It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks and maybe that is true for boxing. But old things also have a lot of rich history that new things can learn from.
MMA maybe gaining in popularity, but it's a fairly new sport while boxing was there even before my great grandfather was born. It has also made its contribution in history with popular historic figures like Muhammad Ali. We have come to know some historic bouts from the sport like the Ali-Frazier, Gatti-Ward, Hagler-Hearns, and other famous trilogies. We have also come to know the bad boys in boxing like Oscar De La Hoya and Mike Tyson who is now a house hold name despite his infamous acts outside the ring. MMA still doesn't have those. On the other side, mixed martial arts is more on the modern side and is now attracting modern fans while boxing is stuck in its past. Boxing fans compare modern fighters to past fighters while UFC and other organizations are making their own history with their current line-up of modern fighters that their fans can't compare to anybody in the past.
One thing that boxing also lacks is media distribution. While UFC, Pride, and King of the Cage have fight DVD's that fans can own and watch when they want, boxing only has pay-per-views and your good ol' VCR to record those. Alas, VHS tapes can be bulky and some of us are too lazy to record it. There are some websites that do sell boxing fight DVD's, but they are limited and it would be better if there was an official boxing DVD seller like maybe HBO or something? Or each promoter could sell the fights they have promoted on DVD's.
Bottomline: it would greatly help if boxing, like MMA, catered to the younger generation and stopped looking at what has already passed. Take advantage of what is popular to the fans and what the fans like and maybe it'll gain more. Follow mixed martial arts' example of promotion. This is my take on this matter. Please feel free to post opinions.
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