Boxing’s biggest fight

Saturday, April 21st, 2007

The BBC says that boxing’s biggest fight is with mixed martial arts (MMA), better known as ultimate fighting:

Boxing legend Barry McGuigan called it “dirty” and “undignified”, but statistics suggest it is safer than boxing.

Ultimate Fighting Championship is coming to Britain — and British boxing is rattled.

On Saturday, UFC lands at Manchester’s MEN Arena, and 16,000 people, including Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Girls Aloud, will be there to welcome it.

Across the Atlantic, it’s already big news. UFC, the leading brand within the sport of mixed martial arts, outsold boxing on the box twice over in 2006 and has just finalised a deal with HBO, the traditional home of boxing in America.

UFC champions Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell are household names, which is more than you can say for Floyd Mayweather, arguably boxing’s biggest talent.

And it has even caught the imagination of the A-list, with a host of Hollywood stars — and Paris Hilton — regulars at UFC shows.

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