I was thinking about the Pacquiao/Rios fight tonight and just got really angry with boxing on the whole. There are so many flaws in their sport that are holding it back from being a big deal again. Sure you could say MMA is taking away a lot of the athletes that would have turned to boxing in the past, but the sport of boxing and it’s sanctioning bodies should have adapted. Everyone knows boxing is in trouble, yet nobody seems to be willing to do anything.

I’m not sure we have seen anything like what is going on in boxing in any sport before. So I am going to have to get hypothetical to make a comparison, so bare with me. Imagine if we lived in a world in which there was no NBA, but instead the six divisions were their own league. Now imagine if guys like Lebron and Dwight Howard decided to play in the NFL. It would really hurt hoops talent pool right? Now imagine if those six individual leagues just decided to stay the course and hope things get better, instead of making something happen… like by tightening things up by joining forces.

That may have been a bit of a reach, but that is where boxing stands. They keep losing potential stars in their sport to MMA. Yet instead of making things more interesting, they have decided to stay the course and plow forward with seventeen weight classes and four title belts in each class.

Do you know what separates a Strawweight and Bantamweight? 15 pounds, three other weight classes and 12 other championship belts. Is that not insane? Boxing is a sport that has guys cutting their weight in the final days leading up to the weigh in, only to then get back into fighting condition and put on a few pounds before the actual fight. If that’s the way your sport works, then why do you need weight classes separated by about four pounds each?

So with 17 weight classes and four belts a piece, that makes for 68 total championship belts. Let me tell you some of the names on ESPN’s pound for pound rankings. While I’m sure some of you may recognize these names but most probably won’t. Andre Ward, Sergio Martinez, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Nonito Donaire, and Carl Froch are all inside the top 10. That is half of the top 10 I have either not heard of at all, or have heard very little about. So there are 68 championship belts up for grabs, and I barely know half of the top 10 best boxers on the planet.

The sport with perhaps the most history is about to fade out of existence and nobody involved seems to care. If they did they would do something along the lines of eliminating half the weight classes and reducing the title belts to one per weight class. Wouldn’t tightening boxing up make it more interesting to follow? It’s like everyone is just stubborn and refuses to acknowledge that their sport is struggling like no other major sport has.

God forbid they make it so that the actual champions are recognizable names. By making one title belt per weight class and eliminating half of them, since guys end up fighting over that weight anyway, you would create a reason for fans to tune into what’s going on with boxing instead of just tuning in when there is a good fight on. Consequently that would create young fans of the sport that would aspire to become the next champion.

If there was only one heavyweight title belt, do you think the Klitschko brothers still would refuse to fight one another? Because I’m pretty sure if only one of them held the belt the other would have some brotherly jealousy and want to take it from him. Brothers are born to compete against each other. But since they are both known as heavyweight champions, there is no need for them to get in the ring together.

WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF you are all pieces of shit and should be held responsible for the death of one of America’s all time greatest sports.

PS. If you are looking to bet the fight tonight take Rios and the +300 value. Pacquiao’s career might be over. There is no way you can take him as a -500 favorite. You would be laying way too much.

mlz

Saturday, November 23, 2013