Comments Thread For: Bob Arum: The UFC is The Main Enemy of Boxing

[Pigeons]

I know. I posted their pics with Trump too

My bad.....

[BWC]

I actually agree with Bob here. I don't buy all the respect BS with White, Rogan, etc here. They all hate boxing and want to overtake it. Make no mistake..

[SUBZER0ED]

Well, if boxing promoters would have the best fight the best, instead of cherry picking and protecting their cash cows- maybe we wouldn't have a fucking MMA fighter in the ring vs a retired boxer!

[Boxfan83]

The poll is not surprising to me at all. I've brought it up a few times before but for some reason people keep ignoring the influence of video games. That UFC game has been a huge hit since it came out about ten years ago. It completely replaced Fight Night. And in my view was much more addictive than the boxing and wrestling games that came before it. I think the combo of having real fighters and variability in moves made it attractive. Next to the NBA and NFL games, it's probably the game I see black kids play the most.

There are a lot of 20 and 30 year-olds who came of age being hooked on that UFC video game. When i was high school and college, my barber and his kids played that game all day.

There was recently a video on FB that went viral with this kid getting submitted in the UFC video game and crying. The comment section was full off people who had recognized the audio from the game and were making references to the UFC. I thought that was a crazy example of brand awareness. Boxing doesn't have that type of imprint on culture.

Boxing has legacy and nostalgia that comes from old heads. It's like baseball for the lower class of the US imo. People don't really actively watch it, but they have a lot of respect for it.

Wth? Baseball is Americas past-time and there are millions of people that watch it daily. There are 162 games a year and 30 different teams. You go to any city in the USA and theres not a park where kids arent playing little league, Pony, or on some sort of travel ball team. In the pros, this year it could very well be the Dodgers and the Yankees/Indians/Red Sox in the World Series. Itll be memorable no matter what, more memorable than anything UFC can produce.

[Eff Pandas]

The poll is not surprising to me at all. I've brought it up a few times before but for some reason people keep ignoring the influence of video games. That UFC game has been a huge hit since it came out about ten years ago. It completely replaced Fight Night. And in my view was much more addictive than the boxing and wrestling games that came before it. I think the combo of having real fighters and variability in moves made it attractive. Next to the NBA and NFL games, it's probably the game I see black kids play the most.

There are a lot of 20 and 30 year-olds who came of age being hooked on that UFC video game. When i was high school and college, my barber and his kids played that game all day.

There was recently a video on FB that went viral with this kid getting submitted in the UFC video game and crying. The comment section was full off people who had recognized the audio from the game and were making references to the UFC. I thought that was a crazy example of brand awareness. Boxing doesn't have that type of imprint on culture.

Boxing has legacy and nostalgia that comes from old heads. It's like baseball for the lower class of the US imo. People don't really actively watch it, but they have a lot of respect for it.

The video game stuff is interesting & I bet there is impact on the sports with that. As a non-video game guy these days I'd be curious to know more about that whole angle with MMA + boxing cuz I'm sure there is something statistically there that can help/hurt the growth of a sport with fans.

And that old heads thing is interesting to. I actually don't doubt more people consider themselves to be a boxing fan than MMA fan, but when you actually talk about current boxers no one knows anything. I've had conversations with cats who said there favorite active boxer is Mike f#cking Tyson.

Some of these older guys are so casual they don't know a fighter who hasn't done a 1M+ selling PPV fight. I don't know that I really consider that type of fan a real fan. I mean I could say I'm a football fan & name the guys who I've heard from this site or seen on ads, but I've watched 3 super bowls in the last decade or something like that & those are the only 3 football games I've watched in that period as well. Am I reallllllly a football fan?

[hrt3333]

He's usually clever but associating UFC with Trump and boxing with ********s is ridiculous. There might be a slight correlation but I doubt it's significant.

[Biolink]

Agreed

To much marinating and too many belts

Boxing would be a lot better if there was one belt in each weight . The best would have to fight the best to get to the number one spot

Not a UFC fan but the way they match make is a better system imo

Network politics and the egos involved pizz me off too.

Other than that I still love the sport

They have their own issues. I'm sure the guys that were at 155 that Mcgregor leap frogged to become a 2 weight UFC champ weren't thrilled, or the guys Brock Lesnar leapfrogged for a shot at the title. The "entertainment" aspect of their sport is just as bad.

Plus who the "best" really at each weight is starting to become fractured with all the different MMA promotion companies. IE; Michael Page is probably the best middleweight MMA fighter and he's in Bellator not UFC.

[uniquehump]

There may be some truth to what he is saying, but it's an opinion that should be kept to himself.

[chirorickyp]

Bob Arum is the Main enemy of Boxing. I'm sure someone already wrote that one. If not kudos to me.

[Butch.McRae]

Wth? Baseball is Americas past-time and there are millions of people that watch it daily. There are 162 games a year and 30 different teams. You go to any city in the USA and theres not a park where kids arent playing little league, Pony, or on some sort of travel ball team. In the pros, this year it could very well be the Dodgers and the Yankees/Indians/Red Sox in the World Series. Itll be memorable no matter what, more memorable than anything UFC can produce.

Was just referring to the nostalgia around the sport. A lot of people go to baseball games regularly and can't even name five guys on the team. (If you're lucky they know the hitters and a few pitchers) It's a cultural thing that's done out of tradition imo, not out of true fandom. Whereas for a sport like football people are much more dedicated/informed. I'm sure you've been to a baseball park in the US and noticed that a fair amount of people there aren't very informed about what's happening on the field.