UFC vs. Boxing Review - NOVEMBER

Updated Monthly

12-02-09

By Joe Harrison

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

Out of all the major fights that took place in October, whether it was Couture vs. Vera, Valuev vs. Haye, Ortiz vs. Griffin, or Bute vs. Andrade, nothing seemed more anticipated than the clash between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. After Pacquiao battered Cotto left and right until the bout was finally waived off during the final round, nothing else seemed to matter anymore. It was no longer about Fedor’s knockout over Brett Rogers, which was brilliant and witnessed by many. It was not about Jose Aldo dethroning Mike Thomas Brown of the WEC lightweight belt. No, it was all about making Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. a reality.

Right now, it appears that the bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather is all but signed. Once everything is set, and a location is chosen, we can all look forward to a potential record-breaking event. Hardcore boxing fans everywhere will be glad to know that their favorite sport is under the biggest spotlight it has felt since Tyson-Lewis, De La Hoya-Trinidad, or even Hagler-Hearns. The only problem is whether or not the sport can keep that spotlight.

Manny Pacquiao is considering retirement after he faces Mayweather. Even before he faced Cotto, Pacquiao had expressed his intention to retire after 1 or 2 more bouts. If this is true, who will boxing fans rely on to be boxing’s big star? It is doubtful that Mayweather will stick around if he hopes to keep his undefeated record in tact. Then again, if he loses to Pacquiao, where will Floyd go, and will anyone care? Plus, there are no American heavyweights in sight to dethrone the Klitschkos and restore the significance of heavyweight boxing in America. Most of the sport’s biggest names are gone or leaving, such as Oscar De La Hoya, Roy Jones Jr., and eventually Bernard Hopkins.

Evidently, boxing is not the only sport having issues. The most prestigious MMA organization, the UFC, appears to be on the decline as well.

Perhaps Couture’s decision win over Vera at UFC 105 was not expected to be on everyone’s radar that evening, but UFC 106 a week later was looking to be very delightful with a heavyweight championship fight involving Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin. Instead, we were treated with a rematch between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz, which Griffin won by decision. A decent scrap, but no where near as exciting as seeing Lesnar and Carwin go at it. The dominos continued to fall from there.

Lesnar vs. Carwin was looking to be rescheduled for UFC 108 in January, but suddenly reports were claiming that Lesnar was seriously ill, had an intestinal infection, or was suffering from mono. Either way, it appears that Lesnar will be out for a while. Then it appeared that UFC 108 would include Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez, but Nogueira announced that he was injured. At least it appears that they will still fight at UFC 110. When it was revealed that Gabriel Gonzaga would face Junior dos Santos at UFC 108, it was reported that Gonzaga was injured and could not fight. UFC fans began to panic, wondering what was happening to their precious heavyweight division.

Questions and complaints are now swirling all around UFC fans everywhere. Why are there matches being set up between has-beens like Randy Couture and Mark Coleman? Why can’t UFC 108 be better? Are we dealing with more rematches because the UFC is running out of good prospects?

Overall, it doesn’t seem that the UFC fans should be worrying too much. For some time now, mixed martial arts has been on the offense because of its rise, and boxing had been on the defense because of its own decline. While boxing gyms have closed down at numerous locations, more MMA gyms are opening up everywhere, so it’s doubtful that finding prospects will be an issue. While you are now seeing one or two massive boxing pay-per-views a year, the UFC still has multiple major pay-per-view events per year.

So what are the odds? Even if the rise of UFC’s popularity has reached a halt, it’s still high enough. You don’t even need to be in the UFC to be shown on CBS, such as Fedor. This proves the sport of MMA is in the right direction. On the other hand, boxing has plenty to worry about with all the different weight divisions, different sanctioning bodies, and lack of spectacular names. Bottom line: the UFC should be fine, but boxing needs more than just Pacquiao vs. Mayweather in the long run. Then again, without Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, the sport would inevitably become irrelevant.

Boxing fans were hoping to see a new heavyweight champ in David Haye on November 7th in Germany. Unfortunately, while Haye was earning a decision over the Russian Giant to become the new WBA title-holder, he looked less than spectacular as he basically ran from Valuev for 12 rounds. Sorry British fans, but it is doubtful that Haye is your heavyweight savior. Many seemed to know that already though.

Also on November 7th, Chad Dawson earned a decision victory over Glen Johnson to retain his position as a top light heavyweight on HBO. Once again, he failed to bring the excitement that boxing fans were hoping to see. Unless he faces someone extraordinary, no one will be bragging about Dawson in the near future.

On November 21st, on Showtime, the third fight of Stage 1 in the Super Six tournament featured a bout between WBA super middleweight champ Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward. For 11 rounds, Ward put on a clinic as he used his speed and footwork to defeat Kessler by an 11th-round technical decision to become the new WBA champion. It’s a shame that the tournament is on Showtime, but HBO seems to have its own plans.

A week later, on November 28th, HBO featured IBF super middleweight champ Lucian Bute against Librado Andrade. Andrade had a reputation for a big punch and a strong chin, but in the 4th round, it was all over. Bute knocked Andrade out with a body shot. Just like that, Bute solidified his position as the best super middleweight excluded from the Super Six tournament. He also made an argument that he could be the best super middleweight in the world, period.

Back to the UFC, there were some other entertaining match-ups such as Dan Hardy’s decision win over Mike Swick at UFC 105. Also on the card, Michael Bisping stopped Denis Kang in the 2nd round. Plus, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira looked impressive as he stopped Luis Arthur Cane in the 1st round at UFC 106.

Now that we are in December, the month is looking to have some excellent battles.

On December 5th, boxing fans get to see a boxing doubleheader on HBO featuring Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez and Cristobal Arreola vs. Brian Minto. Also, UFC fans can tune into SpikeTV for the Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights finale which will also include the official debut of Kimbo Slice.

Once again, on December 12th, action will be available for both boxing fans and UFC fans. Tune into HBO for a tripleheader featuring Vitali Klitschko vs. Kevin Johnson, Paulie Malignaggi vs. Juan Diaz, and Victor Ortiz vs. Antonio Diaz. On pay-per-view, UFC 107 will feature BJ Penn against Diego Sanchez.

On December 19th, there will be boxing action on pay-per-view featuring Kelly Pavlik vs. Miguel Espino. Although there are no UFC battles scheduled for that evening, MMA fans can check out the Strikeforce event on Showtime where Gilbert Melendez faces Josh Thomson. Also, WEC 45 will be on Versus showing Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff.

As always, you can go to www.konews.net for updates, reviews, and of course, the KOnews.net fight schedule on the home page.