For years, boxing ruled the fighting world. The mano a mano aspect of boxing appeals to sports lovers and bettors around the globe. Boxing has long been synonymous with sports betting going back to the early years around the turn of the 20th century. That is still true today, but has mixed martial arts (MMA), primarily the UFC, taken over as king of the combat sports?
It’s hard to put a finger on it, but over the last few decades boxing’s popularity has waned. Does that mean that MMA reigns supreme? Not exactly. Let’s take a look.
Boxing’s Decline
There is no question that boxing’s popularity has been overtaken by the UFC. The emergence of the UFC and other MMA organizations has captured the attention of fans and bettors alike. It’s much more exciting when combatants can grapple, kick and use knees and elbows when fighting.
Boxing also lacks the kind of superstar power it used to have, especially in the heavyweight category. Remember the good ‘ole days of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier? The ‘Thrilla in Manila,’ George Forman, Ken Norton, the Spinks brothers, and a guy named Mike Tyson. Then, we headed into the 1990s with Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Oscar de la Hoya, and Roy Jones Jr. There just aren’t any superstar fighters like that any more.
Some of it may have to do with inconsistent promotion, but despite the lack of superstars and the emergence of the UFC, boxing still has a pretty solid worldwide audience. That can be seen in the latest heavyweight title fight.
Fury vs. Usyk I
Tyson Fury, owner of five heavyweight titles, fought Oleksandr Usyk on May 18 for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Usyk owned The Ring’s heavyweight championship belt. In the end, Usyk won by split decision and is now boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lewis held that title in 2000.
The fight was held in England and it generated some buzz in the sports world. A total of 1.5 million pay per view sales were recorded. Those numbers are very similar to some of the top UFC pay per view bouts of all-time.
For comparison’s sake, the top three UFC events in terms of PPV sales – UFC 229, UFC 264, and UFC 202 – generated 2.4 million, 1.8 million and 1.65 million buys. All three of those UFC events included the sport’s most recognizable name – Conor McGregor.
The Fury-Usyk fight was so popular that the two have already agreed to a rematch. The two will fight again in December – Dec. 21 – in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The PPV sales from that event could top those from Fury-Usyk I – $50 million. The first fight also made $40 million in advertising revenue and $3 million more at the gate.
UFC 302
The most recent UFC event, UFC 302, was held on June 1. The headlining bout was a lightweight title fight between champion Islam Makhachev and former interim champ Dustin Poirier. With a strong undercard, the event brought in $7.25 million in gate revenue, but the pay per view market paled in comparison to the Fury-Usyk heavyweight boxing match.
UFC 302 sold roughly 500K pay per views, which at an average of $69.99, would have brought in about $35 million. Now, there are more major UFC events per year than there are boxing title fights. In a given year, there are usually 14 numbered UFC events (UFC 300, 301, etc.). These events occur roughly once every four weeks.
Boxing champions will defend their titles one to two (possibly three) times per year. Collectively, UFC fights will outperform boxing matches in terms of PPV sales, gate revenue, betting handle, and more. However, when it comes to major events, boxing still offers a pretty solid draw for everyone involved.
We’ll see just how popular both UFC and boxing are later this year. UFC 303 was supposed to feature McGregor battling Michael Chandler, but that is now off. McGregor will be unable to fight due to an injury. UFC president Dana White announced a new co-main event that will feature Alex Pereira taking on Jiri Prochazka. Pereira is the only UFC fighter to have won both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles.
In November, Tyson, now 57 years old, will fight Jake Paul. The event will take place at AT&T Stadium and will be streamed around the world by Netflix. Both UFC 303 and the Tyson-Paul fight should generate plenty of buzz as well as plenty of betting action.
