MMA KO's Boxing in Ohio
by: DarthMolen 1 year, 9 months, 3 days, 8 hours, 12 minutes ago 1
Email Article Print ArticleWhere boxing struggles, MMA breeds happily. This little factoid seems to be endemic in the U.S.A. nowadays. Ohio is no different.
"The Plain Dealer”, a Cleveland Newspaper, ran a great article with actual numerical facts to back up why boxing is losing to MMA. Definitely worth a read. Here is a brief snippet from the article.
What was once one of this country’s mainstream sports is now most often buried in the back of sports pages.
Just look at Cleveland. Three recent shows sum up the state of boxing in this town:
Promoters reduced a Dec. 9 professional card at Public Hall to all of three bouts, mismatches at that. The crowd of about 400 received refunds.
A week later, the national amateur championship qualifier at the Salvation Army Boxing Academy on Hough Avenue produced eight entries and three matches.
On Feb. 10, a women’s title bout featuring Northfield’s Vonda Ward headlined a pro show at Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center. Four men’s undercard matches ranged from less-than-mediocre to ridiculous.
A different scene will unfold Saturday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
The Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championships will showcase its brand of mixed martial arts matches in “UFC 68.”
The event will take place in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,000 and produce a state-record gate approaching $2.7 million. The pay-per-view television buys will fetch millions more.
It really is amazing how so many boxing places can’t get enough kids or participants in their programs while MMA is growing by leaps and bounds. I recall when boxing was the way out for many poor and underprivileged kids. Now there are many more options so any MMA guys are there by choice.