5 Reasons why MMA is killing Boxing.

#1 Straightforward presentation

MMA is generally much more clear cut than boxing

Boxing and MMA are both sports however one can’t deny that both aforementioned sporting contests are driven by money as much as they are by the sporting aspect. The fight game is a business- a business that depends on fan-following.

The more fan-following a sport has the more money the organizations, sportspersons, coaches, etc rake in. This can be illustrated by the differences in the gross yearly income of various combat sports such as MMA, boxing, BJJ, etc.

For example both boxing and MMA are multi-billion dollar sports, whereas a fringe sport such as BJJ does not rake in as much gross income from its sporting events conducted around the world.

Now it’s essential to understand that although sports such as BJJ, Muay Thai, Judo, etc are practiced all over the world, when it comes to sporting events centered around the aforementioned sports the fans won’t shell out as much dough as they would for a big-time boxing or MMA event.

One of the major reasons behind this discrepancy in the business of other combat sports as compared to MMA and boxing is the presentation and marketing of MMA and boxing. First of all boxing needs no introduction in today’s world. As soon as people hear the word ‘boxing’, names like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson come to mind.

On the other hand, MMA broke through into the mainstream after the TUF series around 2005, however prior to that it was marketed around the world as no-holds-barred cage-fighting. The old-school appeal of boxing and the raw, untamed appeal of MMA are what help differentiate them from the various other combat sports.

These Unique Selling Points (USPs) of boxing and MMA help market their respective sporting events to a wider fan-base than other sports, which in turn helps the people involved in boxing and MMA rake in millions and millions of dollars (or pounds, if you’re in good old England!).

That brings us to the battle of the respective USPs of boxing and MMA. As far as the presentation of big-time boxing events is concerned, it is excellent without a doubt. The same can be said of the MMA mega-events such as UFC 193, UFC 202, RIZIN FF’s inaugural Grand Prix (for all you RIZIN FF freak-show fans out there!).

However, MMA beats boxing not in the flashiness or grandeur aspect of event-presentation, but in the informative aspect. Let’s illustrate with an upcoming boxing mega-card expected to take place in April of this year at the Wembley stadium in England between Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua. Britain’s great hope and current IBF champion, Joshua will look to unify the IBF and WBA titles when he takes on former Heavyweight (HW) champ and boxing legend Klitschko.

The marketing for this big-time boxing HW fight is in full swing but something seems amiss. That something is typical of all boxing mega-cards in recent history. As usual the promoters of the Joshua-Klitschko fight are presenting the PPV as top-heavy, by focusing on the headlining fight and not according even a miniscule amount of attention to the co-feature bouts.

Now this is not uncommon even for several top upcoming-MMA cards, however on fight-night; the MMA organizations present the event from the ground-up.

In other words, the top MMA promotions in the world accord as much respect and importance to the coverage of the bouts that precede the main-event; as they accord to the main-event itself.

Top MMA promotions such as the UFC and Bellator MMA devote a significant amount of air-time toward educating the fans about the sport of MMA, including the rules, common techniques, fighter history and several other factors. In the golden days of boxing, boxing used the same approach of being educative and more connected with its fans.

Big fights like Lewis-Tyson, Tyson-Ruddock, etc were presented in a simple manner, without the wastage of air-time on trivial talks such as the ‘Diamond’ champions or the ‘Silver’ champions, or the ‘Inter-Continental’ champions (* MMA fans please note- I did not make that up. The Inter-Continental title actually exists in boxing, as does the Interim-Inter-Continental title!).

Gone are the days when boxing fans didn’t have to worry about some made-up title belts and champions who are nothing more than place-holders. Today’s boxing fans have to deal not only with the insane number of weight-classes but also the ridiculous number of title-belts that are handed out like free candy to the highest bidders.

Boxing as of 2017 is confusing. The alphabet organizations, their multiple title belts, the excessive weight-classes, the inter-organization politics, the corruption and the constant removal and re-instatement of several title-holders by the organizations’ board members; have reduced the life of a boxing fan to that of a discombobulated maniac.

On the other hand, you have MMA and its simple, to-the-point approach. MMA has an adequate number of weight classes, more or less. Its champions are well-defined. An MMA fan doesn’t need to remember the names of the Inter-Galactic Super Junior-Welterweight champion of the world (Yes, I just made that up!), unlike the fans of boxing. MMA presentation is informative, with its commentators routinely given the job of educating the audience on the various striking as well as grappling maneuvers. All in all- MMA presentation is simple and to-the-point.

As martial arts fans, we must accord an equal amount of respect to both MMA and boxing. The aforementioned points are in no way meant to downgrade the sport of boxing, but to merely highlight the fact that ‘MMA’ is providing combat sports fans everything that the ‘Boxing’ promoters promise, but fail to deliver.

Boxing has been adversely affected by the corruption and politics of boxing head-honchos, the alphabet organizations and big-time boxing promoters. Now although MMA has its fair share of corruption and controversies its nothing close to that of the innumerable debacles caused by boxing personalities like Don King, and the corruption and red-tapism of organizations like the WBA, WBC, WBO and several others.

Boxing is one of the most popular combat sports in the modern world, however there’s no denying the fact that MMA has taken over the spot-light as the ‘Undiputed King’ of the fight-business. As of today, MMA is doing most things right whilst boxing falters on the very same avenues. Metaphorically speaking MMA is knocking Boxing out, not out of the ring, but out of the entire damn park!