Boxing is a gladiator sport, there is some primal fascination in knowing 2 strong evenly matched people are about to get into a ring and at least one is likely to get hurt, maybe very seriously hurt. I watched Fury v Wilder II and wasn't disappointed, but haven't watched many boxing matches over the years.
I watched Muhammad Ali take down George Foreman, broadcast live on tv at Sydney Uni, I saw a few Mike Tyson demolition jobs, then saw Tyson knocked out by Buster Douglas on telly. I went to a pub at Drummoyne to watch Kostya Tszyu take on smart-arse Zab Judah (even persuaded my wife to come!), and I paid foxtel to see Anthony Mundine beat the bullet-ridden gangtser Echols. All of those were well worth the effort/cost, but i'm glad that apart from a few feature events I never actually followed the sport because for each classic I've no doubt there are many dud matches.
Not to mention the reputation of the sport - promoters who rip off boxers, boxers who are punch-drunk, boxers who take a dive, judges who come up with impossible points decisions.
But chuck on a good match-up and I'll probably watch, it's kind of sickening but I'm only human after all. 🙂