As Boxing fans how do you rate the current state of the sport?

[mrpain81]

Just want to see what the boxing fans have to say on the matter.

[msagrain]

Good time for boxing but the HW's suck.

[Check]

I think for hardcore fans this is a great era of boxing. The best are fighting the best and we have been getting great fights. No, its not the 70's or 80's with hearns, leonard, duran, or hagler but its very solid as a whole. To people outside of the loop and media I think its gaining back some cred from where it was a few years ago. Boxing is doing good and wont be going anywhere. EVER.

[mrpain81]

I think for hardcore fans this is a great era of boxing. The best are fighting the best and we have been getting great fights. No, its not the 70's or 80's with hearns, leonard, duran, or hagler but its very solid as a whole. To people outside of the loop and media I think its gaining back some cred from where it was a few years ago. Boxing is doing good and wont be going anywhere. EVER.

Good post, I agree.

I also feel the Heavyweight division is better now then lets say 3 years ago when it was Byrd,Ruiz,Vitali.

[UnDeniable]

Boxing is in an Alright state at the Moment but the only way it can really be a mainstream sport again is if the Heavyweight Division becomes more Exciting and develops a lot more Characters

[OptimusWolf]

I think that there are some good fighters out there at the moment and some good fights.

But the sanctioning body mess is getting past a joke. To me you're only a contender until you win the ring belt, but even that has idiosyncrasies and fighters like Margarito and Cotto couldn't get a fight v Mayweather even though they were no.1 contenders. Hatton hasn't defended his ring belt against a no.1 contender yet either. Hopefully wlad will show the way with the heavies, going for a fight with peter and Chagaev soon.

[mrpain81]

I also wanted to talk about how some people insist that MMA is taking over, I have said many times that MMA can only help Boxing in the long run. Promoters for a long time got lazy and stopped caring about the fights they were putting on, they would take the pay check from the networks and feed them whatever crap they wanted. Now that there is some competition, those same promoters have to make some fights the people actually want to watch.

Another reason why MMA will help Boxing, many MMA fans come from pro rasslin and had never been exposed to a real combat sport. Now that they have watched MMA and actually enjoy a good scrap and some nice Ko's MMA will be a gateway to other combat sports. Instead of watching monday night raw, they might watch wensday night fights.

Here's a really good interview with Jay Larkin who was the senior vice president and executive producer at Showtime, and is now the CEO of the IFL a MMA promotion. He talks about Boxing and MMA and how it affects each other.

[Silencers]

I think boxing is better now than it has been in a few years.

[S.G.]

i'm content with everything but the Heavyweight division.

[Check]

MrPain I do agree with you that MMA has helped boxing get off its ass and give us fights. No longer can boxing leaders give us piss poor matchups and expect us to just give em money. We have options but I disagree I dont think MMA fans will start watching boxing. If they were interested in boxing they would have been watching it a while ago, its two completely different styles. Last time I was in Vegas there was no boxing so I went to see the IFL at the Orleans and boy did it blow. MMA fans will be MMA fans until they realize that boxing is just an overall better sport and boxing fans are boxing fans. I give MMA some credit its okay but it isnt that exciting to me, people that watch MMA are kind of dumbed down I think when it comes to fighting. The matches are boring, usually not very techincal, poor punching skills, and their fans are just obsessed with blood.