, and has only been popular for the last 2 or 3. Boxing has survived hundreds of years. It's survived the great depression and other huge blows to the economy. MMA is a great, seperate sport, but it doesn't have the history that boxing has and as of yet has not proved that it has the longevity that boxing has. So for Mayweather to call it a fad...that's understandable. FOr him to say "MMA fighters are people who couldn't make it in boxing"... well I personally don't agree with this fully, but in a lot of cases thats true. You can still make, on average, a lot more money in boxing than you can in MMA.

The average MMA fan DOES NOT understand the art of MMA like the average boxing fan understands the art of boxing. I've been an MMA fan a lot longer than I've been a boxing fan, and after posting on MMA boards for the past 6 years I've seen this. Not saying that MMA fans are all stupid, not at all, I'm just saying on average the boxing fan is more educated about his sport than the MMA fan, and thats a fact.

MMA is still a spectacle IMO. It is geared towards showcasing as much violence as humanly possible. Don't believe me? Look at the rules. If the fighters are on the ground and there is not enough violence or blood, the ref will stand it up and move them out of that position. When was the last time you watched a boxing match and the ref told them "there's not enough action, I'm going to restart you guys in the corner". Guys will get their pay reduced (or at least used to, under Pride rules) if there wasn't enough "action". Sure, that makes it more exciting for the fans, but at the same time if your sport is only concerned with providing as much ACTION as possible, you're just cheapening the sport and attracting people that don't understand the fight game, but just want to get drunk and see someone get their head kicked in.

Sorry for ranting, just throwing a few thoughts out there.