How much time does boxing have left?

[Mr. Broken]

I used to be a huge boxing fan. The sweet science , I can remember going over to my friends and watching the fights on HBO because most of the time you couldnt get the fights on regular Tv. I guess right around the time we were all learning the phrase pay-per view I started to lose interest. It was around this time that a new fighting sport began to emerge onto the scene, what we now call MMA, and I was immediately hooked. The fights were better, you got to see more of them, and it was just more interesting watching these guys from different disciplines go at it. Now here it is over a decade later, and when that rare person comes around that wants to talk boxing, I dont really have anything to say it just doesnt interest me anymore. At least it didnt until I heard rumor that Floyd Mayweather was talking to the UFC about signing a fight. Is he nuts? Doesnt he realize that it is a horrible idea? Not only for him , but for the entire sport of boxing as well, when he steps into that octagon, and loses he will hand the mantle over to MMA for good.

[Marv]

I'm torn. I still think boxing has something special that the UFC wont be able to recreate any time soon. I get more excited about a big fight than I do about MMA. For instance, De La Hoya Vs Mayweather was a far bigger event than any UFC event I've seen. However, there just doesn't seem to be enough marquee fighters around anymore to keep the interest in boxing constant.

That said, I suppose these things evolve and the guys in the UFC are top drawer athletes nowadays, who would more than likely kick the crap out of a pro boxer. And therein lies the rub, you become a champion at boxing and you can no longer, as you once could, say you are truly the 'baddest man on the planet' at your particular weight.

Still, Tyson in his prime would take Liddel any day of the week and twice on sundays.

[Mr. Broken]

A few years back I watched an X WBA Heavy Weight named Melvin Bowen, take on a much smaller opponent in a fighter named Steve Jennum. Bowen managed to keep his feet for about a minute, before the little guy took him down, and submitted him. Boxing is a sport in itself, but in the Octagon boxing is just a factor.

[sgt.null]

i figured this would be about the corruption in boxing...

[Mr. Broken]

I guess it is in a way, corruption just being a coffin nail.

[sgt.null]

i couldn't name a single heavyweight contender nowadays.