Boxing Is Dead; MMA Killed It

Floyd Mayweather’s boxing skills proved far too much for MMA star Conor McGregor. But can the two sports coexist successfully?

By ERIC LAU

Ding! The fight has just begun, and as you look around, you’re bewildered by the octagon-shaped cage, the fighter ahead waiting to kick, the lack of fully wrapped gloves, and the hands waiting to grapple you down to the floor. A nightmare for some styles of fighting, for many boxers, transitioning to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), may be a more lucrative and appealing decision than staying in the stale state that boxing is in now.

In the past, it helped that boxing fights would be televised on major TV networks and featured exciting personalities and styles, especially from the 1940s to the 1980s. Classic boxers like Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson drew audiences and attention. Political tensions and the dispute over who really should be the heavyweight champion spawned 1971’s “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, which was watched by about 300 million people worldwide.

But while there still is some of that drama in boxing today, the early 90s saw the rise of MMA promoters like the UFC, and that sport has since clearly taken the belt. The inclusiveness of so many styles of combat and martial arts allowed for very different fighters to approach each other in a way that many saw as more real and intense than boxing ever was. It’s exciting to see a wrestler try to grapple a kickboxer preparing to strike. 

Now in the 2020s, MMA’s growth has skyrocketed and garnered worldwide fans, with many fighters coming from outside the U.S. And though boxing won’t be completely disappearing anytime soon, MMA’s rise above it has felt inevitable.

It doesn’t help that boxing has been shown to be potentially dangerous and extremely taxing on the body. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), is common for boxers as they fight over their lifetime. After a fighter retires, sometimes they’ll start to slur their words and have memory loss. These factors make some people consider boxing to be too extreme and too dangerous.

Still, in its heyday, boxing had something that was magical and awe-inspiring. One of the most basic ways of fighting that anyone knows is using fists to punch. With that, the sport pits two people head-to-head, using everything they have to win. Intelligence, willpower, and strength define what boxing is made of, and there’s a lot of respect to be given to boxers who go the distance with their opponent. A powerful punch isn’t the only way to win, and sometimes endurance beats strength. 

MMA is a great sport to watch and has its own merits, especially when it comes to its variety of styles. But the harsh way in which MMA fights are conducted often resembles more of a street fight than boxing does, which can make MMA less fun to watch, and at times brutal and devoid of any elegance.

While MMA has its strengths, hopefully young fans will be able to turn boxing back to its golden era, as it’s one of the most basic but highly respectable sports one can compete in – an achievement of the human will – and it would be sad if boxing’s best days were behind it.