Bogoljub Karic – How Boxing Is Losing Out To MMA

When mixed martial arts competitions began in the 80s and 90s, they were instantly dismissed as ‘circus acts’ which pitted 2 different disciplines against each other. These sports were also called barbaric by boxing commentators, who spoke about the importance of boxing being a sweet science rather than a barbaric sport. That was then, now looks very different and leading MMA is the UFC, a company which has changed opinions of this sport and which now counts on a wider audience than almost all boxing matches. The UFC is the most famous MMA organisers but beyond them there are many which bring in huge audiences, I spoke to MMA expert Bogoljub Karic to see why boxing is losing out.

Fights

In most MMA organisations and especially in the UFC, the best fighters fight each other, not in the future when they are washed up, not when the money is good enough, but because that is simply what happens. If we look at the heavyweight category in boxing right now we can see Fury, Wilder and Joshua at the top of their games, yet the only fight that has happened was Wilder v Fury. Joshua won’t take the Wilder fight in case he loses, a career in tatters, Wilder won’t take the fight because he wants too much money, a Fury v Wilder rematch is what everyone wants but that now can’t happen because Fury signed a fight deal with a different TV network to Wilder, all political rubbish. If you’re champion in the UFC then whoever the baddest possible opponent is, that is who you’ll fight, and fans love it.

Excitement

Floyd Mayweather Jnr is one of the greatest boxers of all time, unbeaten after 50 fights and someone who has amassed more money in the game than everyone else. If you watch any of Mayweather’s last 20 fights however, you will likely not make it beyond round 6 before the boredom kicks in, and this is all too common in boxing now. Boxers don’t look for knockouts like they used to, they like to jab and defend and try to outclass the opponent, and that is fine. Compare that with the blood and thunder which you get in MMA, when two men or women have nothing else in their mind that dropping their opponent on making them tap, and you can see just why fans have moved to MMA.

Fighters First

Unless you have a legitimate world superstar then boxing is very much about promoting boxing first and then its fighters, in MMA this is not the same. In fact you only need to look at how the UFC dealt with Rhonda Rousey, Georges St Pierre and Connor McGregor to see just how much they let the characters drive the story. In boxing everyone is contracted to different people, in the UFC that just isn’t the same which is why we are able to see superstars arise at great speed, exciting the audience and enticing us to watch them more and more.

The change is happening and it looks set to continue in the coming years, what can boxing do to prevent that from happening?