Despite the increase of popularity towards mixed martial arts and the UFC, boxing in New Zealand is under no immediate threat, says Duco Events boss David Higgins.
Aided by the likes of Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France, combat sports has seen an unprecedented rise among Kiwi viewers, culminating in yesterday's UFC Fight Night in Auckland.
The sport's rising popularity isn't being ignored at the top level either, with Adesanya's status as world middleweight champion earning him this year's Sportsman of the Year honour at the Halberg Awards.
Speaking to 1 NEWS today though, Duco boss and promoter Higgins is relaxed about the potential challenge coming from mixed martial arts.
"They've both got their following," Higgins began.
"But Pacquiao-Mayweather brought in more revenue than the UFC for a whole 12 months. Mayweather-McGregor probably brought in as much as the entire UFC for a whole year.
"So if you total up every boxing event in the world by revenue, it's several hundred times bigger than UFC.
"Boxing's under no threat of going anywhere."
Higgins also says that yesterday's heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will only see boxing continue to capture the attention of fans around the world.
"A star like Tyson Fury is going to blow it up global again.
"Remember Tyson-Holyfield? We're in an era like that.
"Wilder-Fury, that was their second fight. It's big in America again now.
"It was big in the UK, now it's big in America, it's big worldwide."
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