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This is nearly a week old but I wanted to see what ye thought of it:
Around the world, the fight everyone is talking about right know is Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye, the heavyweight championship boxing match that took place in Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday. That fight drew 55,000 ticket buyers and tens of millions of viewers around the world.
Most of the people who watched that fight didn't see UFC 132. And we should all pity them.
If you ever wanted a clear illustration of what's right with mixed martial arts and what's wrong with boxing, you got it on Saturday: Boxing fans were told to expect the biggest heavyweight fight in almost a decade, and they were treated to a dull, plodding 12-round affair in which Klitschko did what he always does and Haye looked like he didn't want to fight at all. Meanwhile, MMA fans were treated to UFC 132, an absolutely outstanding event capped by a world bantamweight title fight in which Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber gave fans everything they could ask for and more.
I'm a longtime boxing fan, and on Saturday morning I was just as excited about Klitschko-Haye as I was about Cruz-Faber. I thought both my boxing needs and my MMA needs would be fulfilled with big fights in both sports. But I was quickly reminded that boxing is too often a pretty dull sport: There are still some great fights and still some great fighters, but much of the time, you tune in for a big fight and you turn off your TV an hour later in disgust, mad that they ****** you in for a snoozefest.
MMA has its snoozefests, too, of course, but they're nowhere near as frequent as the ones in boxing. Much more often, we get absolutely sensational displays like Cruz and Faber gave us in the main event of UFC 132. The difference in **** for the buck between Klitschko-Haye and Cruz-Faber isn't even close. One fight left everyone who watched it disappointed. The other fight left everyone who watched it thrilled.
And, of course, it's not just about the main event. UFC 132 was a great card from top to bottom, with 11 fights and not a bad one in the bunch. Boxing has become so focused on the main event above everything else that HBO, which owned the American broadcast rights, didn't even show any of the undercard fights. Boxing is all about the main event, while the UFC is about putting on a good show that lasts five hours or so.
I'm actually not a big fan of "boxing vs. MMA" arguments because I've always liked both sports. But on days like Saturday, when I watch major events in both sports, it's hard not to notice that MMA is doing a lot of things right, while boxing is doing a lot of things wrong.
Most of the people who watched that fight didn't see UFC 132. And we should all pity them.
If you ever wanted a clear illustration of what's right with mixed martial arts and what's wrong with boxing, you got it on Saturday: Boxing fans were told to expect the biggest heavyweight fight in almost a decade, and they were treated to a dull, plodding 12-round affair in which Klitschko did what he always does and Haye looked like he didn't want to fight at all. Meanwhile, MMA fans were treated to UFC 132, an absolutely outstanding event capped by a world bantamweight title fight in which Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber gave fans everything they could ask for and more.
I'm a longtime boxing fan, and on Saturday morning I was just as excited about Klitschko-Haye as I was about Cruz-Faber. I thought both my boxing needs and my MMA needs would be fulfilled with big fights in both sports. But I was quickly reminded that boxing is too often a pretty dull sport: There are still some great fights and still some great fighters, but much of the time, you tune in for a big fight and you turn off your TV an hour later in disgust, mad that they ****** you in for a snoozefest.
MMA has its snoozefests, too, of course, but they're nowhere near as frequent as the ones in boxing. Much more often, we get absolutely sensational displays like Cruz and Faber gave us in the main event of UFC 132. The difference in **** for the buck between Klitschko-Haye and Cruz-Faber isn't even close. One fight left everyone who watched it disappointed. The other fight left everyone who watched it thrilled.
And, of course, it's not just about the main event. UFC 132 was a great card from top to bottom, with 11 fights and not a bad one in the bunch. Boxing has become so focused on the main event above everything else that HBO, which owned the American broadcast rights, didn't even show any of the undercard fights. Boxing is all about the main event, while the UFC is about putting on a good show that lasts five hours or so.
I'm actually not a big fan of "boxing vs. MMA" arguments because I've always liked both sports. But on days like Saturday, when I watch major events in both sports, it's hard not to notice that MMA is doing a lot of things right, while boxing is doing a lot of things wrong.
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