Boxing is dead?
Boxing is dying! It is losing to the UFC, the MMA, And everything else!
HOW?
Ok Ok, I understand where this comes from and why it is being said, but what I do not understand is why so many boxing fans believe it.
I have been hearing that boxing is dying ever since the Heavyweight Division collapsed. So, Since about 2002 or 2003 I have been arguing the point that boxing is not going anywhere. I seen the young talent at other weight classes that I knew would eventually take the place, but I didn’t believe that the heavyweight would drop as bad as it did.
I’ve seen the Gatti/Ward trilogy, the Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera fights, the Pacquio vs them and Juan Manuel Marquez fights all after I was told that Boxing was dying. The fights that Floyd Mayweather had against undefeated Diego Corrales, and the vintage Sugar Shane Mosley fighting at lightweight and welterweight was all after the supposed collapse that I was supposed to believe. That is just to name a few that stood out to me, but there are plenty more.
In the 1990’s we had Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman was still around as well as Larry Holmes, Razor Ruddock, David Tua, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moore, just to name a few. The 90’s was filled with enough heavyweights to keep the boxing world comfortable.
I’m done reminiscing, but if you lived through that period of time, you understand my frustration with the heavyweight division in the state it is in right now.
As of right now we have Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquio at the top of the sport, but what about all the warriors that are supposedly beneath them? We have Andre Ward, Timothy Bradley, Chad Dawson, Sergio Martinez, Saul Alvarez, Juan Manuel Marquez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, to name a few.
So, boxing has had a bit of a rough spurt dealing with the heavyweight division and getting top fighters to fight each other (which is another story), but the other divisions are handling business as they should and are making lucrative fights. You can think the lighter weights are carrying the sport until the heavyweight division gets back in order but the heavyweight division is going to have to stand in line!
[quote author=” – Phillip Harris”] I thought the heavy weight division was taking a breather and would come back full strength……I’m glad I didn’t hold my breath!. [/quote]
