It’s Time to Save Boxing
Introduction
Boxing is one of the most culturally impactful sports in the world’s history, and has left us with some of the most iconic images ever. But, in recent history boxing has fell off severely as a cultural staple which has led to boxing “dying” and if the sport stays on course boxing will die and it won’t even put up a fight. I would be saddened if a sport that is so culturally influential to history just threw in the towel. Looking at the current state of combat sports it is extremely unlikely that boxing remains the go to for fans of combat as many younger viewers gravitate strongly to the UFC. But, it is time for boxing to put up a fight against the company stealing its fans. With a heap of young talent like Danny Garcia, Andre Ward, Gennady Golovkin, and Canelo Alvarez combined with biggest draw in combat sports history coming soon between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor. There is no better time than the present to fix the critical problems plaguing boxing such as: no central governing body, money in the sport, and how the sport is viewed. This is my attempt at reviving one of the globe’s most cultural impactful sports.
Problems
I think it is essential to realize boxing maybe on its last legs but it is not completely dead yet, but it does have critical problems and they are: the lack of a central governing body, the role money plays in the sport, and how the sport is viewed. These issues are not nearly all the problems plaguing boxing but in my opinion if these problems are fixed the smaller problems hurting the sport will also be fixed. If these problems are not confronted the sport will die.
The first and the most important problem in Boxing is that there is no central governing body for the sport. The sport is currently controlled by four sanctioning bodies they are, International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, and World Boxing Organization (IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO, respectively). One of the biggest issues with multiple sanctioning bodies is that it creates a conflict of who is truly the best. Each one of these bodies has their own “world champion” for each weight class. Not only can there be four separate “world champions” at a time but there are also essentially second place champions who are called “regular” champions. With so many belts and “champions” incentive is taken away from a fighter to become “world champion.” In a sport that simply comes down to beating another man or woman in a fight it should not be this unclear who is the best at their weight. Also, when there is no sole person or group of people looking out for the good of sport, a space where promoters who are only there to create profit for themselves control the sport. They can do this by keeping their fighters out of dangerous fights that might result in their fighter losing or overly exploiting a fighter to grow his name and grow their pockets all the while jeopardizing the fighter’s health. These two problems are essential reasons for a central governing body, there are others which will be touched upon later.
The second biggest problem facing boxing is the role money plays in the sport. Boxing is one of the most lucrative sports in the world and thus money has a very profound impact on the sport, probably more than any sport in the world. By this I do not mean crooked referees and judges but the role that negotiations play in determining who the fans see fighting. For example, the proclaimed “Fight of the Century” was stalled several years due to a business disputes, promotion companies and fighters not agreeing to terms of the fight consequentially hurt the sport. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao would eventually square off May 2nd, 2015 almost six years after fans wanted the fight. By the time both men had fought, Pacquiao had lost twice and both men had moved past their prime. The “super fight” in my eyes had died before the opening bell rung considering Pacquiao was no longer seen as a threat to Floyd’s famed perfect record as he once was. Sure, many of the businessmen and promotors would see the fight as a success considering 4.6 million people bought the fight on Pay-Per View. But what did those 4.6 million people spend their hard earned $89.95 on? A 12-round snooze fest that many boxing analysts predicted well before the fight. These promotors will continue to use this strategy until viewers say enough is enough which I’m sure many long time disgruntled boxing fans said after turning their tv off that night.
Lastly, the viewership problem many fans of boxing have swayed back and forth between the UFC and boxing for several years. But as more exciting fights are happening up and down the UFC card, those boxing fans may have swayed indefinitely to the UFC over the last two years. When you watch a UFC fight from the opening bell both men or women are intent on finishing the fight and doing it in spectacular fashion before the third (during championship matches the fifth) and final bell. This keeps the crowd on their feet anticipating the next match on the card up until the main event which is usually between a true world champion and a serious contender to the title. In contrast, during a boxing card most people don’t know who is fighting before the main event nor do they care. During boxing matches the first third of a 12-round fight it feels like boxers throw a combined 25 punches with the intent of doing serious damage to their opponent. In boxing, once you get to the main event it feels like sigh of relief is released collectively by the fans who can finally watch the only two people they came to see. But, once the bell rings the fans are in for more of the same, four rounds, of “feeling out”. This early “feeling out” process takes away from the action. Meanwhile, the UFC provides action almost every second of every fight on their cards. Currently these problems and many others plague boxing and yet few people are proposing strategies to fix them, until now.
