Why has boxing traditonally been more celebrated than MMA Kickboxing or submission fighting?

Question

When these are obviously more spectacular and relevant sports?

Answer 1

Simply because it's much more fun to watch. Lots of slam bang action, those flying mouthpiece, bloody faces and swollen jaws, the tactical competition of the boxers and even the chess match between the coaches. Whereas in MMA, such as the UFC, it's a rare scene to see brawlers go at it all night long, and even if they do, there will always be ground games and clinching that slows down the action. And add it with a jiu-jitsu fighter and a grappler and wrestler, these guys love to the fight in the ground, consume  the opponents energy and wait for the guard to open.

In boxing especially if it is (with the exception of the heavyweight) a title fight, it's almost a given that both fighters will gonna kill each other inside the ring and give the people their money's worth.

Answer 2

You answered the question yourself. Boxing has a longtime tradition. Kickboxing, MMA and submission fighting are quite new in the world of sports. Just give these sports more time to grow.

But I do not agree with your statement of "obviously" more spectacular and relevant.  

First of all: If something is less celebrated than something other it is definitly not obvious that they are more spectacular or relevant. This is just your personal opinion but not a fact and therefor not "obvious" (reality stands against you).

Secondly: More spectacular depends on each fight. I can see nothing spectacular in two men that roll around on the floor for 15 minutes and nothing happens. There are interesting boxing matches and interesting MMA ect. fights. So spectacularity depends on the fight and not the sport.

And relevance of a sport definitly depends on the personal opinion of each and every one of us. Each person has their own relevant sports. (I'm german and despite any other german, soccer is not at least relevant to me, for example). And the general relevance of boxing is given by the many people that celebrate boxing.  

I respect your opinion, but your argumentation has flaws.

Answer 3

because with boxing you stand up and fight like a man. not like the mma kickboxing or submission fighting where you roll-around on the mat like you are butt fvcking each other. the fans don't celebrate that now do they mate?

Answer 4

Boxing is more celebrated because it is the better, more entertaining, and more violent sport.  Boxing is REAL fighting, while MMA is two guys on the ground mounting and humping each other until somebody quits.  In a street fight, you are not going to roll around on the ground and look like you're going to make love to your opponent, you're going to stand up and fight like a man until somebody goes down and can't get up- thats what boxing is about.  Boxing has and always will have more fans because it is so much more fun to watch unless you like to watch two guys grope each other for like 15 straight minutes.  The recent fights that boxing has been putting on are lightyears ahead of anything that MMA has ever put on.  Boxing is also more violent; ask any qualified person and they'll tell you that you have a far greater chance of dieing or  being permanently or seriously injured in boxing than you do in MMA.  The reason is fairly simple- you are taking so much more hits to the head which results in subdural hematomas (bleeding on the brain), or dementia pugilistica (a form of Parkinson's).  You don't get that in MMA with all of these quick tapouts.  Boxing has more stars and by far, way more money because in UFC, the biggest guys are all washed up and are losing to other crappy "fighters" (Chuck Lidell is the best example).  When the best fight the best, like they are currently, there is no other sport that can compare to boxing (especially MMA).

Answer 5

at the end of the day mma is the fastest growing sport and has more fans now than boxing FACT

Answer 6

Because boxing is better.

Answer 7

it depends on where you are in the world. boxing is the west's martial art. if you were in another country such as japan where they have many martial arts which are more complex such as Judo then it would be diferent.

Answer 8

Patrick G. dont know c**p, Like Jim Lampley stated " boxing has been dying for 100 yrs and has yet to dissappear. In boxing their is drama take the Marquez vs. Vazquez III. if marquez is to attack Vazquez in the 4th round while Vazquez is on the ground, there wouldn't of have been that great drama in the last round with just seconds remaining.

These reason I think we haven't seen much of the UFC, MMA,WEC, UPN, CNN, ACL, etc. is that fact that boxing is putting top notch fights and the UFC can only focus on "THE ICEMAN"Chukles Liddel. what ever his name is.