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Professional sports can be a bit of a paradox these days. On one hand you have the greatest era in sporting history with better skilled, trained and richer athletes competing in their various events. On the flip side however, competition has come to mean less in some sports, particularly with the introduction of huge financial incentives.

Last weekend we had one of the most highly anticipated female boxing bouts of all time: Clarissa Shields vs Savannah Marshall, and it did not disappoint, producing one of the most elite level, competitive female fights in history. It was largely praised by fans and neutrals from all over the World and earned the two women their highest paydays till date. That is what happens when the best fight the best.

Male boxing has a reputation for avoiding the best fights largely due to money. It may come in form of promotional disputes, contract terms or even broadcast rights. The highly fractionalized system of boxing is an enabler in this regard. There are way too many sanctioning bodies and belts that people can actively avoid each other and be called World champions. It is not strange to see boxing fans grow disillusioned and explore other combat sports like the Mixed martial Arts.

I think the growth of Mixed Martial Arts, particularly the UFC can be directly attributed to the quality of fights that they fix and the excitement it brings. Since the UFC is the single dominant MMA body for now, all the top fighters go there and the best fights are made without hesitation. Hopefully the same kind of fractionalization doesn't happen as with boxing and we continue to see the best matches made.

The essence of competition is to see the best compete against the best. That is why sports is such an attraction. If not athletes should not earn so much to simply put up mediocre performances against mediocre opposition. The NBA is so attractive because all the best players in basketball are there, and they regularly play one another. When this simple but true fact is lost to the sports makers, they end up losing the interest, trust and support of fans.

Make Money but Not so Obvious

I think it is insulting to approach every sporting transaction thinking about the money only. It is understandable because for professionals that is their source of livelihood, but sports goes beyond paychecks. Am just saying that there are other things that should be considered at the end of the day. Professional players have been known to accept pay-cuts just so they can keep playing with a particular team and competing at elite level.

Having the best compete against each other can be just as rewarding as doing it solely for the money, as we have mentioned with our examples so far. Competition is about finding out who the best is, and that only happens when all the really good players square off. Anything less isn't true value for money. Sometimes you should just give the fans what they want.