MMA vs Boxing Popularity - Unknowable Mystery?

[Fisticuffa]

If you sport are Good you doesn't need pay fat Checks for MMA guys fight the sport you like.

Special needs poster?

Tell this to the UFC bums who keep begging for Boxing bouts just for the "fat Checks". You should reach out to Sean & tell him how he needs to be a "fucking fighter" doing "real fighting" instead of begging for Boxing bouts

 

[Fisticuffa]

We’re talking about whats bigger. The statistics show mma is way more popular. The fact that ufc stars want to go into boxing is not because its better, its because its a quick payday to do a watered down version of fighting.

mma stars are more popular, because when they box, they get paid millions, that means more eyes want to see them fight. The fact that UFC has bad contracts doesnt make the sport less popular.

MMA is so popular that MMA couldn't stay relevant beyond a few years in Japan

Boxing is so unpopular that Naoya Inoue generates national headlines

You dumbf*cks live in some protected bubble

 

[PRESIDENT TRUMP]

Lol @Fisticuffa getting this rustled because his favourite sport is less popular than human cockfighting

 

[Neck&Neck]

It’s Neck and Neck

 

[RonDante]

I don’t know where those million pay per view boxing events come from. Philippines? Mexico? Thailand? Philadelphia? Dagestan?!?!
It reeks of corruption to me, always has, I think they’re lying

 

[Bearknuckle]

MMA is so popular that MMA couldn't stay relevant beyond a few years in Japan

Boxing is so unpopular that Naoya Inoue generates national headlines

You dumbf*cks live in some protected bubble

You keep bringing up japan as if everything revolves around them. Mma is more popular worldwide. Just because a country loses interest in it doesnt mean its not popular everywhere else. If anything, boxing is losing more and more everyday to BJJ and muay thai/kickboxing as far as popularity and people doing it for recreation.

i only know 2 guys that “do boxing” one of them didnt like “ultimate fighting” and said that “that takedown stuff is ghey”. The other one does it because he is fat and has diabetes and was force to do some exercising.

 

[Bearknuckle]

Special needs poster?

Tell this to the UFC bums who keep begging for Boxing bouts just for the "fat Checks". You should reach out to Sean & tell him how he needs to be a "fucking fighter" doing "real fighting" instead of begging for Boxing bouts

I think u are a lot more upset and defensive than any mma fans lol.

Boxing just cant beat mma as far as popularity nor effectiveness in real fighting. When an mma fighter boxes, its like when an mma fighter tries doing movies, they just want the payday. But the glory is in mma. Everyone knows the baddest dudes on the planet are mm champs, not boxers.

MMA is so irrelevant, that francis ngannou got to fight the world heavyweight champion lol.

 

[JudoJabs]

Boxing it's Dying and Hardcore fans know this.

2014? This is ancient data. Source?

A quick google trend search with boxing vs mma (sport vs sport) will show the opposite, do the 14 year outlook.

Also all the recent sports studies by the most reputable agencies (ones that deal with the NFL, Premier league etc) are saying boxing >>> mma with the younger audience.


“Significantly, the study found that one-in-three (32%) sports fans in Gen Z2 is an avid boxing fan compared to 6% of Boomer sports fans, and whereas boxing ranks as Boomers’ 11th favorite sport, it ranks as number four for Gen Z. Fight sports counterpart MMA is Gen Z’s sixth favorite sport (ranking 12th for Boomers).”

Boxing thriving as Gen Z seeks star stories – US sports fan research

Through an analysis of anonymised sports fan behaviour data and a comprehensive national-representative survey1, The Future of Sports Fandom is an annual study of how each generation’s relationship with sports is developing. The full analysis was released today at an event attended virtually by...

twocircles.com

All of this is also backed up in real world numbers and revenue generated. The biggest PPVs last year were boxing (1.2M buys for Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia).

I believe Boxing also had 3 or 4 live gates in 2023 that also surpassed the biggest gate in the history of MMA.

PBC which is biggest promotion in boxing is also moving to Amazon Prime in March. Don’t be surprised if they put up similar numbers to the below.

“For the 2019 calendar year, PBC Fight Night telecasts on FOX averaged 1,403,000 viewers.

Those figures are up:

+12% over 2018’s average of 1,254,000 viewers (4 tcs).

+103% better than ESPN’s average for Top Rank Boxing telecasts (vs. 692,000 viewers)

+35% better than ESPN’s UFC Fight Night

In 2019, Americans consumed over 2.1 billion minutes of PBC Fight Night on FOX, which was plus-147% more than last year’s 849 million (PBC FOX telecasts only).

