UFC vs Boxing, Part III

This is part III in a series detailing why I think the UFC is a better sport right now than boxing. Part I talks about the mess that is the various ranking systems and title belts in boxing. Part II talks about the better marketing efforts by the UFC.

Reason #3 – Better Pay-Per-View Events

The biggest PPV event boxing has offered so far this year is the Oscar De La Hoya vs Floyd Mayweather Jr fight. Held at the Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and heavily promoted by HBO with their mini-series chronicling the fighters in the weeks leading up to the fight, it was billed as the event that was going to save boxing, to put boxing back on the map and rejuvenate interest. After all, it was the current WBC junior middleweight champion and six-division champion De La Hoya against what some people believed to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world in Mayweather Jr. The publicity worked – the fight set the all-time record for PPV buys for a boxing match with 2.15 million households tuning in.

The result? A match in which neither fighter was ever in command of the other, with Mayweather Jr. clearly avoiding a brawl with De La Hoya by moving around and throwing a quick flurry of punches whenever De La Hoya was able to catch up to him. Mayweather Jr. was declared the winner in a loudly booed split decision that even had Mayweather Jr's own father questioning the judges.

Who actually won the fight, however, is not the issue. What is more important is whether or not the fans got what they paid for. At best, the fight was uneventful. At worst, outright boring. If only there were some other fights on the card that could also have provided some entertainment to supplement the main event. Oh, yeah, there was. But can you name who the fighters were and who won? I would bet that 95% of the PPV subscribers can't. Why? It was unimportant and worse yet, uninteresting.

Is the UFC immune from bad decisions and boring fights? Of course not. But just take a look at the fight card of a typical PPV event. A glance at the fight card for the upcoming UFC 74 to be held at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas on August 25 shows that there are 5 fights guaranteed to be broadcast on PPV. There are 4 other fights that are held in the same evening that could also be broadcast should one of the other fights end quickly. It's a virtual guarantee that PPV viewers are going to see at least one great fight, most likely more than one. Boxing can't say that.

But are the other fighters any good or are they no-name fighters like the undercard of boxing events? You can see that for yourself. Just look at the packed arena for all of these fights, not just the main event. It will stand in stark contrast to the rows of empty seats during boxing PPV events. That will speak for itself.