{"id":14,"date":"2010-07-20T20:35:07","date_gmt":"2010-07-20T20:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/?p=14"},"modified":"2010-07-20T20:35:07","modified_gmt":"2010-07-20T20:35:07","slug":"%e2%80%9cground-n-pound%e2%80%9d-vs-%e2%80%9cfloat-like-a-butterfly-and-sting-like-a-bee%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/?p=14","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ground n Pound\u00e2\u20ac\u009d vs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Float like a Butterfly and Sting like a Bee\u00e2\u20ac\u009d"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no secret; the sport of boxing is struggling. The sport has been on a steady downward spiral. With limited headliners and a shrinking market, it almost faded away. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to the point, you would rather reflect on the fights of old than even mention some of the up and comers of today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boxing world. The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), has taken the box off by storm! Championship fights have sold out box offices, made millions on pay per view and has turned Champions into household names. You can almost say that it has taken place as the second most entertaining contact sport on American TV (football is in 1st<\/sup> place).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the top names in the UFC have risen to become marketable. Randy Couture has his own workout tape, Quinton \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rampage\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jackson starred in a movie, Brock Lesnar (wresting great) has joined the league as one of it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s top and most feared competitors and so on\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Who does boxing have? Who is selling tickets in the boxing world besides Floyd Mayweather Jr. The answer is FEW. It has been on a steady decline. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., two competitors at the peak of their careers, have yet to fight! This could be a fight of the century. However, in typical, modern day boxing style, they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to get in the ring because of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153business\u00e2\u20ac\u009d aspect of it. Can you imagine that? The two prizefighters have been procrastinated fighting each other because of technicalities in the contract. It is hurting the sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The heavy weight division in boxing has vanished.\u00c2\u00a0 Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko (brothers) have dominated the division for too long! Simply because there is, no one left to fight. Lennox Lewis is retired and Holyfield and Tyson are washed-up. There are no more competitors left to fight for the title. That is terrible for a sport that, at one point in time, had endless talent in that division. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to watch a heavy weight fight and take it seriously now. Most of the contenders are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no-name\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, out of shape, and lack the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d factor it takes to draw anybodies attention. The average person does not even know who the heavy weight champion is. That is ridiculous considering the fact that in the past, whoever ruled over that division was on the front cover of every sports magazine, cereal box and sports drink commercial.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UFC is on TV almost every week with a different group of up and comers just waiting to shine. With boxing, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re only going to get two, maybe three good fights a YEAR! Not enough to keep it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fan base satisfied.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have to wonder does the style play a big part as well. How often do you get to see an opponent be hit while he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s down. A knockout isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a knockout unless the opponent is completely unconscious in the UFC. Fighters have taken bone crushing blow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to the head and have battled back to victory. You can choke them out, break their arm, elbow them in them in the eye\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 almost anything goes! There is always the shock factor in each fight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although, boxing can still hold it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own. The art of the sport is still legendary. The skill and precision it takes to out punch and score on your opponent takes uncanny guile. The footwork, hand speed, raw power, presence in the ring, slyness to avoid punches, cunning craftiness to counter-punch and unparalleled conditioning are what still makes the sport relevant. Can boxing stand a chance? Can their ratings rise and compete with the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ground n pound\u00e2\u20ac\u009d nation\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Yes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The answer lies in the original headliners, the heavy weights. With a new batch of talent, the heavy weight division will strive in no time! People have been craving to see another classic grudge match with the big guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throwing down. The UFC is no joke, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something about the competition in two men standing toe to toe and matching blow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with one another in the traditional style. Using the art of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bob and weave\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to avoid punches and knocking another man out on his feet\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The only question now is, are there any fighters out there who are still interested in Boxing and not going along with the popular vote and learning mixed-martial arts\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Boxing still stands a chance!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no secret; the sport of boxing is struggling. The sport has been on a steady downward spiral. With limited headliners and a shrinking market, it almost faded away. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to the point, you would rather reflect on the fights of old than even mention some of the up and comers of today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boxing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blacksenses.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}