What really stood out was FOX’s additional shoulder programming. Specifically, the Fight Camp series. The last Deontay Wilder–Luis Ortiz episode set FOX viewership records with almost 2.5-million watching, as well as the Countdown, Face To Face, and Inside PBC Boxing shows.”


So yeah. You add up the young stars as well, which MMA really lacks right now & you can’t say boxing is doing bad.

 

[JudoJabs]

You keep bringing up japan as if everything revolves around them. Mma is more popular worldwide. Just because a country loses interest in it doesnt mean its not popular everywhere else. If anything, boxing is losing more and more everyday to BJJ and muay thai/kickboxing as far as popularity and people doing it for recreation.

i only know 2 guys that “do boxing” one of them didnt like “ultimate fighting” and said that “that takedown stuff is ghey”. The other one does it because he is fat and has diabetes and was force to do some exercising.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

Boxing is dead

 

[JudoJabs]

Nothing about Boxing in Japan is "fad culture" (this "fad culture" is the cope MMA fans guys came up with when JMMA fell off a cliff merely because a promoter died instead of reexamining the way your sport is structured. If UFC dies, you will see how much of MMA is also just a "fad" in US using the same logic)

Japan has the third most world champs after US & Mexico & Boxing has been a thing since at least the days of Fighting Harada

Fad culture doesn't produce Ioka, Inoue, Teraji, & Nakatani 1 after the other & now an upcoming prospect in Tsutsumi Hayato at 126. A good amateur system focused on churning out 1 top notch Boxer after another does

Before Ioka & Inoue there was Uchiyama who was filling the same arena's. If Murata had been more active & didn't fall short of world level when he lost to GGG, he would be another current star

If Ohashi (Inoue's promoter since the start) dies, it wouldn't put a dent in Japanese Boxing's long term survival & popularity & ability to produce the next world champs

Totally a fad

 

[Eternalwarriorking]

That's certainly believable. MMA certainly has more buzz. But I thought businesses relied a lot a on hard numbers. Is it that social media numbers are the hard numbers nowadays? Is that the case for most businesses or just sports? My only hesitancy about social media is whether those scores translate into dollars (or cash) in a reliable way.

Data analysts prize user engagement on social media, and it is a valuable information gathering tool for any firm. It is perfectly reasonable to assume that the huge social media followings of Conor McGregor, Jones and Izzy Adesanya are indices of potential large ppv sales

 

[JudoJabs]

Data analysts prize user engagement on social media, and it is a valuable information gathering tool for any firm. It is perfectly reasonable to assume that the huge social media followings of Conor McGregor, Jones and Izzy Adesanya are indices of potential large ppv sales

These guys are also on their way down.

Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia & Canelo are bigger stars at the moment with the former being 29 and 25.

Biggest PPV & gates in 2023. Boxing still has the mega stars right now. A guy like Gervonta Davis can post a pad training video and it gets like 43 million views on Instagram. Jon Jones as much as I love him, isn’t touching that, Bones training clips get 2 or 3 million views tops. This is apples to apples. Sadly neither is Conor in 2024 if we’re being honest.

 

[Eternalwarriorking]

These guys are also on their way down.

Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia & Canelo are bigger stars at the moment with the former being 29 and 25.

Biggest PPV & gates in 2023. Boxing still has the mega stars right now. A guy like Gervonta Davis can post a pad training video and it gets like 43 million views on Instagram. Jon Jones as much as I love him, isn’t touching that, Bones training clips get 2 or 3 million views tops. This is apples to apples. Sadly neither is Conor in 2024 if we’re being honest.

Oh for sure, no argument there. I was moreso commenting on the utility of social media in general to track engagement, as TS seemed to have reservations about it throughout the thread

 

[Fisticuffa]

Totally a fad

Inoue's next fight in May against Nery is likely to be at Tokyo dome with a 55K capacity, this is the same place whose last Boxing event was Douglas KO'ing Mike Tyson

Apparently the demand is so huge to see Inoue fight that 100K took part in a lottery to see him at the 15K Ariake arena, so his next fight might go to Tokyo dome & Saudi is interested in hosting the fight against MJ if he gets past Nery

Boxing is also a high school sport in Japan unlike in the US where you only have wrestling & most of the Japanese boxing champs like Ioka, Inoue, Teraji boxed as amateurs in high school. Inoue apparently fought Teraji in amateurs & KO'd him when he was a 1st year high school student while Teraji was 3rd year



So much for "fad culture" cope

 

[Fisticuffa]

Even before Inoue ever turned pro, just based on his accomplishments in high school boxing, Japanese sponsors were lining up for him:


On the 18th, it was revealed that Naoya Inoue (19 years old, from Ohashi), who became the first high school student to achieve seven titles in amateur boxing and turned professional, has signed a contract with the fast-food chain Lotteria. Inoue will make his professional debut on October 2nd at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall against Crison Omayao (19 years old, from the Philippines), who is ranked 7th in the Oriental and Pacific Minimumweight division. It is highly unusual for a sponsor to support a boxer before their debut.

