The last decade in fights has seen the meteoric rise of The Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride, K-1 and various other arenas of mixed martial arts. Their fans champion the sport as exciting, dangerous, and as close to a real fight as can be televised. Boxing, many say, is dead.

Boxing is and always has been an art form. Truly great boxers have relied not only on power, but also on speed, on agility and on creativity. It is rare that a boxer can rely on brute strength to carry the fight and produce a knockout. A great boxing match might feature pensive jabbing, cat-like dodging and measured footwork.

But, these things aren’t exciting, they say. These things aren’t knockouts; these things aren’t tapouts; these things aren’t blood-inducing. UFC is all of these things.

The decline of boxing can be traced back to 2004, when heavyweight Lennox Lewis retired after his controversial stoppage of Vitali Klitschko. The heavyweight division was in tatters. Since Lewis retired boxing has crowned 15 different champions. And, in almost every instance, the reigning champions are dethroned.

Not since Lewis has a heavyweight been truly dominant. Not since Lewis has a heavyweight stood and made people take notice. Not since Lewis has a heavyweight been actually exciting to watch.

Indisputably, boxing’s success is proportional to the strength of the heavyweight division. This is because, to put it matter-of-factly, heavyweights knock people out. Heavyweights hit the hardest; heavyweights fall the hardest. This is excitement. When Ali leveled Foreman in “The Rumble in the Jungle”, it was exciting. When Tyson destroyed Michael Spinks, it was exciting. When Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling, he struck a blow for America and for racial equality. And, it was exciting.

But, if you turn on heavyweight boxing these days, you don’t see the same excitement. You’ll see Wladimir Klitschko pawing at his opponents like a kitty cat with his left arm. You’ll see Ruslan Chagaev backing out of another match, complaining of mysterious ailments. You’ll see a recurring cast of contenders, who seemingly take turns out-pointing each other so they all get a chance to be champion. This, undeniably, is boring. This, undeniably, is 2008 boxing.

However, as heavyweight boxing flounders, there is much excitement in the world of boxing at the lighter levels. Middleweight Kelly Pavlik methodically destroys his opponents with a powerful right hand as he amasses an almost unheard of record of 34 wins and zero losses, 30 of which coming by way of knockout. Manny Pacquiao, pound-for-pound the best boxer in the world, continues to defy the odds by rising weight classes and knocking out everyone he fights with his brawl-like style and iron chin.

Excitement is to be had in the world of boxing. It just has to be found.

The UFC has surpassed boxing in pay-per-view buys, in betting revenue and, most importantly, in fans. Many look at boxing as the way of the past, with UFC as the way of the future.

But, boxing is not dead. True fight fans can still see artistry at its finest in a quick duck, in a powerful counter, in a well-timed clinch, in everything that boxing brings.

Boxing is not just about two apes swinging at each other. Boxing is about two dancers, intelligent and graceful, looking for a way to top the other in exciting and beautiful competition. In this way, boxing will never die.