I'm a relative new fan to the sport of boxing....

[croz]

The difference is big enough that just a contender would embarrass JDS.

Melvin Guillard, one of the better boxers in MMA, in his second fight got brutally KO'd by a 34 year old who was new to boxing and had only 4 fights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEJnA11ADyw

Melvin's first fight against a 30 year old deubtant went to a draw.

[ßringer]

Welcome aboard.

Expect a lot of 'tards to give you **** for being a UFC fan, though. Quite frankly, the striking in MMA is an embarassment.

As for fights to check out - There's a wealth of them on youtube that should suffice. You also can't go wrong with boxing documentaries and mini-series like 'Legendary Nights' and '24/7'.

Obviously this sport has a colossal history of epic rivalries that you should check out : Stuff like the trilogies between Ali and Frazier, Bowe and Holyfield, Barrera and Morales, Vazquez and Marquez, Marquez and Pacquiao, Ward and Gatti, Duran and Leonard (though the third was kind of a farce), Pacquiao and Morales, Gonzalez and Carbajal, Ali and Norton, Duran and DeJesus - The list goes on and on.

Then there are single fights that over the course of 12 or 15 rounds became the stuff legends are made of : Stuff like Corrales vs Castillo 1, Hagler vs Hearns, Leonard vs Hearns 1, Chavez vs Taylor 1, Dempsey vs. Firpo, Louis vs. Conn, Lewis vs. Klitschko, Pryor vs. Arguello, again this is a seemingly endless list.

That should be more than enough material to cement anybody's love of this sport, but there are plenty of other amazing fights out there and new ones being fought nearly every weekend, so you've got a lot of watching to do.

Thankfully, it'll be the most entertaining homework project you've ever had.

Cheers.

[boxing is alive]

Check out the Boxing Register. It's a collection of hall of famers. A big fat book, I have it. It'll get you familiar with the greats, and it's grouped by era. Also check out RING magazine and Boxing Monthly (UK). They both got some good stuff.

[Left2theliver]

I'm surprised no one has come in all like, "Go back to your UFC BS you trash fan, go watch that trash sport!! Blah blah blah."

And not to sound like a complete douche, but please don't refer to it at UFC. The sport is Mixed Martial Arts, calling it UFC is like saying you watch IBF, WBO, etc. and not Boxing.

All in all, you'll get use to it as it comes. You'll find that Boxing is a completely different world than MMA. Obviously the guys are going to be MUCH BETTER with their hands than Mixed Martial Artists, but you'll also see that because both of the games are so much different, why some fighters also fight the way they do in their respective arts on top of the skill difference between fighters and their skillsets.

If you want to see gritty toughness, and just a fun fighter, check out Arturo Gatti.

One of my all time favorites to watch are also Felix Trinidad, Ricky Hatton, and Tommy Hearns. All great at what they do, on top of being fun as hell to watch.

[Calabis]

Watch young prime Pernell Whitaker.

[Elotero]

bro, im getting tired of the striking in ufc hence what I'm saying. that uppercut from dominick cruz is laughable. No setup, tried to hit him with the backswing (wtf?). But cruz is a gifted martial artist, not so much of a boxer, but cruz is not to be made fun of. that guy will have you whiffing all night, pro boxer or not....anyways, I can apprieciate good hands. And I know them when I see them too. I am more like you guys.

although, there are some good boxers in mma, see:

Junior Dos Santos
Anderson Silva
George St Pierre has a great jab and good punching technique
Jose Aldo

Those are just to name a few. I'm not sure how they would do in the boxing world though but I cant imagine anyone embarressing Junior Dos Santos.

Cruz can totally be made fun of in boxing. He would be humiliated immediately.

These guys you mentioned are good boxers, are not good boxers. They are good strikers in MMA but not good boxers. If you want to see good boxers, watch some of the fights folks here are recommending. This is not a diss to you either. This is like me saying there are good wrestlers in boxing: Berto, Hatton, Ward. Nonsense. They would get embarrased in wrestling.

Pick some fighters to follow with styles you like and follow them till the end.

[lumiere]

Welcome to the sport.i can see how someone can think boxing is boring.but when you get more into it and learn more you will start to admire and appreciate the "chess matches" as much as the wars and the brutal ko's.you have so many diff styles like defense wizards like floyd to come forward pressure fighters like brandon rios.you have boxers,punchers,brawlers etc whatever to your liking.i think if you do your research you will end up loving the sweet science and will become hooked and a hardcore fan like the rest of us.

Now i will list some of my fav fighters that i suggest you check highlight reels of on youtube.also if you havent already and you can,get SHOWTIME and HBO so you can watch new fights live and follow thd schedules of the fighters you enjoy watching.

So heres my list:

Yuriorkis gamboa
Prince naseem hamed
Nonito donaire
Roberto duran
Amir khan
Lucas mathysse
Marcos maidana
Kostya tzyu
Mike tyson
Manny pacquiao
Juan manuel marquez
Erik morales
Diego corrales
Sergio martinez
Floyd mayweather
Gary russell jr
Pernel whitiker
Adrian broner
Orlando salido
Danny garcia
Marco antonia barrera
Julio cesar chavez
Hector camacho
Thomas hearns
Marvin hagler
Sugar ray leonard
Ricky hatton
Muhammad ali
Brandon rios
Bernard hopkins
James toney
Roy jones jr
Antonio margarito
Miguel cotto
Wilfred benitez

Theres many many more and im sure some other members here can suggest some.i tried ti give some variety in weight classes and in eras.these were just off the top of my head

[NEETzsche]

i found that bert sugar's book about the hundred greatest boxers really helped me find my feet w/r/t boxing history. there's a lot to disagree with in terms of the rankings, but it still functions as a useful and entertaining overview. something for the xmas list, perhaps.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boxings-Grea.../dp/0709081618

[Nagabilly]

I'm a new fan too.

Try to do what I did. Pick a fighter you like, then try to follow trough his career, watch all his big fights. Then pick one of his opponents that you like too, repeat.

If your interested in some older fights I suggest "The Fabulous Four"

[110110110]

UFC is a stupid and primitiv sport only appreciated by drunken,inbreed, low IQ hillbillys, and stupid fat kids with no life.
There I said it