Longtime pay-per-view promoter: ‘Boxing’s dead’
http://mmamania.com/2009/08/05/longtime ... ings-dead/Props: Philly.com
“Over the course of a year, we might do three big boxing matches, tops. UFC is running every month. And a year in advance, I know the date and site of those shows. When I go to sell [UFC] in a bar or a restaurant, they understand they’re going to get 3 hours of entertainment. Every fight is a great fight. Most boxing promoters, they’ll put on a good main event. But you might not find out who’s on the undercard until the last minute, and then it’s usually junk. If you own a sports bar and you can buy a UFC event for $1,000, and you know you’re going to pack the place, why would you buy the Mayweather fight for $2,200 and not do as well? People ask, ‘Do you think UFC will kill boxing?’ It already has. Boxing’s dead.”
Longtime boxing closed-circuit promoter Joe Hand drops a dose of reality on the pretentious pugilists who still cling to the 1994 notion that mixed martial arts is not a threat to the sport of boxing. The 72-year old Hand has been in the boxing biz since 1964 and recognizes the explosive growth of MMA first hand through profit and loss. With regulation still being pursued in coveted East Coast markets like New York and Boston, there’s no telling how far the MMA machine might go if it reaches full mainstream acceptance. Any guesses?
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