Every other sport great defense is fine but in boxing it's a bad thing.

[Eff Pandas]

I don't really follow other sports outside the combat sports world, but I've gotten the feel that defensive teams aren't all that popular in any sport per se so I don't think this is all that unique to boxing.

I'd also say I think the collective boxing IQ of boxing fans is lower among the non-hardcore fans then its been since I've been following boxing and obviously the lower boxing IQ of the average boxing fan is going to mean that the finer points of the sport like a solid defense will be under appreciated so I think that could be part of it too.

[TheMexHurricane]

Imagine Nate Diaz racing Usain Bolt in the 100 meters and hugging him all the way to the finish and then pushing himself ahead at the finish. That wouldn't make Diaz a better sprinter in the same way that hugging doesn't make Floyd, Ward, Rigo etc better "fighters" when they "beat" their opponents with hugging. Ali, Floyd, etc are better *points manipulators*. That's it. Since you mentioned race, the white fighters from the 1st half of the 20th century are much better than even white writers and fans realize because they were "beaten" with hugs.

[Combat Talk Radio]

Imagine Nate Diaz racing Usain Bolt in the 100 meters and hugging him all the way to the finish and then pushing himself ahead at the finish. That wouldn't make Diaz a better sprinter in the same way that hugging doesn't make Floyd, Ward, Rigo etc better "fighters" when they "beat" their opponents with hugging. Ali, Floyd, etc are better *points manipulators*. That's it. Since you mentioned race, the white fighters from the 1st half of the 20th century are much better than even white writers and fans realize because they were "beaten" with hugs.

If you mean clinches, understand that's an allowable strategy, whether you like it or not. Touching your opponent in distance running is not. That's the flaw in your analogy.

Now, if you said something like Ronda Rousey stepping into a boxing ring against Laila Ali and going for a takedown, that's different. It's not allowed. But no MMA fighter should be that ******.

Now, if Joe Calzaghe used his slap boxing skills in the MMA ring and wins, guess what? That's legal. A bit dirty, but still legal as far as I know.

You and all of your ilk keep focusing on clinching for your complaints. You complain if Floyd or anyone else clinches even once. That's not how it should be.

[Eff Pandas]

Thats why UFC is so popular, Boxing needs a hype man marketer like Dana White, ages ago Tex Rickard was Boxings greatest hype man, he made boxing so famous back in the early 1900s Boxing was the biggest sport in USA, Tex Rickard cannot be matched by any promoter today in Boxing, we need another guy like that to put Boxing back on the map.

Boxing fans have so many misconceptions about the UFC & its popularity thats still growing & will only get bigger. Now granted the UFC has taken off to a whole new level with some personalities as of late, but the trend was already in play beyond those personalities.

The UFC hasn't gotten popular off of hype, the UFC has gotten popular off of results & competitive fights. Seen someone in MMA media say that the underdog has won on the main card 45% of the time this year. In boxing you're lucky if 10% of the main card fights result in an upset. There are also highlight reel outcomes on every single UFC show. Guys get KTFO with those light ass gloves. Guys have much more room for creativity in the cage & with multiple disciplines in play. Boxing & the UFC are two different animals. And most boxing fans who haven't been onboard with all combat sports don't seem to grasp what the UFC & MMA in general offers that boxing has failed to do in a long ass time.

And don't get me wrong boxing should for sure hijack some MMA ****, but its not guys talking **** more or hypemen. Boxing needs to scale down all the weight divisions & champions. There is far too much confusion in who the fighters that matter in boxing are. Being the #1 contender means f#ck all in boxing cuz there are 4 of them at any given time.

Boxing also needs to make matchmaking a priority for the show thats on tonight or tomorrow not just that big show they are marinating for sometime in the fall. Every fight card needs to matter (All Cards Matter!!!) & not just be about building up a good to great prospect who's 17-0 (13) for a title shot in 3 years by fighting a guy who's been KO'd 5 times in his last 8 fights & hasn't fought in a year tonight. Let the cream rise to the top, don't put the guy you think is the **** on the top cuz you like the cut of his jib & see him as sellable at a future date.

Throw the fighters into the fire & they will organically become sellable, it just may not be the guys who are the best possible guys to sell or then again they could create a guy who'd have never thought was THAT sellable into some giant star. I think Manny Pacquiao is a great example of just that. No one would have picked Manny out as some Terrence Crawford or Errol Spence type future star kinda guy. Manny was thrown into the fire & came through it with some L's, but mostly W's, to become the 2nd biggest draw in the sport & surely among the best draws in all of boxing history. That sorta **** isn't happening like it used to not that long ago in boxing & thats a problem.

