Boxing is no longer a sport

The fact of the matter is that boxing is no longer a sport but a showcase for certain fighters. Out of all the divisions in boxing there is only 1, maybe 2 divisions in which anyone can say "this is the man in the division". The top guys in the division are not fighting each other, they're not cleaning out divisions, and so only assumptions are made as to who is the best fighter of the division. You no longer have to fight the fights, all you need are the sycophants, writers, and announcers to anoint a fighter the best of their class. That's the equivalent of everyone crowning the Miami Heat as champions without going to the playoffs or finals. Maybe they are the best, but we won't know until they actually play the games. It wouldn't be an issue if the boxing organizations weren't so corrupt. If there was one governing body and one title per division you wouldn't see this ****. We're gonna get closure at 122 with Donaire-Rigondeaux, also 140 with Peterson-Matthysse. We'll get some kind of closure but if the winner doesn't fight Mares then we can't say we have a real 122lb king.

The fact of the matter is that boxing is no longer a sport but a showcase for certain fighters. Indeed. Out of all the divisions in boxing there is only 1, maybe 2 divisions in which anyone can say "this is the man in the division". The top guys in the division are not fighting each other, they're not cleaning out divisions, and so only assumptions are made as to who is the best fighter of the division. You no longer have to fight the fights, all you need are the sycophants, writers, and announcers to anoint a fighter the best of their class. That's the equivalent of everyone crowning the Miami Heat as champions without going to the playoffs or finals. Maybe they are the best, but we won't know until they actually play the games. Boxing is the only sport where you get to pick your opponent.

Professional sports is a business. In team sports, if you can't sell tickets the franchise will change cities. Players in the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. also have contract disputes, you see lockouts, holdouts, etc. The only thing about boxing is its unregulated and open for corruption

Wlad has cleaned out heavyweight. Most the fighters at light heavyweight have fought each other, its just that no one has emerged as the clear best. Ward has nearly cleaned out super middleweight. Sergio has fought a lot of contenders, and will continue to do so unless he gets Mayweather. The guys at 154 are all starting to fight each other. The guys at 140 are about to have a mini-tourney to determine who the best is. Mikey Garcia just beat the best at 126 and is the man there. Donaire and Rigondeaux are about to fight and determine who the man of that division is. That's 8 divisions where the best have or will fight. If you don't want to count Sergio at middleweight because he hasn't fought everybody and probably won't, then it's still 7 divisions. Boxing is fine. you also forgot about viloria vs hernan marquez fight...and there's a possibility of seeing viloria vs roman gonzalez in the near future.

Boxing was never a sport but always a business.

It's not even about the money sometimes. HBO, obviously, is giving a flat rate to certain protected fighters regardless of who they fight. Why else do we even get to see gross mismatches such as Broner vs Reese? If that's the case who would be stupid enough to take on risky fights? And and now they made Malignaggi vs Broner at the blink of an eye.

I don't know how man boxers would do what they do if money wasn't a factor...of course it's what they fight for.. and a sport is a competitive physical activity governed by a set of rules and standards your issue is not about whether it's a sport or not...it's about whether it's about competitiveness in a similar light to the dollar...In other sports, athletes live and breath the thought of winning that championship or creating a lasting legacy...however you have to consider that Boxing is Boxing...it's less forgiving...in fans and the physical nature...shooting a ball through a hoop is different from your opponent being trained to knock you unconscious...so naturally you expect money to be a bigger factor as fighters want it to be worth it...as well as one punch changing the course of a fight or career imagine if in Basketball, a made shot from half court was the "knockout blow" and that team would automatically win the game..even if it's in the first quarter

I just hate the fact that the are fights we know we won't get to see because of this promoter mess. It's like we have two separate leagues of boxing. Once fighters get to a certain level, they should just sign with these promo companies on a fight by fight basis.

Things have always, always, always been this way. The internet may make things a tad more transparent, but nonetheless, Boxing is as it always was. Read some A.J. Leibling. Posted from Boxingscene.com App for Android

calm down....

I think some of the fight you mentioned are great, and I looking forward to it. But as it stands right now, Andre Ward and Sergio Martinez are the only ones who can claim to be the best fighter of their division. You have outlined them yourself in your response. Donaire and Rigo are going to go at it but what about Mares. There is a mini tournament by GBP but what about Brandon Rios. I've followed the sport for about 20 years or so and there were always these issues, but lately, it seems as if the best fights out there are really harder to come by than 8 year or so ago. People can say what they want about De La Hoya, but Oscar fought Quartey, Mosley, Trinidad and every possible contender at that time. The same could be said for most of the other divisions. Obviously, not all fights were made, but most of the important ones were. Today we jump for joy whenever two top guys in the division fight. It just seemed more common not too long ago. I am not sure how you see the sport in great condition when the 2 biggest promoters in the world won't do any business with each other. And when you have a powerful adviser like Al Haymon produce events that are consistently in favor of their fighters. I hear these HBO announcers say all the time "this is a build up, the fighter is working his way up...." but the next fight we see the same type of showcase fight. It's kinda like be told that the 4th appetizer is the last one before the meal but all we get are appetizers. And in my opinion, it's that fear of losing 0. Losing the undefeated record is almost like a death sentence in boxing. And that's ridiculous. If there is anything I can admire about the UFC is that they don't care about records. They care about putting a show that is competitive and entertaining. While in boxing, it seems that the opposite is true; forget about competitive fights and entertainment, lets preserve that 0 and keep having showcase fights. Pretty sure Wlad and Mikey Garcia have proven to be the best in their division. Mares just moved up, so we'll see what he ends up doing after that. Donaire-Rigondeaux is definitely THE fight at 122, whoever wins that will have earned the right to be called the best. I think the sport is doing fine. The only division where there's a massive clusterf*ck that won't get sorted in the near future is welterweight, and that's only because of Mayweather, Pacquiao, and Marquez. Once they're gone, things will get settled. We're getting a lot of "prove you're the best" type fights within these divisions over the next year. I'm not arguing that boxing has a problem with fights not happening and fighters being protected, but right now things are heading in a good direction.

