MMA journalist Ariel Helwani believes that the sport of boxing is now in a better place than the rival combat sport of mixed martial arts.
Speaking on The DAZN Boxing Show to discuss the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, Helwani said that the undisputed clash generated the same excitement as UFC’s first fight with Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche back in 2013.
“The UFC embraced women’s fighter quicker than boxing, right?” the Canadian said to Ak and Barak.
“So this reminds me of the first ever women’s UFC match. It was Ronda Rousey vs Liz Carmouche, Anaheim, California, Honda Center.
“This reminds me of that. Of course it’s bigger, because it’s New York, it’s Madison Square Garden. It’s all that and more. But you know what’s even better than all this? I bet there’s some guy who’s like, ‘I don’t care about MSG. It doesn’t mean anything to me.’ But 1 vs. 2 pound-for-pound, guess what? That means something to everyone.
“That never happens. You guys know that, according to ESPN, 2008 was the last time that happened, number 1 and 2. Marquez Pacquiao two. In MMA that never happens, so that’s why it’s special to me.
“It’s not just a nice story, two women headlining. It’s legit, 1 vs 2.”
He suggested that MMA fans had been left mistaken that boxing was struggling for attention, pointing out the popularity and size of fights this year.
“They’ve been programmed to believe that boxing is struggling, that boxing is dead,” he explained.
“I believe that sometimes, I’m trying to remind them that every week it’s a big event. Next week you’ve got Canelo [Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol, live on DAZN], last week [Tyson] Fury and [Dillian] Whyte in front of 94.000. They’re aren’t any MMA drawing 94,000, I can tell you that.
“Boxing is healthier than MMA right now. Why? They have options, they have opportunities to make this money.”