BoxingWatchers.com: The Manifesto

Why BoxingWatchers.com? Why boxing at all, for that matter?

I can hear those questions in the voices of my friends. My closest friends are huge sports fans, but I can't talk to them about boxing. Some don't understand it, others are offended by the violence, and still others dismiss it as a dead sport. All of them have valid reasons.

Actually, scratch that last group. Boxing is not dead. You'd have to be pretty naive to think it's at its peak, or that it doesn't have problems. But it certainly still has life.

All you had to do was be present at the Jermain Taylor-Kelly Pavlik fight to get all the proof you'd need. If you walked the Atlantic City boardwalk and saw all the Team Pavlik t-shirts, if you stood outside the arena amidst all the anxious fans hours before the fight, if you watched one of your younger brothers - attending his first live fight - nearly scream himself hoarse, you'd certainly agree. I did all of those things, so I have to repeat: boxing is not dead.

The stick-and-ball sports produce plenty of drama, but they rarely match good boxing matches for tension. A fight can literally end at any moment, and it's difficult to find a parallel in any other sport. Overtime playoff hockey? Extra-inning baseball? Those probably come closest, but only after regulation play has come and gone. At its best, boxing can top any competitor for thrills.

Let's not kid ourselves, though. At it's worst, boxing can be boring. We're talking "early February NBA game, mid-second quarter" boring. Still, we watch, hoping for more of those Taylor-Pavlik moments. And I really mean it when we say "we," as you'd be hard pressed to find a more ethnically, socially and economically diverse group than boxing fans.

There are less of us today, no question. With MMA ascending to the pay-per-view throne, boxing is more of a niche sport now than it has been in years. That's a problem for the people who set up the fights, and some fans also fret about it. I say it doesn't matter how many of us there are, as long as long as we're enjoying and supporting the sweet science.

That brings us back to this site. I don't have any background writing about boxing, but I am a devoted fan. I also happen to have some experience writing about sports and entertainment, at least enough to record what I see with my own two eyes. Combining those two things just seemed natural.

There's another mind behind BoxingWatchers.com - the oldest of my younger siblings, who will post under the name Uatu (fanboys will get the reference). He's done a little bit of boxing training, actually been in the ring facing punches thrown in his direction. I have all kinds of respect for him for that. He's also a fountain of boxing facts - my friends call him Max Kellerman Jr. - and pretty opinionated. His contributions should be fun.

We don't have any insider access to the sport. You won't find sparring videos, exclusive interviews or press conference clips here. Those things are great, but others already have them covered.

What you will find here is observations and opinions on all the big fights, rankings, previews, predictions and anything else we might dream up. We may reference hip hop, comics and other pop culture, but for the most part, you'll find two passionate guys sharing the fan's-eye view of boxing.

And when I say share, we hope you'll throw your two cents in too. We just ask that you keep it somewhat clean and intelligent. Boxing fans sometimes have trouble with the former, but usually don't struggle with the latter, despite what some would have you think. If you just want to write "pbf is teh awesome," there are plenty of other places on the internet to do that.

If that sounds good to you, welcome to BoxingWatchers.com. We hope you'll keep visiting, and of course, keep watching too.