“Boxing is dying,” or “boxing is dead” is a quote that has been thrown around a lot by fans of the MMA community and some of the fighters. While MMA has grown to huge audiences and given some many great fighters in their own right the comparisons between the two sports are like comparing apples to oranges. Yes they may similar in a way (fruits, fighting) but they are very different.
Each sport has their own lane, their own audience, their own stars and their own path towards the future. Some athletes cross over with very limited success and many believe their own sport is far superior.
Kamaru Usman is one of the UFC’s top fighters and one of their brightest champions. He’s beaten pretty much everyone in his division and has begun going through the cycle of fighting the same guys a second time but wants to move on from there. For a while he has stated that he would love a fight with Canelo Alvarez in a boxing match. Dana White quickly shut that down and felt it would be a bad move for the “Nigerian Nightmare” but that did not deter Usman.
Lately there has been a war of words developing between Usman and Canelo over social media. Usman felt disrespected because Canelo has no interest in a crossover fight and told Canelo to keep quiet for clapping back at him and calling Canelo a fake champion in the process. Usman finished off by telling Canelo to call White if he needs lessons on how to “save the dying sport of boxing.”
It’s funny how Usman stated that but anyone could point out the contradiction in his words and that is exactly what Jake Paul did (gotta admit, I may not like everything he does but he does do some good for the sport especially for the women’s division and he’s slowly starting to grow on me).
Paul quoted Usman on Twitter while taking shots at him. “Kamaru Usman: ‘boxing is dying.’ Also Kamaru Usman: ‘please Canelo fight me for a payday.'”
While some in the MMA community may feel the same way as Usman there are many that disagree with him. No one in the boxing community feels like the sport is dying especially when you look at the amount fighters make, the arenas and events that get put on and the amount of time the sport has been around. Every sport has its lulls its natural.
I’m personally a fan of both sports. Why can’t I be? I can like both chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The whole boxing is dying thing is ridiculous and Jake Paul does point out a good, obvious point. If it’s dying then why do you want to jump on the train for a ride? After all, you are not going to save it.
