Last night MMA Journalist trekked on down to Barnes & Noble in Tribeca for a book signing. The book was "At the Fights", which is an anthology of boxing stories edited by old school scribe George Kimball. As the only other boxing-themed event I've been to was a Golden Gloves installment in the heart of the Bronx, the experience was… illuminating. First of all, it ended up being a six-person panel of writers, talking briefly about themselves before taking questions from the audience. It was also packed, as about 70 ardent boxing fans showed up - some of them knowledgeable, eager and excited, some of them clearly insane. And maybe - maybe - a handful were under 45 years old. That said, when it came time for Q & A, someone asked why, in the assembled writers' opinion, had boxing declined. Author Pete Hamill blamed the sport's predicament on a few things, and of course, MMA came up. "Ultimate fighting is preposterous," he said, and everyone laughed and agreed. "I've seen better fights at weddings." So there you have it. Boxing fans are old, cognizant that their sport is in trouble, and they hate mixed martial arts.
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Having been through USA Boxing's coaching training recently, I can attest that this type of sentiment is deeply rooted. During the training, at which there were probably 75 people, at least 25% were MMA realed coaches...many of whom I knew. Yet, right to our faces, the trainer (a level 4 USAB coach) continued to talk down about MMA; about how it was not an art like boxing; about how there is a reason why it is illegal in NY; and that it is classless.
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