Jim Lampley: Boxers Have Skills You Can't Find in UFC

I overlooked this while I was watching the Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight, but it's worth pointing out a couple days later. HBO analyst Jim Lampley ended the pay-per-view broadcast of the fight with this comment:

"Will boxing have to cede its place on the stage to other fighting forms, like mixed martial arts? Mixed martial arts is entertaining. The kind of skill level you saw in the ring tonight - there's nothing in mixed martial arts which is within light years of what Mayweather and De La Hoya are able to do with their hands."

Lampley loves boxing and dislikes the Ultimate Fighting Championship and other mixed martial arts competitions, and that's fine. As a fan of both sports, I think there's some truth to what Lampley is saying: it's fair to say that in the United States, there are more elite athletes at the top levels of boxing than there are in mixed martial arts.

But it says a lot about the way UFC is ascending and boxing is declining that Lampley felt the need to take a swipe at mixed martial arts at the end of the biggest boxing match of the year. Can you imagine John Madden concluding a Super Bowl broadcast by saying football players are better athletes than baseball players?

Boxing isn't in danger of disappearing the way some sports writers have suggested it will. But it is in danger of falling behind mixed martial arts in popularity. Lampley may think he's helping boxing by denigrating mixed martial arts, but he's wrong.

Previously at FanHouse:
Could UFC Be Next for Floyd Mayweather Jr.?
Matt Serra Wins UFC Title, SportsCenter Covers It