Boxing: Sport, or "Sports Entertainment?"

[CubanGuyNYC]

We've been going down this road for some time. With multiple "champions" in more weight divisions than ever, and an increasing unwillingness for the top athletes to fight and determine who's really the best, boxing is becoming less sport and more "sports entertainment." Forget the bad decisions for a moment. They've been a plague on the sport since the beginning. I'm talking about the counterfeit competition, the paper belts and lack of objectivity. Could you imagine if for some cockamamie reason the NE Patriots played the AZ Cardinals this weekend in the Super Bowl? Not because they won their respective playoff games, but because the NFL deemed it so. Who would want to watch that? Yet, as boxing fans, we're continually handed this exact garbage on a regular basis. We've become so accustomed to it, few even complain anymore.

What got me started on this rant? Looking through the listings of current champions in every division, that's what. The consensus best fighter at 122, Guillermo Rigondeaux, no longer holds a single belt. Did he lose them in the ring? No. He was stripped for "inactivity." Now, I'm no longer really a fan of Rigo. He lost me with his last appearance, a performance so inexcusably boring I just couldn't take it anymore. But the guy is still the best in his weight class. Why is he not champion? Because boxing isn't a sport. It's a sport in the way pro wrestling is a sport. So let's discuss who would win between the #4 and #15 rated fighters in a division. The "sport" obviously doesn't give a damn who's the best.

[Russian Crushin]

Well i see "sport entertainment" as a psuedo-competitive affair where the winner is pre-determined.

Now boxing fights can be fixed as well but that isnt purposefully set up and is through corruption, not design

[Golden Boi 360]

Too many belts and too many divisions.

[BattleAxePurist]

You don't play boxing you manage boxing

[CubanGuyNYC]

Well i see "sport entertainment" as a psuedo-competitive affair where the winner is pre-determined.

Now boxing fights can be fixed as well but that isnt purposefully set up and is through corruption, not design

That is one angle, and a valid one. But boxing's scoring system is so inadequate that all but the most obvious outcomes are up in the air. Check that: even the most obvious outcomes are up in the air. So, you see, although predetermined outcomes aren't the norm, they often may as well be.

[CubanGuyNYC]

You don't play boxing you manage boxing

True statement. Which is why I question boxing's status as a sport.

[JJRod]

We've been going down this road for some time. With multiple "champions" in more weight divisions than ever, and an increasing unwillingness for the top athletes to fight and determine who's really the best, boxing is becoming less sport and more "sports entertainment." Forget the bad decisions for a moment. They've been a plague on the sport since the beginning. I'm talking about the counterfeit competition, the paper belts and lack of objectivity. Could you imagine if for some cockamamie reason the NE Patriots played the AZ Cardinals this weekend in the Super Bowl? Not because they won their respective playoff games, but because the NFL deemed it so. Who would want to watch that? Yet, as boxing fans, we're continually handed this exact garbage on a regular basis. We've become so accustomed to it, few even complain anymore.

What got me started on this rant? Looking through the listings of current champions in every division, that's what. The consensus best fighter at 122, Guillermo Rigondeaux, no longer holds a single belt. Did he lose them in the ring? No. He was stripped for "inactivity." Now, I'm no longer really a fan of Rigo. He lost me with his last appearance, a performance so inexcusably boring I just couldn't take it anymore. But the guy is still the best in his weight class. Why is he not champion? Because boxing isn't a sport. It's a sport in the way pro wrestling is a sport. So let's discuss who would win between the #4 and #15 rated fighters in a division. The "sport" obviously doesn't give a damn who's the best.

All sports are business/ entertainment.
It's the reason the NFL constantly changes it's rules to make the game more offensive. NBA does this as well.
The commissioner of baseball was trying to make the game more offensive by shrinking the strike zone and speeding up the game.

Boxing doesn't really have a unified commission so it's hard to change the rules and make it more interesting. Instead networks, promoters and others simply back the fighters who have the most fans and entertain the crowds. Someone like Rigo has a lot of talent, but his style doesn't sell, therefore no one cares whether he has a belt or not, or whether he's ever on TV again. Same with Erislandy Lara, Richard Abril, Miguel Vasquez, and a handful of others.

[Redd Foxx]

It's a poorly structured sport in that the match-ups are often influenced by things other than rankings.

[CubanGuyNYC]

All sports are business/ entertainment.
It's the reason the NFL constantly changes it's rules to make the game more offensive. NBA does this as well.
The commissioner of baseball was trying to make the game more offensive by shrinking the strike zone and speeding up the game.

Boxing doesn't really have a unified commission so it's hard to change the rules and make it more interesting. Instead networks, promoters and others simply back the fighters who have the most fans and entertain the crowds. Someone like Rigo has a lot of talent, but his style doesn't sell, therefore no one cares whether he has a belt or not, or whether he's ever on TV again. Same with Erislandy Lara, Richard Abril, Miguel Vasquez, and a handful of others.

Yes, all sports have a business component. What separates boxing from the real sports is, among other things, the best don't regularly compete against the best. Hell, even the most entertaining don't face off regularly. lol It's a combination of making money, fear of losing potential future monies, fight record, entertainment and prestige. In most cases, the end result is not pleasing to the average fan. How often do you see a fight you've been wanting to see? I'm not talking about an unexpected fight of the year candidate. I'm talking a match-up that's been talked about for any length of time. Boxing fans wet their shorts when a much anticipated match-up finally materializes.

[CubanGuyNYC]

It's a poorly structured sport in that the match-ups are often influenced by things other than rankings.

Well, that's a succinct way of summerizing my two paragraph post. Lol