[Luilun]

Defense is exciting when the guy has some pop Rigo to me isn't Boring he makes you miss and can lay you out with one punch. Mike Tyson had good defense under Cus and Rooney he slipped punches than knock you out but when I guy rolls and holds for 12 round with no head snapping punches than it becomes boring cause everyone knows the out come UD in 12 with Rigo or Tyson you don't know what round it would end. Thats the big difference

[hectari]

Boxing fans have so many misconceptions about the UFC & its popularity thats still growing & will only get bigger. Now granted the UFC has taken off to a whole new level with some personalities as of late, but the trend was already in play beyond those personalities.

The UFC hasn't gotten popular off of hype, the UFC has gotten popular off of results & competitive fights. Seen someone in MMA media say that the underdog has won on the main card 45% of the time this year. In boxing you're lucky if 10% of the main card fights result in an upset. There are also highlight reel outcomes on every single UFC show. Guys get KTFO with those light ass gloves. Guys have much more room for creativity in the cage & with multiple disciplines in play. Boxing & the UFC are two different animals. And most boxing fans who haven't been onboard with all combat sports don't seem to grasp what the UFC & MMA in general offers that boxing has failed to do in a long ass time.

And don't get me wrong boxing should for sure hijack some MMA ****, but its not guys talking **** more or hypemen. Boxing needs to scale down all the weight divisions & champions. There is far too much confusion in who the fighters that matter in boxing are. Being the #1 contender means f#ck all in boxing cuz there are 4 of them at any given time.

Boxing also needs to make matchmaking a priority for the show thats on tonight or tomorrow not just that big show they are marinating for sometime in the fall. Every fight card needs to matter (All Cards Matter!!!) & not just be about building up a good to great prospect who's 17-0 (13) for a title shot in 3 years by fighting a guy who's been KO'd 5 times in his last 8 fights & hasn't fought in a year tonight. Let the cream rise to the top, don't put the guy you think is the **** on the top cuz you like the cut of his jib & see him as sellable at a future date.

Throw the fighters into the fire & they will organically become sellable, it just may not be the guys who are the best possible guys to sell or then again they could create a guy who'd have never thought was THAT sellable into some giant star. I think Manny Pacquiao is a great example of just that. No one would have picked Manny out as some Terrence Crawford or Errol Spence type future star kinda guy. Manny was thrown into the fire & came through it with some L's, but mostly W's, to become the 2nd biggest draw in the sport & surely among the best draws in all of boxing history. That sorta **** isn't happening like it used to not that long ago in boxing & thats a problem.

you forgot to mention your favorite...legalize steroids in boxing lol, eff pandas is to peds what el blanco is to *******


you know im jus ****ing wit you bro, but foreal what stuff have you used/

[OnePunch]

The "boxing hipster" crowd (the "oh look how smart and evolved I am because I like Rigo, etc) will never understand that its not so much "skill" per se, but "drama" that captivates the VAST majority of sports fans. Take Ward for instance. Talented, yes, but that "jab, clinch, jab, straight right, clinch, lay on opponents neck, lather, rinse, repeat" style is completely void of any drama. Its just not compelling to watch.

[big_james10]

In basketball or football all you hear is defense wins championships but in boxing you have fighters like Rigo or Floyd and they get **** on by boxing fans.

Rigo can beat a top p4p guy and get hate from his own promoter. Floyd beats champ after champ, has high ppv sells time after time and gets called boring while the Broncos offense sucks all year no one says they're boring they just say that's football it happens.A football team could win a game 10-7 or 13-3 and people wouldn't say the game was boring, they would talk about how great the defense is.

Even a team like the Spurs who some people call boring get respect league wide and from the fans and get called a model franchise by everyone.

Do other sports fans just accept the way they're sport is and boxing fans can't? Is it because it's easier to criticize a individual than a whole team? It could be but even mma fans don't really call guys boring if they're great at bjj or wrestling.


Why is that?


Real question this isn't to start a race debate.

If you get all of your information from a message board like this or Twitter, you would think that defense is not appreciated or is a bad thing. However, if that was the case, Floyd Mayweather would not be the most popular boxer in the world since 2007 based on PPV sales and live gates.

[Dean_Razorback]

defensive football (soccer) teams are usually unpopular, like mourinho at his worst, tony pulis, sam allardyce, etc. a lot of people even criticise pep guardiola's possession football

casual fans just like to see points being scored

this, italian catenaccio is the worst thing that ever happened to futbol.

[animelive]

If all you do is defend, no one is going to appreciate you. There needs to be a sufficient amount of attacks put out too. Defending and winning is skillful, its not entertaining. Entertaining to 60 year olds perhaps.