http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2007/05/25/news/iq_14516257.txt
Blue namer please.
After years of interviewing other people for articles it's funny to see myself as a source in a story.
Thanks Tahiti
"The three-round bouts are unpredictable, he said, unlike boxers poking paws at each other for 10 or 12 rounds."
Losing your affinity for boxing Probst?
"Jason Probst, a journalist who has covered the UFC, WEC and boxing for sites such as www.maxboxing.com, says the UFC's acumen has made the WEC organization more legitimate. While the sport of boxing "is in the worst slump I've ever seen," Probst said he sees nothing but good things in the future of these combative sports.
It's the 'X' factor of mixed martial arts that draws so much attention, according to Probst. One minute a fighter can be dominating a fight, then he suddenly gets knocked out. The three-round bouts are unpredictable, he said, unlike boxers "poking paws at each other for 10 or 12 rounds."
The WEC's lack of heavyweights works both in its favor and against, Probst explains. The big guys "are like the meat to throw at audiences" but WEC showcases talent that might otherwise go unseen. "Heavyweights are fun ... but these guys never run out of gas," he said.
For Probst, the bottom line is that these fighters, many of whom he knows personally, get paid. Not only will the WEC fighters make more under the UFC's umbrella, Probst says the compensation and sponsorship will allow them to train full-time, which he says makes the sport safer.
Good stuff, Jason;)
Cindy
Chappie, since I do round by round for max and have ordered EVERY PPV boxing match for the last four years, yes. Boxing is fucking boring.
Try sitting through John Ruiz-Fres Oquendo, Chris Byrd's matches, Freitas-Raheem, and about forty others. Or Spinks-Jermain.
Understandable, but there have also been countless highly exciting matches as well. During the last four years, you have had the opportunity to watch Corales-Castillo, Pavlik-Miranda, Morales-Barrera, Pacquiao-Marquez, etc, etc. Personally, I would greatly prefer to watch any of the boxing matches that you named over Sylvia-Arlovski III, O'Brien-Herring, Koscheck-Sanchez, Lindland-Doerksen, and the majority of the matches involving the guys from TUFF.
There are hits and misses in both sports. You are preaching to the choir if you're telling me some MMA bouts are boring. But MMA has yet to EVER try and charge $50 for shit like:
Oscar-Campos
Oscar-Floyd
Ruiz heavyweight cards with all Don King's crap fight
Hopkins-Joppy PPV card with crap undercard
I can go on all day.
Thanks.
Chappie is right about one thing, Pavlik vs. Miranda was a great bout, but.......... did you see the "main event" that followed it? Even the HBO announcers couldnt say anything about Spinks/Taylor other than what a pitiful display it was. That was a direct quote, pitiful display. Other words like "pathetic", "horrible" and "borderline unwatchable" came from the lips of boxing's biggest cheerleaders, Lampley and Merchant. The fans started booing in the 2nd round. If Lampley cant stand to watch it, how doing you think the paying customer felt?
A few more "main events" like that one and Boxing will find itself being broadcast on ESPN8, right after the Dodgeball world cup, but before professional needlepoint.
Your right about the Taylor/Spinks match Chimono, but aleast the HBO announcing crew had the detachment & intellectual courage to admit that the fight sucked - where as the UFC announcing crew (primarly Goldie & Dana White on TUFF)rave about the bullshit merits of every UFC fight.