I am more of a mixed martial arts fan than a boxing fan, but I do enjoy boxing every now and then. For me personally MMA is more exciting purely because there are more ways for a fighter to win the fight. So many times have I seen on forums and websites people arguing over which is the better sport and which fighters are tougher? The truth is toughness comes down to individuals, there are tough boxers just like there are tough MMA fighters. So the question remains; can boxing and mixed martial arts co-exist?

First of all let me address this ridiculous notion that ‘Boxing is dying man!’. No, it most certainly is not! Boxing has been around since around 2000 BC. It is one of the oldest sports in the world and is still one of the biggest sports in the world. Something that’s been around that long does not just die and wither away. Boxing is still more popular than MMA and has thrown up some great fights in recent times.

It has been great to watch a sport like MMA grow from a child that nobody wanted to the spectacle it is today; generating millions of dollars in TV revenue for fighters and Mr White. Mixed martial arts organizations are doing their best to rectify the mistakes made by boxing over the years, of which there are many, but in doing so they have found some new ones themselves. Neither of these sports are perfect, although mixed martial arts is still young and has time to adjust, whereas boxing is pretty much a fully grown adult. And as we all know adults find it more difficult to change.

So can boxing and MMA co-exist? My answer is yes, of course they can, In fact this competition may be exactly what the world of boxing needs. No longer does it have the monopoly on contact sports. There is a young buck in town and he’s eating well and growing fast. Either boxing jump starts itself or it just might find itself loosing more than just it’s old retired fighters to the sport of MMA. These sports can actually learn from each other and who knows? Maybe we’ll see a world championship boxing fight on the same event as a mixed martial arts title fight.

So I ask all you boxing fans to welcome the new sport and appreciate it for what it is. And to the MMA fans I say ‘Respect your elders’, boxing has been around a lot longer than you and will be with for many more years to come.

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