The fact of the matter is that boxing is no longer a sport but a showcase for certain fighters. Out of all the divisions in boxing there is only 1, maybe 2 divisions in which anyone can say "this is the man in the division". The top guys in the division are not fighting each other, they're not cleaning out divisions, and so only assumptions are made as to who is the best fighter of the division. You no longer have to fight the fights, all you need are the sycophants, writers, and announcers to anoint a fighter the best of their class. That's the equivalent of everyone crowning the Miami Heat as champions without going to the playoffs or finals. Maybe they are the best, but we won't know until they actually play the games. Things have changed, because more money is involved. Now days they fight the biggest money making fights they can win for the most part. Because of that, it sometimes takes a lot longer to see the fights we want to see most. A lot of boxing fans don't understand that and accuse fighters of ducking. Most of the time, its premature to accuse anyone of that. Things take time and people are too impatient.

Wlad has cleaned out heavyweight. Most the fighters at light heavyweight have fought each other, its just that no one has emerged as the clear best. Ward has nearly cleaned out super middleweight. Sergio has fought a lot of contenders, and will continue to do so unless he gets Mayweather. The guys at 154 are all starting to fight each other. The guys at 140 are about to have a mini-tourney to determine who the best is. Mikey Garcia just beat the best at 126 and is the man there. Donaire and Rigondeaux are about to fight and determine who the man of that division is. That's 8 divisions where the best have or will fight. If you don't want to count Sergio at middleweight because he hasn't fought everybody and probably won't, then it's still 7 divisions. Boxing is fine. I think some of the fight you mentioned are great, and I looking forward to it. But as it stands right now, Andre Ward and Sergio Martinez are the only ones who can claim to be the best fighter of their division. You have outlined them yourself in your response. Donaire and Rigo are going to go at it but what about Mares. There is a mini tournament by GBP but what about Brandon Rios. I've followed the sport for about 20 years or so and there were always these issues, but lately, it seems as if the best fights out there are really harder to come by than 8 year or so ago. People can say what they want about De La Hoya, but Oscar fought Quartey, Mosley, Trinidad and every possible contender at that time. The same could be said for most of the other divisions. Obviously, not all fights were made, but most of the important ones were. Today we jump for joy whenever two top guys in the division fight. It just seemed more common not too long ago. I am not sure how you see the sport in great condition when the 2 biggest promoters in the world won't do any business with each other. And when you have a powerful adviser like Al Haymon produce events that are consistently in favor of their fighters. I hear these HBO announcers say all the time "this is a build up, the fighter is working his way up...." but the next fight we see the same type of showcase fight. It's kinda like be told that the 4th appetizer is the last one before the meal but all we get are appetizers. And in my opinion, it's that fear of losing 0. Losing the undefeated record is almost like a death sentence in boxing. And that's ridiculous. If there is anything I can admire about the UFC is that they don't care about records. They care about putting a show that is competitive and entertaining. While in boxing, it seems that the opposite is true; forget about competitive fights and entertainment, lets preserve that 0 and keep having showcase fights.

Wlad has cleaned out heavyweight. Most the fighters at light heavyweight have fought each other, its just that no one has emerged as the clear best. Ward has nearly cleaned out super middleweight. Sergio has fought a lot of contenders, and will continue to do so unless he gets Mayweather. The guys at 154 are all starting to fight each other. The guys at 140 are about to have a mini-tourney to determine who the best is. Mikey Garcia just beat the best at 126 and is the man there. Donaire and Rigondeaux are about to fight and determine who the man of that division is. That's 8 divisions where the best have or will fight. If you don't want to count Sergio at middleweight because he hasn't fought everybody and probably won't, then it's still 7 divisions. Boxing is fine.

It's been that way since time immemorial. Except that nowadays zero is more important than anything else. They don't even want BIG money. They just want enough to get by as long as the zero is maintained. (I don't even want to mention Floyd.) Look at Broner. His trainer mentioned Malignaggi just the other day and the next day the negotiations are done. It just proves that they can make any fight if they really want to. (And as long as the opponent says yes.)

it is for guys who don't make big money dudes who aren't paid big stay hungry to get there there's plenty of fighters who still strive to face the best comp this JWW tourney, the S6, and the 118 lb series are good recently

I mean, I get there has to be a prize to it. Time equals money. It's tough, wish that the world itself wasn't ran on currency, then again would we have half the fighters we talk about and idolize? I wish there was something more, in some way you have to love it. You're getting punched. Not something that we should be doing. If you don't love it, you don't nurture it and yourself properly or as best as you can. There is too much business involved. Possibly because the amount of money boxers make now opposed to 30 or 40 years ago.

Boxers and Boxing exist for ONE REASON and one reason only; our entertainment. Highly skilled? Cool, but that's just one aspect of the game. If you are not exciting in the ring or interesting out of it you will not be paid as much or get as much fame or opportunity nor should you. Posted from Boxingscene.com App for Android

We're gonna get closure at 122 with Donaire-Rigondeaux, also 140 with Peterson-Matthysse.

The Boxers now a days fight for that paper, and not to decide who is really the best. Nice that some clown red k'd me, for having a different opinion then their own. I was green yesterday, I didn't attack any User on here, but just gave my personal opinion. I guess some clowns here think I should be silent as if this were Nazi Germany. There you go, green again.