Instead of Killing Boxing, the UFC Plans to Use It As a Lifeline
Mark Hunt punches Curtis Blaydes in their heavyweight bout during the UFC 221 event Feb. 11 in Perth, Australia.
Photographer: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLCBoxing is dead. Of course, this is hardly news to anyone. The public has heard the same death knell for years. According to boxing historian Patrick Connor, the phrase was first uttered in 1899 by William Brady, the manager for heavyweight champion James Jefferies.
By 1961, Jack Dempsey blew out the candles on his 66th birthday, lamenting, “Without fresh talent, boxing is dying.” Even as the rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston headed to Lewiston, Maine, in 1965, a bewildered Rocky Marciano told the press, “I don’t care who sees what on TV. Boxing is dead.” The chorus grew after Mike Tyson retired in 2005. And it was déjà vu all over again in 2017 after Floyd Mayweather Jr. walked away as boxing’s first minted billion-dollar earner against Conor McGregor.