Why are you still watching boxing?

Apparently there was a fight last night, and to the astonishment of NOBODY there was a controversial decision. I was more surprised to hear that boxing still exists, and that people actually pay to see it.

Long ago, I was a HUGE boxing fan. Whenever there was a big fight we’d all kick in a few bucks to get the PPV and have a party in Tom Marquez’ garage. But then there was the Julio Cesar Chavez-Pernell Whitaker fight.

As usual, we were at Tom’s house for the fight. There were a lot of Hispanic dudes there, and they LOVED Chavez. I had a pretty good idea Whitaker was going to give him trouble and had wagers with about half of the guys there. For 12 rounds Whitaker dominated Chavez, it wasn’t even close. Guys I had bets with were pulling out money getting ready to pay me once the decision was announced, they already knew.

But then a funny thing happened.

Somehow, the judges scored the bout a draw. As in a tie, as in the fighters were equal, no winner could be determined. Were they shitting us? The announcers on the PPV unanimously concluded that Whitaker had won, everyone in that garage knew Whitaker won, Chavez knew Whitaker won. There was no way in hell that Chavez won that fight. But you see, the judges were provided by the WBC. The WBC was headed by Jose Sulaiman, essentially a puppet for Don King. And who was Julio Cesar Chavez’ promoter? Why Don King! After the fight nobody seemed to be able to round up the judges scorecards. It was bullshit, everyone knew it was bullshit.

That was it for me. After the numerous other bullshit decisions I had seen in my time watching boxing, that was the last straw.

Beyond all that boxing is just silly. Not the sport itself, just the people who run it and rape it’s once proud corpse. Boxing originally had eight weight classes, and now there are SEVENTEEN. Meanwhile, there are four major boxing sanctioning organizations: International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and World Boxing Organization (WBO). At any given time there can potentially be at least four “champions” at each weight class (some organizations recognize multiple champions in a weight class). The reason for all of these weight classes and sanctioning bodies is simple, more champions equals more championship fights, equals more money for the promoters and sanctioning bodies.

But here’s the thing – how many fights does anyone (outside of hardcore boxing fans) actually want to see?  The answer right now is essentially one: Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. Once that fight happens, and the obligatory re-match and third fight of the trilogy, boxing will pretty much be dead. Perhaps if boxing fans demanded some accountability and less bullshit among the promotors and sanctioning bodies, MAYBE it can be saved. But that’s not going to happen.