10 Reasons to Love Boxing after the Mayweather v. Pacquiao fight

By DominatorGavetron - 05/06/2015 - Comments

1-IMG_8325By Denominator Gavetron:

The Party: What I have learned by watching boxing is that no matter how good or bad the fight is, the party is always great. This past weekend is the perfect example of that, unless your cable went out. At the Fight Party I went to, I could not find 1 person whether it be a Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao fan, who was satisfied with the fight.

By the end of the night, or beginning of the next morning, I could not find 1 person who didn’t have a great time at the fight party. Bottom line is people naturally like to socialize, hang out, enjoy life and have a good time and there is not better reason to invite people over than a boxing fight. So when you’re wondering what to do on a Saturday night, fire up the barbeque, invited your buddies over, watch a fight and have a good time.

Lucas Matthysse: Lucas Matthysse 37-3-1 with 34 KO from Argentina is a casual boxing fans dream with just under 90% of his fights ending with a knock out. His all offense and little defense style make his fights something to watch. Despite a loss to Danny Garcia 30-0 (17 KO) on the Mayweather / Canelo undercard after head bump nearly closed Matthysse’s right eye, he is a fighter that people should want to see. In the fight before Garcia, Matthysse KO’d Lamont Peterson 33-3-1 (17 KO) in the 3rd round. After the Garcia fight, he KO’d John Molina Jr. in the 11th round in a 2014 fight of the year candidate for and most recently won a 12 round decision in a war with Ruslan Provodnikov 24-4 (17 KO) in a sure to be fight of the year candidate for 2015.

Boxing Does Not Discriminate: By far, boxing is the most diverse mainstream sport in the world. Boxing is the only sport that has witnessed world champions from truly all over the world. On Saturday there were 12 boxers from 7 different countries fighting on the Mayweather / Pacquiao card. Currently there are World Champions from over twenty different countries in sixteen weight divisions. Despite a history centered on racial conflict, boxing in the 21st century is a sport open any and all competitors.

Keith Thurman: “One Time” 25-0 (21 KO) as he is appropriately nicknamed for being able to catch most of his opponents with that “One” punch that ends fights. Although he has not fought the level of competition of most household names in boxing, he did turn in an exciting performance on national television by pounding Robert Guerrero 32-3-1 (18 KO) for a 12 round unanimous decision. Thurman is a fighter fans should pay attention to because he is a fighter who wants to please the fans and give them what they want to see which are big punches and knockouts.

“It’s Showtime”: To quote the great Jimmy Lennon Jr., watching boxing live in person is “Showtime”. Compared to other sports, the price of admission to good fights, other than Mayweather / Pacquiao, are pretty good deals. Many sports like football are simply better to watch on TV and can cost in excess of $100 for the cheap seats. Although the atmosphere at a football game can be electric, boxing events offer a great atmosphere, price and view. With most boxing events held at smaller venues, even the cheap seats give fans a good view of the action in a fight. Once you witness the excitement of boxing in person, you will be sure to make another trip.

Terence Crawford: Terence Crawford 26-0 (18 KO) from Omaha Nebraska is a fighter that fans should clear their schedules to watch. Crawford’s coming out party was in March of 2014 when he won the WBO Lightweight title from Ricky Burns in front of Burns hometown fans of Glasgow, Scotland in a 12 round unanimous decision. In his next fight in front of a packed house in his hometown he destroyed Yuriorkis Gamboa 24-1 (17KO) with a 9th round knockout in a fan friendly fight that saw Gamboa hit the canvas several times. Crawford’s success in 2014 earned him ESPN’s Fighter of the Year honors. In Crawford’s last fight he destroyed Thomas Dulorme 22-2 (14 KO) with a 6th round knockout. In that fight Dulorme looked to be in a competitive fight until after the 5th round when Crawford’s corner told him to go for it which resulted in Dulorme lasting only another minute and fifty-one seconds on his feet.

Boxing is not MMA: Although many people around the world have become fans of mixed martial arts over the last 20 years, it cannot compare to boxing. There may be great knockouts in MMA from time to time, but they are not the result skill. The small gloves make it much easier to turn out the lights on your opponent which takes a lot of skill out of the sport. Even the great fighters are susceptible to being knocked out with one lucky punch at any moment. When they are not knocking each other out they are rolling on the ground with each other or holding each other’s arms down so no one can throw a punch. Let’s be honest, if you were in a bar fight and the other guy kicked your leg out and then took you to the ground and tried to break your arm, you would call him a sissy for fighting like that.

Sergey Kovalev: Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev 27-0-1 (24 KO) has become a household name over the last couple of years. Kovalev, the Sports Illustrated and Ring Magazine 2014 fighter of the year has drawn in fans with a knockout percentage just under 90%. In his last two fights, he was able to take Bernard Hopkins 55-7-2 (32 KO) WBA and IBF Super Lightweight belts and finish off Jean Pascal 29-3-1 (17 KO) in the 8th round of their fight. Kovalev is not only a devastating puncher but also a polished boxer who stalks his opponents, finds their weakness and then goes in for the kill. If Adonis Stevenson 26-1 (21 KO) ever gets the courage to fight Kovalev, fight fans will have a great fight to watch.

The Purest Sport: Out of all types of athletic competition, boxing is the purest sport. Most athletic competitions are team oriented where one person may perform badly but can be picked up by a teammate and still be victorious. In other individual sports, although it is one on one, the victor does not have to physically beat his opponent. In boxing, two men enter the ring, stand toe to toe, physically beat each other and when it is over one person comes out victorious. Boxing is referred to as the “Sweet Science” because despite its brutality, the victor is going to be the better trained, better skilled and smarter fighter. Because of this, the respect between boxers is unlike any other sport. Yes boxers love to trash talk before the fight, but when it is they give each other a hug and pay their respects. Even the biggest trash talker alive, Floyd Mayweather, gives his opponents the respect they deserve for putting their lives on the line inside of the squared circle.

Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin: Triple G 32-0 (29 KO) as he is commonly referred to has taken the sport of boxing by storm and is the number one must see fighter. With 19 straight victories coming by the way of a knockout and an overall knockout percentage over 90% all of his fights keep fans glued to the television. In addition to his freakish power, GGG is a skilled boxer who cuts off the ring and hunts his opponent like the King of the jungle. The only problem for Golovkin is getting other respected boxers to get in the ring with him. After his next fight against Willie Monroe Jr on May 16 it will be interesting to see who is up for the challenge of facing Golovkin. No matter whom he steps in the ring with, chances are they will fall and GGG will continue to rise.



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