Why is Boxing Dead?

I am writing to express my concern in the decline of the GREAT sport of boxing. Boxing has seen a decline in popularity the last few years and I cannot understand why, especially since it has taken a back seat to mixed martial arts. MMA may be entertaining for about the first 10 seconds of a fight, but the combatants are quickly on the floor competing in a cuddle session of grapples. In boxing there are no surprises. You have to guys that will stay on their feet and continually throw punches. Boxing has withstood the tests of time as an American standard, but needs to come back into the mainstream of sports popularity. However, I cannot blame the people for not sticking with it. Can you imagine having to pay $50 to watch the Super Bowl? Unfortunately you have to pay a lot of money to see top fights, or make your way to a bar that is willing to purchase it (and if living in small town this can be really hard to come by).

I beg of everyone to give boxing a chance or rediscover their love for the sport. The last two months of the year will have many action packed bouts. Tomorrow we see undefeated Joe Calzaghe go against the legend Roy Jones Jr. Calzaghe claims he will be retiring after the fight, but I foresee the winner going against Bernard Hopkins in an old-guy showdown. It is a PPV fight, but this will be an epic battle, so head to your best sports bar which SHOULD have it. Other top notch November fights include Jeff Lacy vs. Jermain Taylor (Nov. 15 on HBO). Jeff Lacy is one of my five favorite boxers at the moment and I would love nothing more than for him to kick the crap out of the cocky Taylor. If you are a fan of the smaller fighters then you will not want to miss Steve Molitor vs. Celestino Cabellero in a fight for the vacant junior featherweight IBA title (Nov. 21 on Showtime). November 22 will pit the top two junior welterweight fighters as Paulie Malignaggi tries to take away the Ring Magazine belt from Ricky Hatton. Check that out on HBO. Then we close out November with a fight for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title as Verno Phillips takes on Paul Williams. I expect Phillips to win this handily, but my main interest in this evening lies in the under card. Local Tallahassee boy, Travis Walker, will fight top IBF heavyweight contender Cris Arreola. A win for Walker will see him facing Wladimir Kiltischko for the belt, and bringing the heavyweight title back to the states. These two fights can be seen on HBO, November 29.

Tune in to all (or at least one) of these fights and I assure you no disappointment.