Boxing is an exciting sport where two superb athletes square off in a ring and battle to the limits of human endurance. But while boxing is a brutal competitive sport, it is trully an ineffective method of self defense. Boxers are some of the toughest athletes in the world, but being "tough" and simply being an "athlete" (even a combat athlete) does not mean that you are prepared for the chaotic violence of a street fight. Like all modern combat sports, rules, regulations, and big money have diluted much of boxing's destructive power. When it comes to real world self defense, the only thing that should be expected is the worst, and boxing as a fighting system isn't up to the challenge.