Boxing is ailing in this area. The biggest flaw in boxing pay-per-views is a lack of an undercard. The boxing business model for pay-per-views is to hype up the main event in as many media outlets as possible, leading up to the day of the event. Fans pay $39.95- $49.95 for one fight which usually begins at around 11pm. While they wait for the main event, they’re thrown 2-3 fights featuring fighters they have never heard of. Off the top of your head, can you name the Miguel Cotto v. Zab Judah undercard? How about the Mayweather v. De La Hoya? And on the rare occasion when the undercard fight is better or at least more memorable than the main event, (see Kelly Pavlick v. Edison Miranda) it is because the main event is so lackluster. (e.g., Cory Spinks v. Jermaine Taylor).

MMA’s strongest trait is it’s ability to stack a card. UFC/Pride’s dominance over smaller promotions has provided us with some of the best fights $39.95 can buy. For instance, at UFC 73, there are two titles on the line, as well as one of the biggest names in the sport in Tito Ortiz.  The card also includes the UFC debut of one of the greatest submission heavyweights in the world in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Thanks to the world of corrupt promoters, what seems like hundreds of governing bodies, and too many decision makers, this is something we’ll never see in boxing.

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Championship Match Excitement

Dan Henderson is the PRIDE Fighting Champion at welterweight (183 pounds) and middleweight (205 pounds). Sean Sherk is the UFC’s lightweight champion (155 pounds) and Matt Serra is UFC’s welterweight champion (170 pounds).

As easy as it is to name these champions and their respective promotions, its as difficult name a true champion in a boxing weight class.  Boxing has so many weight divisions, along with so many sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBC, WBA and soon ABCDEFG), there aren’t any recognizable champions in the sport. The biggest and most popular division in the sport, the heavyweight division, is in its worst condition ever. The four heavyweight champions, Wladimir Klitschko, Oleg Maskaev, Ruslan Chagaev and Sultan Ibragimov, don’t exactly invoke the memories of Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier or even Evander Holyfield.

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