There was only one fight in the history of boxing that i can recall a ref telling the boxers to start mixing it up. I think teddy atlas was one of the commentators and he was furious that the ref did such a thing. It was Byrd-Williamson. I think he was just afraid of the people who paid a couple hundred bucks for their front row seats storming the ring. Thats the only fight i can recall tho.

You can't compare boxing to any team sports. Team sports have seasons and emphasis on the team aspect (and usually one champion per seasons end unless you're playing college football). Good because if you suck maybe some of your team mates can carry weight, Bad because even if you're the best player in the world you'll lose when you're surronded by bums. There's an I in Boxing. There's no superbowl or world series. There can be a huge champonship match on any given day of the year. It's almost guaranteed that across the world there's many boxing matches going on daily (legally and illegally, amateur and pro, men and women, young and old)