By Byron Wallin: Having fallen in love with boxing at a young age, it is with great regret and sadness that this writer finds himself composing this article.
Boxing was once the sport of kings, true warriors from a variety of backgrounds, ethnic groups and nations were given a world stage to display their heart, skill and grit, in order to prove their worth and make a legitimate claim as to be being the best. However, over recent decades this great sport has been eroded away, by promoters, sanctioning bodies, cable giants, as well as those fighters who believe themselves’ to be bigger than the sport which made them.
There are in my opinion only a small number of true champions left out there, a few warriors of the old code of boxing. Men who step into the ring without advantages such as catch weights, without knowing they will be victorious against a fighter who is not in their league, without a favourable purse split so they may burn money in front of TV cameras as an example of their supposed greatness. Carl Froch, Juan Manuel Marquez, Michael Katsidis and though now a shell of his former self Shane Mosely, are some examples of these fighters. They hark back to the values of the legends of the sport, such as Dempsey, Ali, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Benn, Gatti, Ward, and countless others from the old generations.
All the aforementioned fighters new and old, had incurred losses on their record, but it does not detract from memories of their greatness. Those losses are battle scars from frequently engaging combat with the best in the world, sometimes in unforgettable trilogies in desperation to prove themselves as the better man.
Sadly, the closest thing to the spirit of this once noble art of combat can now only be consistently found within the cage of the octagon. Dana White is currently running a sport reminiscent of how boxing once was. A sensible number of weight divisions, one champion per weight, and a sport in which the number one contender is always the first to get his shot at taking the champions greatness for himself.
When watching a UFC fight, you can rarely say with certainty which fighter is going to win. Most of their greatest fighters have several losses as they are consistently matched tough throughout their career on a steep learning curve. If you compare the UFC’s last two pay per view events with those of Mayweather and Hopkins in terms of main event as well as the whole card, sadly there is no comparison.
This writer will always be first and foremost a boxing fan at heart. Although, this may be more born out of nostalgia from the days when boxing truly was the greatest sport on earth.
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