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A deep dive into the problems with modern-day boxing, and why its competitors are running away from it.
Boxing has been around since before Christ himself. It’s seen the rise and the fall of the Roman empire, The Black Death, and both world wars. Its legacy is deeply rooted in world culture and is one of the most recognisable sports in the world.
The modern game has changed more and more in recent years, and many fans believe that is not for the better. We are seeing more and more high-profile events in boxing, but they do not necessarily include high-profile boxers.
Many people believe these “gimmick fights” are destroying the legitimacy of the sport. What is killing boxing and can it be avoided?
Money is undoubtedly the biggest problem in boxing at the moment. Once a fighter becomes a champion, they are entitled to a large amount of money for stepping into the ring, and you can’t blame them for asking what in their view is their worth. That being said, it’s a double-edged sword in the overall bigger picture.
The sad reality is that boxing is now a business, and that is why Mixed Martial Artist and former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, walked his way to a world heavyweight championship boxing contest with WBC champion Tyson Fury.
Previous to their contest, Ngannou had no professional boxing experience. This fight was his boxing debut. A debut, against arguably the best heavyweight boxer since Lenox Lewis. A crazy set of circumstances, but this is the world we now live in. It’s not about who deserves to fight for the title, or what the rankings dictate, it’s how is the champion going to make the most amount of money.
But, referring back to the double-edged sword statement, the champions may be earning huge amounts of money per fight, but this means that they have less incentive to fight more frequently. It’s exactly how Marvin Hagler said: “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.” Since 2022, fury has fought three times, averaging one fight a year at this point.
“This isn’t boxing, and this is taken away and into the realms of some kind of sporting show business, and it’s, it’s not even entertaining. If it was entertaining, if the end product was good, maybe you could understand it.
“So, of course, when they get into the ring, you’ve got to think, why are you only boxing once a year or boxing twice a year, or three times a year? The tax part will be enormous, so maybe that’s best, you know, once a year, and then will enter a new tax year next year, we can do it again.
“Now, that’s one of the big ways that professional boxing has changed.”
One other possible factor in boxing’s predicament is its ranking system. Unlike any other sport in the world, there can be four champions in one division simultaneously. This makes boxing unique in that sense, but on the other hand, it’s simply confusing.
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3moIs he also going to wear boxing gloves while playing the arcade game? Cause my chances of winning will be higher if he does. lol