An analogy for exciting fights

[Fox McCloud]

I was watching a baseball game today, and I thought of something.

Why is it that boxing fans hate boxers for not giving their brawler type opponent every advantage they could possibly have by fighting with them in their style? No one hates a baseball team if their closer doesn't always make sure that the tying run is on base in the bottom of the 9th. The baseball game gets more exciting if the tying run is on base in the bottom of the 9th, but is it good strategy to do that? Hell no, so why do people feel the need to criticize boxers who use good strategy to win their fights the best way they know how?

[Fox McCloud]

No one has anything to say about this? Everyone is just going to keep calling out fighters they think are boring, instead of justifying why being exciting is the only way a fighter can be legit? Sweet.

[Ramamaiden]

cos people like to see exciting fights. i would never pay for example to watch mayweather vs cory spinks, cos i know i wouldnt have a good time watching that. maybe i would download it a watch it later.
soccer also has some teams that are great but they are boring watching. like the italian teams, too defensive thats why people lately has a hard time watching italian soccer :P

[Fox McCloud]

cos people like to see exciting fights. i would never pay for example to watch mayweather vs cory spinks, cos i know i wouldnt have a good time watching that. maybe i would download it a watch it later.
soccer also has some teams that are great but they are boring watching. like the italian teams, too defensive thats why people lately has a hard time watching italian soccer :P

Well right, I totally understand that. I don't have a problem with people saying it is hard to watch defensive sports or whatever. But people on here are seriously discrediting Floyd Mayweather as a great fighter because his fights are "boring". Someone said that in order to be great, Floyd would have to beat Hatton in an exciting toe-to-toe battle, which just seems to be absurd to me.

And I'm not trying to make this just about Floyd either, it's just I am a Floyd fan, so the majority of the hate I have seen on here for stuff like this is directed at him (because those are the threads that I check).

Someone tell me why Cory Spinks doesn't get the respect he should for some of his wins?

[tito yuca]

Because to the majority of people, boxing is all about violence. People love violence and are thrilled by seeing people dish out and receive punishment. Therefore, the way someone judges the quality of a fight in the sport of boxing is not by taking into account the sports skill displayed by the athlete, but rather by how much violence is displayed. Boxing is seen as a "fight", not as a "sport", and dominating the finer aspects of boxing skills is not exciting to people because they take the place of the violence.

[..........]

No one has anything to say about this? Everyone is just going to keep calling out fighters they think are boring, instead of justifying why being exciting is the only way a fighter can be legit? Sweet.

Boxers are entertainers, but their jobs are not to entertain, their job is to win at all costs, I agree with you. They are athletes, not magicians, their job is to get that money, and they do that by winning, regardless of what their fighting style looks like. Some fighters appeal to fans, and some fighters do not.

Take Ruiz for example, he may be the most boring fighter I have ever watched, however, he gets the job done. Not as of late, but he has beaten big names in the past, Golota, Holyfield to name a few.

[BmoreBrawler]

Well right, I totally understand that. I don't have a problem with people saying it is hard to watch defensive sports or whatever. But people on here are seriously discrediting Floyd Mayweather as a great fighter because his fights are "boring". Someone said that in order to be great, Floyd would have to beat Hatton in an exciting toe-to-toe battle, which just seems to be absurd to me.

And I'm not trying to make this just about Floyd either, it's just I am a Floyd fan, so the majority of the hate I have seen on here for stuff like this is directed at him (because those are the threads that I check).

Someone tell me why Cory Spinks doesn't get the respect he should for some of his wins?

Going for a KO or trying to hurt someone is the validation of fans' (all fans, whether you like to be an elitist armchair boxing "expert" or not) idealized concept of boxing, the same concept that spawned the sport to begin with: fighting with set parameters. When you see boxers trying to manipulate the unspoken tenets of boxing by trying to win without fighting, battling by the LETTER of boxing law rather than the SPIRIT of it, people are going to get pissed off. Dont you get mad when you see able-bodied men cheating the welfare system? Hey, what theyre doing might be legal, but it is an obvious corruption of the original intent of the law. Or is that ok, because "its all about dat der green nukka" as long as he can "win" by "gettin dat green", I guess its ok to spit on the system and those who's backbreaking labor pays for it. How can you expect him to do otherwise :/

There are many different styles of fighting, just because you are an efficient technical boxer doesnt mean you cant fight, fans just want to see that you care. If the boxer isnt "into it"(actually wanting to hurt his opponent), how does he expect fans to care as well?

[Ramamaiden]

at least although i hate mayweather the way he is, i think he is an amazing fighter and i dont discredit him at all. i know that people say he runs, but on welter and light middle what else can he do, cos he has a size disadvantage. at lower classes im sure he would fight much more straightforward. about spinks i dont know, the one fight i saw was sooo boring xD... and well, a guy that i really enjoyed watching is malignaggi against n´dou. he outboxes but man, he really is talented and you enjoy how he moves on the ring.

well, and what they have said above its true, a lot of people just want to see a fight and two people just having a war. thats ok, but those guys are not really boxing fans.

[BmoreBrawler]

malinaggi is a boxer AND a warrior, and always completely outgunned...

Look at Ali

Look at zab judah

you can have your cake and eat it too, ppl

[Fox McCloud]

Going for a KO or trying to hurt someone is the validation of fans' (all fans, whether you like to be an elitist armchair boxing "expert" or not) idealized concept of boxing, the same concept that spawned the sport to begin with: fighting with set parameters. When you see boxers trying to manipulate the unspoken tenets of boxing by trying to win without fighting, battling by the LETTER of boxing law rather than the SPIRIT of it, people are going to get pissed off. Dont you get mad when you see able-bodied men cheating the welfare system? Hey, what theyre doing might be legal, but it is an obvious corruption of the original intent of the law. Or is that ok, because "its all about dat der green nukka" as long as he can "win" by "gettin dat green", I guess its ok to spit on the system and those who's backbreaking labor pays for it. How can you expect him to do otherwise :/

There are many different styles of fighting, just because you are an efficient technical boxer doesnt mean you cant fight, fans just want to see that you care. If the boxer isnt "into it"(actually wanting to hurt his opponent), how does he expect fans to care as well?

Does my baseball analogy not fit here? Baseball players are entertainers as well (as well as any professional athlete), so they should be trying to validate fans right? But they don't do it to the best of their ability when they keep the tying run off base in the final inning, right?

You have a good analogy as well with your welfare example. That does piss me off, and I think the system should be changed, and I'm sure you think the boxing judging system should be changed. But, I mean, it is really hard to hate on someone for operating to the best of their ability within the rules of those that issue the reward, be it the government or boxing judges. I guess what I am saying is maybe your rage is misguided... hate the judges that allow Floyd to win with his style instead of him... as Floyd would say, "I just like to get the victory the best way I know how."