(Broken) Time Bandit wrote:On a wider note, isn't it time to accept that in the absence of something pretty major shaking up boxing in the US in particular, the UFC and MMA are going to take over?
I don't think so. UFC PPVs, on the whole, attract more sales than boxing PPVs; but so does the WWE, and it has done for years. The argument about boxing
needing to change usually crops up when the Heavyweight division is struggling. Nothing illustrates this more than the current view held by many U.S. boxing critics who hope David Haye will provide a similar jolt to the division that Mike Tyson gave to it in the late 80s. That doesn't mean the other weight divisons aren't packed with excellent boxers.
However, it'll be interesting to see how the Prizefighther format takes off: Barry Hearn mentioned on Setanta that major TV networks from North America, Africa and Asia want to run similar shows, and that opens the door for nation vs. nation and continent vs. continent style events. That said, it is more of a novelty; 'Twenty20 boxing' if you will.
