There is Nothing Like Live Boxing
For me, it's undeniable
I love sports, I always have and always will. It is the last type of appointment viewing that we have as those seeking entertainment. Everything else is available to stream whenever we want and has gone so far around that services are now going back to doling out weekly episodes, or breaking up seasons into halves. Sports is the only thing left that has to be consumed live.
As a lifelong boxing fan and small-time boxing writer, I’ve spent hundreds, probably thousands of hours watching the sport. Despite the glamour and spectacle of a massive pay-per-view, when I have had my best experiences watching boxing it has been when I have been taking in the sport live and in person. These events have been the most exciting and riveting that I have ever been to. I have always wondered why, and I believe I can elaborate on the reasons.
You Can’t Get Any Closer
Go to a small local boxing show. Seats might not be assigned, and the ring will be in the center (or slightly off-center) of a small venue with seats packed as close to it as possible. You could probably reach over and make a mark on the judges’ card. You could hit the bell without breaking a sweat.
Speaking of sweat, you could catch some off of the fighter who just ate a right hook on the ropes. The sound of leather making contact with skin and the stretching of ropes to catch a fighter staving off a barrage. The action is consistent, the sounds are unmistakable, and you can see every expression. Every moment of joy, exhilaration, and every moment of defeat. There are very few ways or times in life where you actually see someone make choices and their expressions change. It is a truly surreal experience to see when someone starts to lose their grip on their will to win, and enter survival mode, or decide to quit altogether.
Local Crowds
I’ve seen fights with a world title on the line and professional debuts, there is nothing like seeing a fighter’s friends and family with someone to really root for. People standing up, getting fired up, and being rowdy are all things you’ll see at a local show.
It is even more special when it is a pro debut. You see the tears, the moments of adulation, and occasionally everything goes wrong. There is no acting, and sometimes it’s fueled by alcohol as much as passion but it is a real moment that you can witness fairly regularly at your local boxing scene.
The Fighters
For most people, the idea of being a professional athlete is a dream that is never realized. For fighters, especially some on the local and club show levels, it is an extra job. You can grab a ticket to any one of the four major sports and you will see finely tuned athletes who are just shy of walking science experiments.
Go to a club show. The guy in the 2nd fight might be your mailman, squaring off against a guy looking to make boxing his career. People always say college sports are fun because one kid is going to be a pro and the other guy is a future accountant having the time of his life. In professional boxing, it is that much more real because everyone is a professional athlete. The question is are they a boxer or are they a ______ and a boxer? Usually the guys without the blanks win, but sometimes you see them pull off that upset. Some nights, you see two “pros” locked in a desperate struggle to keep their ever-valuable 0 in the loss column. Other nights you see two “guys” who give you an 18-minute war and ask nothing back for it.
Boxing is a sport with incredibly harsh realities, none that are more apparent than in local shows. It is the only sporting event that I can leave (that doesn’t involve family) where I feel genuine sadness for some of the competitors, and real joy from others. I feel physically exhausted and emotionally drained. It requires an investment that the average sporting event just doesn’t.
That’s why you just can’t match live boxing.