There is a perfect reason boxing is dying and losing most of its viewers to MMA .To find out that reason all you would have to do is have watched HBO tonight. Just more than an hour ago Juan Diaz fought Paulie Malinaggi .Diaz was a -500 favorite to win this fight and was suppose to walk through Paulie on his way to another title shot in his hometown of Houston ,TX. Malinaggi was just suppose to be just a named fighter for Diaz to put on his resume so he could get ranked high enough for a big payday and title shot. Some one forgot to give Malinaggi the script of how tonight's fight was suppose to go.
In the first 4 rounds the fighters were even winning two rounds a piece ,both were already cut so they both had adversity to deal with .Around the 5th round it started to become clear that Paulie was the faster fighter and it could be a long day for Diaz .The next two rounds Paulie threw and landed more punches than the slower Diaz and by the end of the 8th round had built a two point lead on my score card.
The next three rounds, rounds 9,10,and 11 Paulie threw and landed many more punches the Diaz and easily won all three rounds staying on the outside and boxing and was up 107-102 on my card .Paulie had boxed a great to fight to this point not letting Diaz ,who wanted this fight to be on the inside so he could over power Paulie, get close enough to throw body punches and power punches that he wanted too. Going into the last round it was clear all Paulie had to do was end the fight on his feet and he had pulled a huge upset and he was the one that could be in line for the next title shot .In the last round Diaz came out knowing he needed a KO to win and did a good job chasing down the faster Paulie and landed some good punched but by the end of the round Paulie was still standing . My final score was 116-112 for Paulie . I thought there's no way Paulie didn't win this fight ,then in the back of my mind I was thing Diaz is promoted my golden boy promotions they need this fight and it might end up a draw.
As the fighters stood in the middle of the ring Michael Buffer said the fight was a unanimous decision then I felt better for Malinaggi. The first score came out and it was 116-112 just as I had scored the fight .The second score that came out was 115-113 ,I thought great they aren't going to try to screw Paulie with a draw .The last score of 118-110 put the final doubts to rest that Paulie was about to get the decision he deserved . Buffer then said "all to the winner fighting out of Houston,Texas Juan Diaz"
I was like "did I hear that right?" Well I guess I had Diaz was raising his hands as Paulie was shaking his head . I thought to myself some rounds were a little close but 118-110 for Diaz? That would mean Diaz won 10 out of 12 rounds. There was no way he had won 10 rounds ,I'm not even sure he won 4.
The crowd of course was happy about the decision since Diaz was their home town fighter but Paulie seemed to be getting angrier by the second. He first went to the ring apron and shouted obscenities at the judge who had scored the fight 118-110 against him and then while being interviewed he said “boxing is full of shit” among other things. Paulie had a perfect reason to be mad not only did he get screwed in the fight he is going to lose millions of dollars and a title shot.
Any boxing fan that knows 1% about boxing knows who really won this fight ,even my girlfriend said Paulie got screwed and she doesn't know what a jab is.
Tonight's fight is why boxing is dying and may soon be just an after thought to MMA. No one wants to bet their hard earned money or spend their hard earned money for a fight that is fixed by a promoter with deep pockets .No one wants to wait 6 months for a good fight and then the build up is killed by a screw job decision. Diaz was backed by golden boy promotions who has a lot of money to be made off Diaz and just couldn't afford a loss so Mr. De La Hoya made sure things went according to plan in this fight.
Say what you want about Dana White president of the UFC but he tries to make sure fights are fair,called right and what the fans want to see. Obviously boxing promoters only care about money.
I love boxing and am a die hard boxing fan and always have been but I am growing tired of the sport myself .In boxing you wait every 3 months to see a fight that these days they are set up just for the money and 75% end up being duds and with the other fights that end up screw jobs I would just rather watch MMA that is on every month is more exciting ,is shorter fights ,and way more accurately scored.
After tonight's fight that I watched only as a fan with no money invested in either side I can see why the sport is slowly dying and every day less and less people care about boxing and flock to watch MMA .
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Originally Posted by IWS Zak
