My dad took me to the Robinson-Basilio fight in the late 50's I used to get free passes to the Garden fights every week in the 60's & to me 7 I got hooked. Maybe to the young generation MMA is the in thing now I see its flooded on TV but to me its like the X-Games & never watch it. Even today I watch every boxing match on BO.
I admit guys like Haye are a joke and unlike the old days Boxing has too many divisions & fake champs but I bet the top yearly money fight in Boxing takes in more than the top 20 MMA fights & most MMA fighters tried boxing first & realized they couldn't become top fighters so they gravitated towards easier routes to earn some lesser fame & income!
Wrong. MMA fighters now days have grown up in the sport of MMA. They start wrestling at 6 yrs old. You are showing your age and how clueless the oldr boxing fans are.
In the UFC you will not see fighters ducking other fighters. Dana does not put up with that shit. The fighter fight who they are told to fight. THats why there is always some compelling fights.
This isn't even close to true. UFC crushes boxing in all aspects of finances. Top boxing fight of the year bigger than top 20 MMA, lol.
I actually prefer elite boxing to MMA and I tend to gravitate towards being a fan of the MMAers who do more boxing and are sound on their feet but if you did "bet" that you would lose a lot of $, not even close.
a lot of MMA's popularity is due to the fact that many different athletes can transition into it - wrestlers, bjj guys, karate, kickboxing, etc... It gives them all hope, and because of the different styles and strengths it provides interesting matchups. I think that's what makes it so great, and it at least is what I love about it.
http://www.mmanewsleak.com/mma-news/mma-business/mma-vs-boxing-by-the-numbers/292/
Check out that thread. I was surprised it wasn't 20X but its between 2 & 3 times!
It’s a popular belief that MMA is overtaking boxing as the most popular combat sport in the United States. However, saying that is like saying that NASCAR has overtaken the NFL as the most popular sport. The simple fact is that MMA’s top events don’t out produce boxing’s top events; not even close.
I didn't think MMA would be as close as they are in PPV numbers. MMA has a lot more events and still manage to keep most events exciting. You also have to consider the MMA audience is much younger. I would bet a much higher % of MMA fans watch events online for free.
No question MMA has a better future than boxing. I don't think anyone can argue with that.
MMA is the future
