Bernard Hopkins rallies to draw: Is boxing dead?

Is boxing dead?

This past Saturday (Dec 18, 2010), 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins fought to a draw against Canadian Jean Pascal. Hopkins, who was decked once in the first round and then again in the 3rd round, will turn 46 on Jan. 15. This just goes to show how good Bernard Hopkins is  was; the quality of his 28 year old opponent and the bad state that boxing is in these days. The sport of boxing has been on a rapid decline–it may have even hit even bottom! 

There you have it: A 46-year-old man facing a man 28-year-old and most at ring side felt Bhop had won–even though he was knocked down twice. The question I have is why in every other sport is the quality of the athletes steadily improving, while in boxing it is the reverse?

It seems the quality of fighters are not as good as they were in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns fought the first time in 1981 before they hit prime status, and here we are in 2010 having a 46-year-old man weathering the storm of two knock downs and coming back to pull off a victory.  In the 70s, 80, and 90,s you could talk about the top fighters in the heavyweight division all day long, but today I do not even know two heavyweights worth watching. We have Floyd Mayweather already past his prime and yet he has still not produced one memorable boxing match. Manny Pacquiao, who is currently the only boxer making noise, has no one to fight. His biggest fight–maybe the biggest payday in boxing history–would be against Mayweather, but Pretty Boy is facing legal problems.  And if this fight ever does happen the viewers will probably be robbed of a good quality match because Floyd is now past his prime.

So I pose this question:  “Is boxing dead?”