Why does Western Boxing get so much more publicity then MA m

BlackI · Orange Belt

Why does Western Boxing get so much more publicity then MA matches???

Martial_Artist · Pre-Black Belt

People relate to it more.
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monkeygirl · KF VIP

Also, "western boxing" has been around for much longer. Martial Arts really only became popular to Americans with Bruce Lee on the scene. Boxing, however, was popular through the jazz age...because of its popularity during this important age in American history, it's carried through to today, much like other things from the jazz age (say for instance, JAZZ)...except prohibition of course

It's also a revolving cycle...because boxing is more popular, ESPN, HBO & PPV cover it more than MA matches...and boxing matches maintain their popularity because of their huge coverage! To quote a certain large character from Austin Powers 2: "It's a vicious cycle."

Hope that answers your question

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Red J · Black Belt

BlackI, the answer is in your question. Western boxing is exactly that, Western. The traditions born of early America, which were largely European, were and still are more widely accepted than Eastern, esp. Asian, ideas. In other words, it is a cultural preference. To further illustrate the point, look at Western vs. Eastern trends in medicine, or American attitudes toward soccer vs. football.

Now, I would greatly like to see more MA coverage, but ESPN has to show events that are supported by ratings. I saw some coverage of breaking three weeks ago, but that seems to be the exception. Hopefully MA coverage will increase.
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omnifinite · Purple Belt

Maybe because boxing is supposed to be a sport. I don't know the rules of boxing, but it's completely understood and accepted that it has them. That means you can show a big fight on TV or PPV and for the most part people will go, "Hey, that was a pretty good fight." If someone bites an ear off or something they say, "Hey, he can't do that. He cheated."

That doesn't happen with martial arts, because they were made for combat. People watch a competition and go, "Yeah, let's see them use that in real life... he should be dead by now." Or whatever else we say all the time in these forums about sport arts. There's controversy that keeps many people from taking martial arts competitions seriously.

I'd rather not watch martial arts decay into sport arts of course, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having sport arts here and there. Maybe sport arts need an entirely different name separating them from their combat roots to make them more definable and broadcast-friendly. We can't have real martial arts competitions on TV... someone ends up maimed or dead.
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BlackI · Orange Belt

You all have a point. I just wish there was more coverage. It would be good for the MA world. If applied properly. Just look at UFC with the Gracie's, I would have never heard of Brazilian Jujitsu if it was not for that. Now, how much more could we learn if there were more coverage
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G95champ · Black Belt

Guidelines were step early on. Every MA competion you go to has differant rules. No head kicks or 2 pts for a head kick. No takedowns or 3 second hould rule or grapple. Pads or no pads. Boxing is boxing even olympic boxing has differant rulse about points but the matches are still the same.
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Punchdrunk · Orange Belt

Money and Time.

Money. Boxing has powerful sponsors and many more of them than any MMA organization. Money gets air time.

Time. As late as the 1920's boxing was still illegal in many states. With time, came understanding. As companies saw how many fans boxing had and fans grew up to become legislators and people of influence, a large part of society accepted boxing from the top down as well as from the bottom up.

The good news is that bareknuckle boxing through the late 1890's looked a lot like MMA of today. Stand up grappling and throws were as common as punches. From 1780's thru the mid 1850's some matches even had three parts 1)boxing 2) wrestling 3) cudgel or cane fighting. Truly mixed martial arts! It looks as if now we are just completing the circle and MMA may become a mainstream sport yet!

ramcalgary · Blue Belt

i think that one of the reasons is that america has better boxers than martial artists. an most americans prefer to only watch americans fighting for the championships. a prime example of this is lennox lewis. if he were american he would have a much greater profile than he does. although there are many great american mma fighters and kickboxers american ratings for martial arts dont support the need for more ma coverage

even boxing ratings are down compared to the past. if kickboxing could promote one world champion in each division and one world champ in each mma division then maybe the sports could be marketed easier.

with billions of sanctioning bodies recognizing their own world champions it is impossible even for a big ma fan to know the real champs

in my home town of calgary Mike Miles kickboxing cards out draw the boxing cards 10-1 in attendance. it is the quality of his programs that have won over the general public

Jade_Lotus · Orange Belt

People don't laugh at Boxing like they do at the Martial Arts..this has already been covered in another post, so i'll only speak briefly about it. Since they day of the Mcdojo, Martial arts have not been taken seriously. Think about, you take a civilization that is used to what they call the "norm." 2 people standing it up and duking it away. Then they see these little asian men running and flipping around throwing their feet in the air. What do think they'll think?? Quite simply boxing is taken more serioulsy and is not laughed at. That's it in a nut shell for more information you can look at this thread.

http://www.karateforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=53865&highlight=#53865
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