Does Boxing's respectability as a legitimate sport still exist at this point?

[tonysoprano]

The sport is ok, the HW division is in the trash can though. That’s a shame.

But you put Sean O’Malley in with Tank or Bud and he’s getting the living crap beat out of him.

[Tatabanya]

He carries the sport on his back, the way the HW king has done for most of the sport's history.

I don't agree with boxing fans trying to isolate the sport from the HW champ. They're a part of eachother. Fury didn't just hurt himself last night, he hurt the sport too.

I don't know. I remember fights like Chiquita Gonzalez vs Michael Carbajal with much more passion than, say, the two semi-duds between Lewis and Holyfield.

But in the end you are right. Today's masses follow the trash cans, in every field, provided that those trash cans make the right noise.

[BodyBagz]

It only proves just how horrific this HW era is.
The future doesn't look too bright, either

[Mr Giggles]

I actually think I’ll become embarrassed to tell people that I watch boxing because of this. I’m gonna give it a couple months, let things slide and peoples memories fade

[TMLT87]

I will always love boxing for all its faults, and will always watch it. Its got a great history and its aesthetically pleasing to watch and theres just something to the purity and simplicity of it. But I think anyone being honest with themselves knows that if we are judging it solely as a form of combat, or an arena where the best fighters prove themselves...once you realise that the best boxers on the planet would consistently get wrecked in MMA or even kickboxing/muay thai the big title fights etc kind of lose a lot of their gravity and legitimacy This is why I laugh when people talk about how boxing has more "prestige" just because the belts are old or whatever. UFC title fights are genuinely crowning the best unarmed combatant on the planet at their weight.

And obviously this fight just now was extra bad because you've had a supposed "Jack of all trades master of none" surrender the ability to use most of his trades and STILL beat the **** out of a guy who was supposed to be the best HW boxer on the planet. Like what is Fury/Usyk even for anymore really? what does it prove?

[aAgger]

Many MMA fighters are trained in boxing as well as other martial arts. Ngannou was originally training in boxing and wanted to become like Mike Tyson before he entered MMA, so he already had a boxing foundation to begin with. And then Mike Tyson was able to train Ngannou into a complete boxer.

[baroidi]

The HW champ used to be regarded as the baddest man on the planet, Fury's greed and laziness (if his lack of training is to be believed) has ruined that reputation forever

[BodyBagz]

Boxing survived Mike Tyson and Andrew Golota biting episodes, it will survive Flubber almost losing to a boxing novice .

People really do go overboard on Overreaction Weekend

[TMLT87]

The HW champ used to be regarded as the baddest man on the planet, Fury's greed and laziness (if his lack of training is to be believed) has ruined that reputation forever

Tbf, the days of the HW boxing champ being viewed as the baddest man on the planet were over long before this.

[Tatabanya]

Boxing survived Mike Tyson and Andrew Golota biting episodes, it will survive Flubber almost losing to a boxing novice .

People really do go overboard on Overreaction Weekend

It's actually not the same thing.

Tyson's bite attracted the focus of the whole world on boxing, at the same time turning Holyfield into a saint, the genuine savior of the sport, the Good defeating the Evil. The Bite Fight is still discussed to this day.

After Golota got disqualified against Bowe the first time, and the riot at the Madison Square Garden erupted, he was on Conan O'Brien a few days later.

Fury almost losing to Ngannou merely confirmed the low level of today's HW champ, that's all. But in a week or so, the man on the street will probably have forgotten about this fight.