This is not to say, as some observers do, that British boxing is in terminal decline.

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Boxing it do keep 'em out of trouble for a bit but sometimes I think their hearts are too big.

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"I think that the American promoters do not want to have much to do with the English boxing scene because it appears to us to be so xenophobic, " Arum told BBC Sport Online.

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Similarly, the Wii's tennis, bowling, golf and baseball games require players to act out the physical movements involved in each of those sports, though they do not require as much physical exertion as the boxing game.

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"I hope the WBA will do the right thing for both Lennox and the future of boxing, " said Eliades.

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And a quick glance through boxing's chronicles will prove, often two great pugilists do not collide when either is in their prime.

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"Like boxing, it's about convincing your opponent you'll do one thing so you draw them into doing the wrong action at the wrong time, or in the wrong place and then take advantage of their error to hit them, " says Ms. Halls.

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