Which is more popular: boxing or American football?

[Skip Bayless]

i dont think anyone watches american football outside of america. boxing is a global sport. football, or what americans lovingly call 'soccer', is the most popular sport on the planet.

ps. rugby and american football sucks ass

[mathed]

Boxing is probably more popular world wide. I mean ali and tyson are VASTLY more famous then any american football player and it's not even close. American football is probably still more profitable despite it being very limited in terms of its international appeal.



The problem with this is football (soccer...) actually requires technical ability. A lot of americans are under the impression that american footballers are somehow the pinnacle of sporting ability. What they seem to forget is that the vast majority of the players have almost no technical abilty or mental acuity and are selected largely on their physical abilities. A lot of those players are probably to spastic to do a proper sport regardless of their size or speed. They may be a tall and as fast as ibrahimovic but to have his technical ability as well? You'll struggle to find many american sports stars with that combination. Not to mention that american football doesn't even select for things like stamina, they run about 0.19 miles in a match, which is nothing compared to other sports.

Not sure how you came to those conclusions....an average NFL team playbook consists of hundreds of individual plays that consist of multiple blocking assignments and 2 to 4 receiving routes for each play. Every team member is responsible or memorizing every single play in that book and knowing it like the back of your hand.

The quarterbacks are responsible for recognizing defensive schemes in an instant and calling an audible and executing a play within 10 seconds or less. They must take an SAT type test called the Wonderlic (http://www.wonderlic.com/, http://www.nicholascreative.com/footballiq/) that I'd bet the majority of the posters on here would fail with flying colors.

As far as the cardio and endurance conditioning, I know football players who routinely perform 2 a days where they practice twice a day at 3 hours a piece. I'm talking suicides non-stop until you drop and vomit your guts out, 5 mile runs, sand bag runs uphill, etc.

During these games, it is much more than simply sprinting up the field, you could be responsible for shoving a 287 pound defensive monster away from your Quarterback as he is running full speed in your direction. The field is 100 yards (300 feet) in length and you could have a 90 yard drive where you may have to block this monster with all your might as they chip away the yards 5 at a time for 18 plays on one drive. Now imagine doing that for 12 drives and getting stomped on at the bottom of a pile where there are five 280 pound guys squashing you into the hard dirt after a 50% of those plays.

It is not an easy sport by any stretch of the imagination, dudes are out there playing with broken ribs, fingers, collar bones, you name it.

[Deevel916]

At least in football there's no ducking and cherry picking unlike in boxing. When you think about it, boxing is the only sport where the best doesn't have to face the best.

[-Kev-]

At least in football there's no ducking and cherry picking unlike in boxing. When you think about it, boxing is the only sport where the best doesn't have to face the best.

That's because there's no pre-made schedule.

If you think about it, boxing is the same as every other sport. They are given a schedule of teams they'll face every year. Boxers are given fighters on a fight by fight basis and only the very top cash cows can actually pick who they want. Which is usually another top fighter. It's just that boxing fans bitch a lot, but the best do often fight the best. Mayweather #1 vs Guerrero #3, people don't consider that one of the best fights that can be made, that's their fault.

If Yankees were #1 in the AL EAST, and they play let's say against #3 Baltimore Orioles, baseball fans from NY and Baltimore would love that series and would consider it tough. In boxing, all you hear is bitching.

[B.U.R.N.E.R]

Boxing is no where near as popular as the NFL or even NCAA football. It just can't compare.

[deleted]

easy ass answer..boxing is more popular..

No one outside the us even knows about handegg. it's no question really.

I doubt anyone outside the us even knows the rules.

Now Futbol

That's an easier answer.

[Simply Zyzz]

this cant be a serious question, really???..... please be trolling...

[Nagabilly]

Okay I assume everyone in this thread is American. I have a bonus, off-topic question: What do you guys think of football, or "soccer" ? Why do you think it isn't popular in US?

[HUGEBOXINGFAN]

On a global scale Boxing is much more popular by a landslide and in America Football is 1000000000000 x more popular than Boxing.

[FeFist]

Boxing is bigger than American football.