Boxing: Entertainment Sport or Sport Entertainment?
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 07 May 2025
Call it "entertainment sport" or "sport entertainment," boxing has always been that way, and fans, especially Americans, have liked it that way for as long as I can remember.
Fighters produced by the USA or foreigners who earned their fame (and wealth) fighting in the US ring have therefore developed their own ways of entertaining, especially the paying spectators, whether live in arenas or watching on television via cable and the various platforms we have today.
(Note that in the following classifications, I will mostly be mentioning only boxers whose fighting styles and careers I have come to know in my nearly 60 years as a boxing fan and chronicler. I, however, welcome any comments, corrections, and additions that would further enrich my and everyone's knowledge on the subject matter).
There have been the brutal knockout artists or specialists who, with their vaunted punching power, usually take out their opponents at the earliest opportunities or slightest given openings. To this type belong such famous fighters as Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Mike Tyson. Also Thomas Hearns, Julian Jackson, Alexis Arguello, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and Manny Pacquiao (early in their careers), Deontay Wilder, and Tank Davis.
Then there have been boxer-punchers who, endowed with above-average boxing skills and punching power, operate like demolition experts regarding the opposition. They try first to take the fight out of the opponent, then break him down methodically or systematically until the referee stops the fight or the judges give them their clear verdict. To this type belong famous fighters such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Salvador Sanchez, Wilfredo Gomez (at super bantamweight), Aaron Pryor, Julio Cesar Chavez, Roy Jones Jr., James Toney, Oscar De La Hoya, Roman Gonzales, Juan Francisco Estrada, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Terrence Crawford, Oleksander Usyk, Naoya Inoue, Junto Nakatani, and Kenshiro Teraji.
Then, we have the master boxers who are also known for their defense and stamina. This type would rather pick apart the opposition with clever boxing, jabbing, and moving but is also capable of trading when needed, with the opponent suffering more damage. To this classification belong such famous fighters as Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Wilfred Benitez, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pernell Whitaker, Tyson Fury, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Oleksander Usyk.
To these three general classifications, I would like to add a fourth special classification, which I would call the total performer or entertainer boxer.
Of all the boxers mentioned here, only one thus far qualifies as a total performer or entertainer. He is none other than the late great Muhammad Ali.
Ali was all three types in various stages of his career.
He was a knockout specialist against Archie Moore and Henry Cooper and in his two bouts against Sonny Liston. In fact, he was an unbeatable knockout artist in his first reign (1964-67), with Floyd Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Zora Folley, and Karl Mildenberger among his victims.
Save for the first fight, which he lost to Joe Frazier, and likewise to Ken Norton, he was an astute boxer-puncher and also a calculating knockout artist in his return in 1969, stopping prominent foes such as Jerry Quarry, George Chuvalo, Bob Foster, and Oscar Bonavena, and avenging his losses to Frazier and Norton.
He was a master boxer but still with knockout power when he fought and defeated George Foreman in 1974.
And he employed all types in turning himself into a total sport entertainer for most of his second reign, able to successfully promote and sell his fights against solid opponents like Norton, Frazier, Ernie Shavers, Jimmy Young, and Ron Lyle, as well as against the iffy likes of Chuck Wepner, Joe Bugner, and then-newbie Leon Spinks.
Known for his knack for entertaining fans, be it in the ring or outside of it, millions of fans watched his fights live or via cable, be it against a Frazier or a Wepner. It's also said that many parts of the globe, including strife-torn countries, stopped to watch his fights.
Ali's two fights against Frazier (1971 and 1975) and against Foreman in 1974 were among the most-watched and highest-grossing boxing bouts in history.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. could have also qualified if not for his offense-averse style of fighting when he was still active. It's sad that many fans watched his fights not to see him win but to see him finally get beaten.
This weekend saw popular undefeated Japanese fighter Naoya Inoue back in the US ring, and his comeback from a second-round knockdown to stop San Antonio's Ramon Cardenas in eight rounds drew rave reviews.
But fights against handpicked opponents like Cardenas will not boost Inoue's star power in the US.
Then again, with Bob Arum as co-handler and advising him, Inoue has started to become an entertaining fighter.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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