Boxing seems to sputter along to the die-hard fans who obsess over the outcomes and post religiously to an internet messeage board, but to the average fan it's pacing is perfect.

If there were any more PPV's a year than there are now you would need part-time employment to pay for them. It's hard enough to dodge your wife or girlfriend in order to see all the fights that are on now, more fights means more fights.

Spider-Man 3 comes out next May. I have waited a long time for it and have a long time left to wait, but when I am basking in the glory of it's opening credits the wait will seems all too worth it. It's the same for boxing, isn't it?

I think the long negotiations add to the seriousness of boxing. Sure, some of the fighters are out of shape and that's their problem. If they want to go in at a disadvantage it's their own foolish choice. Still, it's a career so they pick and choose.
MMA on the otherhand seems less like a career and more like a pastime. A "come one;come all" type of affair where you "step right up and test your skills." The times I have watched MMA I felt like they picked the fighters out of a mob who had gathered out back.

I think MMA may come into it's own but it isn't a threat to the already established sport of boxing. Boxing fans may start watching MMA but they will not abandon the sport they love to do it.