Men’s Love Boxing

You enter a sports bar.  People watch Haye vs Klitschko live! What’s on the TV?  Football?  Basketball?  Baseball?  Are the customers actively engaged in watching or are they mainly drinking and talking amongst themselves?  You most likely answered that whatever sport was being shown, the crowd was less than enthusiastic unless it was the Super Bowl, World Series, or NBA Playoffs.  Now enter a sports bar where boxing is on TV.  I can guarantee the crowd is much more actively engaged.  Why?  What is it about boxing that gets men all excited?

There are many ways to answer the questions.  Some are clinical others humorous.  But all in all the reason is that unconsciously all men project themselves into the ring.  Psychologists will tell you that man has a base survival instinct to flee or fight.  Boxers place themselves in that ring with one goal – to win.  They submit to intense training and conditioning so they can out hit, and survive hits from, their opponent.  One only needs to observe the fighters on the TV to see the intensity and determination in their eyes. 

How many other sports allow viewers that intimacy?  How many times have you been able to see the eyes of a football, baseball, or basketball player?  In boxing the camera is right there at ringside.  You see it all, up close and personal.  The drama of boxing is as intense.  You never know how long a fight will last – 4 seconds or 12 rounds.

Some fans have compared boxing to ancient gladiator matches, except there are no swords or death as a final outcome.  The enthusiasm of the crowd for their champion rises and falls as the match evolves.  For the 36 minutes of a fight, there is an intensity matched by no other sport.  It is for all these reasons, and many others, that men say they love boxing.