Now I am an old fashion gal when it comes to the sport of compact fighting the first thing that popped into my mind was boxing, naturally! The excitement, the friends you taunt about their fighter and make friendly wagers that are usually left unpaid. The camaraderie. The hype and built up of anticipation all the way up to the night of the fight where you can see great fighters take it in the ring, go pound for pound, take a hit and come back stronger. True champions, <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">Muhammad Ali</span>, <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">Sonny Liston</span>, George Forman, Roberto Duran, Cesar Chavez, <span style="cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">Felix Trinidad</span> where warriors with heart and dignity. Let me share one of my most memorable fights to explain what I am talking about, involving one of the most respected fighters Luis Angel Firpo that occurred in 1923.Firpo challenged world heavyweight champion <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">Jack Dempsey</span> at <span style="cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">New York</span> on September 14, becoming the first Latin American in history to challenge for the title. Firpo was floored seven times in the first round of the bout, before he trapped Dempsey against the ropes and launched a combination that sent the champion out of the ring. Dempsey hit his head against a writer's typing machine, and for a moment, it looked as if Firpo would become world Heavyweight champion. But Dempsey was helped into the ring at the count of nine, and he eventually knocked out Firpo in the second round. This fight has been regarded by critics and experts as one of the greatest fights in history. Despite losing, Firpo gained substantial fame all over <span style="cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">Latin America</span> after this bout, as many people on different parts of that region spoke about his feat of dropping DempseyNow that is what I am talking about pure legendary. What happened to the sport of boxing. Now I am left viewing Arturo Gatti knockout punch into retirement by Gomez, simply shameful. Then being put into coma due to boredom with the Hopkins and Lady Winky(as I call him) fight. Then witnessing Eric Moralas annonce his retirement in his fight aganist Diaz before the decision was announce. I was to say the least disappointed. Not to mention the upcoming high publicized fight involving Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton that is being promoted by Oscar De la Joto( opps) Hoya who is now coming out of retirement, one word FIXED! I went over the edge when I heard of the fight of <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">Trinidad</span> and Jones in the near future. All the headlining fights have one if not both past champions in order for it to be viewed by anyone. There is very few up and coming fighters. Whom are having to fight the once great champions on there way out so they can make a name for themselves, due to not having any worthy opponents. Why is that? Reason being all the fighters are choosing or changing over to fight mix martial arts. If a fighter wants the establish fame and recognion for himself, MMA is where to do so.MY good times are now past times and I am being introduced to a new era of fighters. A whole new style of fighting. All the hooting and holloring from people finally got my attention to the sport of mix martial arts in which a wide variety of fighting techniques are used, including striking and grappling.I have to admit when I first learned of this style fighting I was ammused. Okay the fighter has to know boxing obvisouly, and he also has to know grappling ( ground fighting ) excuse my ignorance but the picture that came to mind was The Boxer vs. Wrestler match, between <span style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; cursor: hand; border-bottom: #0066cc 1px dashed; height: 1em">Muhammad Ali</span> and Antonio Inoki. Ali jumping around the ring and hanging on the ropes! That was comical. However I was quickly informed to what exactly all goes into this extreme intense sport.
Boxing has lost so much momentum over the last decade that even mega-fights like Mayweather vs. De La Hoya, the biggest pay-per-view boxing match of all time, can't generate new, lasting interest in the sport. The future for boxing is extremely cloudy at the moment. Obviously I think it will continue to thrive in places like Latin America, and it is getting bigger and better in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, but boxings appeal in the US is fading. Too many years of corruption, too many fighters getting huge paydays and losing their heart, and not enough young star power.</p> I think we will see some high-end athletes gravitate to MMA. There are kids now that train in all the disciplines, which is very new. The well-rounded fighters you see in the UFC and other federations right now are going to look like dogs compared to these kids growing up with the four-corners foundation of kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling and grappling. The difference will be like comparing the old UFC PPV's to the ones put on now. It is going to be scary. The transitions these new fighters will be able to make between striking, grappling, and ground work will be seamless.</p> I think that is the biggest difference between boxing and MMA right now. MMA is going to improve exponentially; the athletes are going to keep getting better and better, and the sport is going to grow and draw bigger audiences. One can only hope that MMA doesn't go the route of boxing, with promoters and gangsters taking over and corroding the sport from within. </p>