Lotteria has previously supported former WBC world flyweight champion Daiki Naito and unified WBA and WBC world minimumweight champion Kazuto Ioka. However, sponsoring a pre-debut boxer is rare, and Chairman Ohashi cannot hide his surprise, stating, "I felt the magnitude of the attention and the high expectations."

Apart from Lotteria, Inoue has already secured sponsorship from ten companies, including the housing sales company House Plan. On this day at a gym in Yokohama, he engaged in an eight-round sparring session with Yuto Muranaka (Flash Akabane), ranked 13th in the WBA world flyweight division. In a relentless exchange, he repeatedly cornered Muranaka against the ropes. After the sparring, Muranaka, a world-ranked boxer, praised Inoue, saying, "It's the first time I've been beaten up this much. His punches are fast and strong. It's beyond my imagination."

Inoue commented, "The short uppercut I learned from Chairman Ohashi today was good." Leading up to the fight, he will continue to fine-tune his preparations with sparring sessions against Japanese world-ranked fighters and gym seniors, including Japan's top-ranked minimumweight boxer Ryuji Hara.

Born on April 10, 1993, in Zama City, Kanagawa, Inoue began boxing in the first grade under the guidance of his father, former amateur boxer Shingo. In his first year at Sagamihara Seiryo High School, he achieved a triple crown in the Inter-High, National Sports Festival, and National Selection tournaments. In his third year, he won the International President's Cup and the All Japan Championship, securing seven amateur titles in total with a record of 75 wins (48 KOs/RSOs) and 6 losses. Standing at 163 cm, Inoue is a right-handed boxer. His family includes his parents, sister, and brother. His younger brother, Takuma, also achieved a double crown in his first year of high school.

www. nsports. com/battle/news/p-bt-tp0-20120819-1002965.html

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Mma fans are way more insecure, that I know for sure .

No shit Sherbro. It’s like what Bob Arum said about mma

 

[JudoJabs]

Inoue's next fight in May against Nery is likely to be at Tokyo dome with a 55K capacity, this is the same place whose last Boxing event was Douglas KO'ing Mike Tyson

Apparently the demand is so huge to see Inoue fight that 100K took part in a lottery to see him at the 15K Ariake arena, so his next fight might go to Tokyo dome & Saudi is interested in hosting the fight against MJ if he gets past Nery

Boxing is also a high school sport in Japan unlike in the US where you only have wrestling & most of the Japanese boxing champs like Ioka, Inoue, Teraji boxed as amateurs in high school. Inoue apparently fought Teraji in amateurs & KO'd him when he was a 1st year high school student while Teraji was 3rd year



So much for "fad culture" cope

That’s gigantic if they can do that fight there.

The owner of the Las Vegas Raiders also wants Tank Davis to fight at the Allegiant Stadium. They tried making the Tank/Ryan fight there but the logistics took too much time.

Might be 2 stadium fights for boxing in 2024. One for a 135 pounder and one for a 122 pounder, insane.

I don’t think MMA only fans get it, but it’s okay.

 

[User9992]

Depends on where.

MMA is more popular in northern America, especially in USA.

While boxing is more popular in UK & in Europe.

 

[Fisticuffa]

That’s gigantic if they can do that fight there.

The owner of the Las Vegas Raiders also wants Tank Davis to fight at the Allegiant Stadium. They tried making the Tank/Ryan fight there but the logistics took too much time.

Might be 2 stadium fights for boxing in 2024.

I don’t think MMA only fans get it, but it’s okay.

It will definitely happen unless Ohashi can't get JBC to relent & lift the lifetime ban on Nery from boxing in Japan due to his failed drug test vs Yamanaka the first time & weight miss in the rematch. In that case the Nery fight might have to be moved to Vegas

It was mentioned right after Tapales fight in the post fight press conference where they said that:

1) Inoue wants to fight 3 times in 2024 & 2025, that his next 2 fights are likely to be Nery & MJ with Nery in May & MJ in September, & a 3rd fight in Dec against a yet to be decided opponent. The potential venue for Nery was mentioned as Tokyo dome as the demand is so high to see him live

2) Both Arum & Ohashi confirmed that Saudi is interested in hosting a big money fight between him & MJ

Meanwhile Dana was threatening to cut the 125 lbs division & most UFC casuals couldn't give a sh*t about Demetrius Johnson while Inoue is a national star at 122 lbs with interest even from the Saudis!