Proposed Solutions
For me to propose solutions to boxing’s problem I have created a scenario in which the four sanctioning bodies have united to create a centralized boxing governing body. As previously stated I believe the most important problem that boxing is facing is the lack of a central governing body. So, in this scenario the governing body has been given the hypothetical name: Unified World Boxing Federation (UWBF). The reason I’ve created this hypothetical scenario is because I believe the only way boxing can move forward is if boxing moves forward completely united. Under the UWBF I’ll propose several ideas I think can make boxing more intriguing and fan friendly.
The first thing I believe a unified boxing commission should do is of course unite the titles, this single handily can change the way boxing is looked at. Each division would now have one world title and thus bringing prestige back to championship belts, this gives fighters something tangible to fight for. In addition to the new single title system, the commission would introduce a ranking system that updates solely on the boxer’s performance. This ranking system would be point based like hockey. Wherein if a fighter scores a knockout or stoppage victory the fighter is awarded three points, two points for a unanimous decision victory, one point for a split-decision victory, zero points for a split-decision loss, a loss of a point for a unanimous decision loss, and a two-point deduction for a knockout or stoppage loss. To further incentivize true “prize fighting” every time a knockdown is scored during the fight 1 point is added to fighters result with a cap of +3 points. This new scoring system would incentivize the fighters to score knockout victory thus creating a more exciting environment for the fan. In addition, this system gets rid of the favoritism people accused Dana White of with the treatment of Conor McGregor as the only way to get a title shot is to climb the rankings. Of course, to make sure that each fight is fair in skill level there would be a 5 ranking “position cap” this means a fighter can’t fight someone who is more than 5 positions above or below him in the rankings. I believe this system creates more interesting matches up and down the card creating a more enjoyable event for the fans, gives the boxers complete control of their standing in the boxing world, and of course makes for better matches due to the knockdown incentive.
Another proposal would be instituting a strict medical board that must be cleared before you can start the negotiating process for a new fight. This medical board will give a proposed resting period and then will test the fighter after that resting period, this test must be passed before the fighter can begin search for a new opponent. Once cleared a 4-month timer begins in which you must sign on to a new fight; if a new fight isn’t signed before this period a fighter will begin to fall one spot down the rankings every month a fight is not signed on. This proposal will keep boxers active and keep the fans happy as they will begin to see their favorite fighters more often. The champions rules would be different as they would have a 6-month timer and if a new fight isn’t negotiated upon before this period the championship will be vacated and the former champion will follow the monthly relegation system. The result, boxing will have more emerging stars and will need more places to expose them which can mean returning to boxing to basic cable networks.
The last proposal is adjusting the boxing match itself, What I suggest is shortening the length of a match from 12 rounds to 9 rounds. The primary purpose of this is shrinking the “feeling out” process. This means the boxers will begin getting after each other earlier increasing the chance of a knockout exponentially. This proposal combined with the new ranking system will create more drama during the fight which will please fans as their favorite fighters will become more aggressive which is why people watch combat sports. I believe these three strategies can set the foundation for a boxing revival and propel it back into the mainstream.
Conclusion
In conclusion, boxing is not yet dead but it is certainly on its last leg and I believe that the time is now to do something drastic to save a sport that has historically been a cultural mainstay. This means boxing needs to solve the problems listed above and it needs to start listening to the viewers instead of just looking at the number of viewers that watch a pay-per view once every two years. Boxing is in serious trouble and if nothing is done soon the fans will throw in the towel.
