I understand casual fans not being as interested but even hardcore boxing fans don't seem to be interested in kickboxing why is this? These days a kickboxing match is three to five rounds and is actually an easier watch than boxing I believe, the lesser rounds also means that kickboxers don't usually stall or coast and go for it throughout the whole fight. While even in kickboxing now Glory is the biggest promotion in the world for it and it's heavyweight division isn't great but they still produce great fights, also the K1 days had a stacked roster too. So why is kickboxing not as popular even with boxing fans and have you ever been a fan of it or tried watching it? And what would it take for it to be as popular as boxing?
I've never watched Tenshin much to be honest, but I'm a big fan of the K1 days and I do like Glory, Rico Verhoeven has been the best Heavyweight kickboxer for years now. Alex Pereira was Middleweight/Light Heavyweight Champion and has recently moved to UFC at Middleweight winning in his debut with a brutal knee.
Yes but Kickboxers/boxers have crossed over and kickboxing is much more entertaining than Karate (Kyokushin is pretty cool though)
It's a good question to be honest. kickboxing has never really taken off over here but MMA has it how it seems to me. I wonder how much of it is to do where the sports originate from.... Kick Boxing more oriental countries (am I right in saying? ) probably more popular in places like Thai Land as opposed to the US. So geographically, language, culturally very different from the UK/ Where in the states you have all the advertising and obviously there is no language barrier between the UK and the US so sports start and the sports themselves can cross over easily.
The Dutch have always been prominent within the heavyweight division of Kickboxing, it's popular with Romanians and Moroccans too. Rico Verhoeven and Jamal Ben Saddik had a fight last year that was just as good as any fight on combat sports, lots of drama.
Because kickboxing doesn't have the money, exposure, marketing, promotion, and history that boxing has.
Kickboxing had no appeal in the US, LatAm or the UK. It is also aesthetically less pleasing than boxing.
Does it have much main stream appeal in Holland? I've heard of Verhoeven for some reason but i know nothing about the sports as a whole. I've seen the odd clip of a fight here and there but it's interesting how it's never taken off. it can look messy from what i've seen but it can also be f**** brutal which is about the same as most combat sports.
Because MMA and Kickboxing are too savage and wild, these sports appeal to lower class, uneducated people. However, boxing is a more civilzed, classy and elite sport. You see celebrities watching important boxing matches ringside, because it elevates their status. That's why boxing is more popular and elegant than other combat sports.
