Media Review: The UFC is showing boxing how it’s done

Broadcasts

The comparability between boxing and combined martial arts (MMA) has been ongoing for many years. It’s a barely unfair debate on condition that they’re totally completely different sports activities and that one is centuries older than the opposite. That being mentioned, the meteoric rise of the Final Preventing Championship (UFC) has made the talk extra worthwhile, significantly with regards to the package deal that’s provided to followers.

Boxing has lengthy been the most well-liked fight sport on the earth and has the potential to be one of many greatest sports activities outright. However the UFC – significantly with its international growth over the previous decade – is beginning to present up the candy science. Should you want proof, simply take a look at the previous couple of weeks.

First there was the Conor Benn debacle, which remains to be ongoing by the best way. Makes an attempt to barrel by with the Chris Eubank Jnr battle regardless of a failed drug check threw boxing into disrepute. Then got here the one-two punch that potential fights between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and likewise Terence Crawford and Errol Spence is not going to be taking place anytime quickly.

As a substitute, Fury is combating Derek Chisora in a pointless trilogy battle and Crawford will face David Avanesyan in a stable however in the end underwhelming title defence. Spence and Joshua are but to substantiate their subsequent steps.

That’s an actual tough patch for boxing. The one glimmer of hope we’ve had was the superb contest between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall. Looking forward to the remainder of the calendar 12 months, there’s not a complete lot to get actually enthusiastic about both.

In the meantime, this previous weekend the UFC staged its most stacked card of the 12 months (even perhaps of the previous few years). Regardless of happening in Abu Dhabi the occasion bought large protection each within the UK and the US.

A brand new light-weight champion in Islam Makhachev was topped with a dominant efficiency. He was then confronted by the UFC’s pound-for-pound No 1 fighter Alexander Volkanovski, with each verbally agreeing to battle one another subsequent 12 months in Australia, Volkanovski’s house nation.

The cardboard didn’t dwell as much as the frankly stratospheric expectations of followers but it surely was nonetheless a convincing success. And in simply a few weeks the UFC will likely be staging one other blockbuster occasion, this one topped by Israel Adesanya defending his middleweight title towards outdated rival Alex Pereira. Then there’ll be one other large present in Las Vegas a month later. Oh, and the corporate’s introduced a PPV present in Australia for early 2023.

The explanation we’re speaking about UFC broadcasts in a boxing journal is as a result of they’re an instance of what occurs while you get it proper. Boxing and MMA have many variations however at their core they’re the identical; they take two combatants, place them inside clearly-defined boundaries they usually battle to find out who is healthier.

The UFC isn’t with out its issues but it surely’s persistently been going from power to power. Not solely is there rather a lot to be discovered from this, however there’s additionally the rising threat of the UFC and MMA absorbing extra of boxing’s viewers. It’s not a zero-sum sport, however each sports activities are costly to comply with – particularly with all of the PPVs on supply – and extra informal followers are turning towards the slicker, extra dependable productions of the UFC.

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That being mentioned, in accordance with media firm SportsPro at the least, boxers are rather more marketable than MMA fighters. They just lately launched their annual record of the highest 100 most marketable athletes on the planet, utilizing what SportsPro dubs a “Marketability Rating” based mostly on three components: “model power, economics and viewers.”

No MMA fighters featured within the high 100 whereas 4 boxers made the reduce. Irish celebrity Katie Taylor was the highest-ranked fighter, coming in at 47. Canelo Alvarez (64), Tyson Fury (75) and Anthony Joshua (88) had been the opposite three.

Though SportsPro compiles a full record of 100 athletes, it primarily focuses on the highest 50, of which Taylor is the one inclusion from the world of boxing. Her place places her simply forward of England captain Harry Kane and golfer Rory McIlroy.

These types of lists ought to all the time be taken with a pinch of salt – an athlete’s marketability is sort of inconceivable to definitively quantify – but it surely’s nonetheless vital that Taylor is so excessive up, particularly compared to the likes of Canelo and Joshua.

She just lately spoke to DAZN forward of her upcoming battle with Karen Carabajal this weekend, indicating that retirement – whereas not imminent – is one thing that has been on her thoughts. She uttered these notorious phrases, “I can’t do that ceaselessly,” and now she is going to probably be dogged by questions on simply how lengthy she thinks she will do it.

That might be unfair given she’s nonetheless the very best feminine fighter on the planet. Each time Taylor does resolve to hold them up, it’ll be fascinating to look again at her influence on the game.

Within the wake of the collapse of a Spence-Crawford battle, each males have spoken to varied media shops about how they’ve completed the whole lot they’ll to get the battle made. That is a part of the issue with protection of negotiations – there’s nearly no likelihood that both Spence or Crawford didn’t need this battle. All fighters wish to face the very best opposition potential.

When fights break down, it’s usually by no means due to the fighters. They shouldn’t want to talk within the press about how badly they wished a battle and what concessions they made to get it completed.

Additionally, the criticism of Fury’s and Crawford’s groups for having back-up choices to the superfights they had been negotiating is weird. It’s simply good enterprise sense to have one other battle to fall again on – even when the alternate options are disappointing.

Boxing on the Field

October 29

Katie Taylor-Karen Carabajal

DAZN

Protection begins at 7pm

October 30

Vasiliy Lomachenko-Jamaine Ortiz

Sky Sports activities Motion

Protection begins at 1am

Joseph Diaz-William Zepeda

DAZN

Protection begins at 1am

November 1

Kenshiro Teraji-Hiroto Kyoguchi

DAZN

Protection begins at 10am