Why is MMA a threat to boxing?

[El Kabong]

I think eventually MMA and Boxing can have a Bo Jackson/Deon Sanders type of two sport star....but to be honest I think it'll be a lot easier for that to happen if the guy is a boxer first and MMA fighter second because you're going from strict rules to not so strict rules.

[rjj tszyu]

I think eventually MMA and Boxing can have a Bo Jackson/Deon Sanders type of two sport star....but to be honest I think it'll be a lot easier for that to happen if the guy is a boxer first and MMA fighter second because you're going from strict rules to not so strict rules.

I completely agree with this. I think Mercer is a prime example of this too. Don't get me wrong I know he'll never be UFC HW champ, but he showed that boxing has a serious chance in MMA when he KO'd the former UFC champ Tim Sylvia in 8 seconds in a cage. And that is a man who is something like 15-16 years younger than him.

[El Kabong]

I completely agree with this. I think Mercer is a prime example of this too. Don't get me wrong I know he'll never be UFC HW champ, but he showed that boxing has a serious chance in MMA when he KO'd the former UFC champ Tim Sylvia in 8 seconds in a cage. And that is a man who is something like 15-16 years younger than him.

I truthfully think that the best way to stop a boxer isn't so much with wrestling and submissions because as long as a boxer can keep his hands free he can do damage, it's vs a kicker that takes away leg strength, the ability to sit down on punches, and reach.

Look at Carwin-Lesnar and tell me had a power punching heavyweight in boxing landed on Brock he couldn't have starched him out....I wouldn't want someone that had snap on their punches to land ANYTHING on my face or body with 4 oz gloves.

[rjj tszyu]

I completely agree with this. I think Mercer is a prime example of this too. Don't get me wrong I know he'll never be UFC HW champ, but he showed that boxing has a serious chance in MMA when he KO'd the former UFC champ Tim Sylvia in 8 seconds in a cage. And that is a man who is something like 15-16 years younger than him.

I truthfully think that the best way to stop a boxer isn't so much with wrestling and submissions because as long as a boxer can keep his hands free he can do damage, it's vs a kicker that takes away leg strength, the ability to sit down on punches, and reach.

Look at Carwin-Lesnar and tell me had a power punching heavyweight in boxing landed on Brock he couldn't have starched him out....I wouldn't want someone that had snap on their punches to land ANYTHING on my face or body with 4 oz gloves.

This is something I can totally agree with you on Lyle.

[El Kabong]

I completely agree with this. I think Mercer is a prime example of this too. Don't get me wrong I know he'll never be UFC HW champ, but he showed that boxing has a serious chance in MMA when he KO'd the former UFC champ Tim Sylvia in 8 seconds in a cage. And that is a man who is something like 15-16 years younger than him.

I truthfully think that the best way to stop a boxer isn't so much with wrestling and submissions because as long as a boxer can keep his hands free he can do damage, it's vs a kicker that takes away leg strength, the ability to sit down on punches, and reach.

Look at Carwin-Lesnar and tell me had a power punching heavyweight in boxing landed on Brock he couldn't have starched him out....I wouldn't want someone that had snap on their punches to land ANYTHING on my face or body with 4 oz gloves.

This is something I can totally agree with you on Lyle.

...well I'm glad we found something to agree on

[Drago]

i havnt read anything but the thread title but its defo a thread, i mean i had never watched a mma fight a few yrs ago, now i watch more than boxing. because no fkin boxing on british tv so hell yeah its a threat

[generalbulldog]

Just out of curiosity, is boxing still on regular network tv in the UK? For boxing has completely disappear from regular network tv in the USA since the late 80s.

There's no question in my mind that the reason why boxing is now a niche sport in the USA (for most of the 80s it was still a mainstream sport in the US) is because of it's disappearance from regular network tv.

[0james0]

I catch the odd UFC on, there is a bit about, but most the stuff I see is old.

I was saying the other day how I think Chuck could have knocked a few people out in his day, no doubting he hit hard and he'd be hard as fuck to knock out.

They'd probably struggle to a true boxer in terms of style, a puncher they could brawl with, but a dodger with good feet would frustrate them.

I think if a boxer went to MMA they would be too vunerable to submissions, just through lack of knowledge. Certain MMA fighters prob could box and would find it easy to take punches and stalk down opponents, but I still think they'd struggle unless they could turn it into a brawl.

I'm suprised Lesnar hasn't done it, he's done just about everything else. I'm sure he'd take a few heavyweights!

[El Kabong]

I was saying the other day how I think Chuck could have knocked a few people out in his day, no doubting he hit hard and he'd be hard as fuck to knock out.

I'm suprised Lesnar hasn't done it, he's done just about everything else. I'm sure he'd take a few heavyweights!

I don't think so, Chuck Liddell would have been found out early in boxing. You CANNOT just drop your jab by your side like that and live to tell the tale vs guys who know what they are doing. He would be a dangerous puncher, but he would have been sparked early and often given how he threw his punches and what he did after throwing a punch

Lesnar is just a wrestler....he can't box. The style that he has success with is wrestling and getting opponents on the ground...you can't do either of those in boxing. Shane Carwin can punch, but I HIGHLY doubt he'd be a decent heavyweight even given the state of the division right now.

I think the guy that would have done the best in boxing is Arlovski before his chin went.

[Mattyhitman]

Just out of curiosity, is boxing still on regular network tv in the UK? For boxing has completely disappear from regular network tv in the USA since the late 80s.

There's no question in my mind that the reason why boxing is now a niche sport in the USA (for most of the 80s it was still a mainstream sport in the US) is because of it's disappearance from regular network tv.

Unfortunately boxing has pretty much gone from terrestrial tv in the UK, Sky now have the majority of all bouts being televised, so if ya dont subscribe then ya knackered. ITV and BBC did have a go at it a few years back but didnt really do a good enough job and now it's fell on it's arse. It's a shame as back in the 80's ITV was the home of big time boxing !


On another note, Arlovski would have done well as his base was kickboxing, so yea he has a good base to start with, whereas, like ya say, the wrestlers would prefer the takedown and then ground and pound.

[rjj tszyu]

I was saying the other day how I think Chuck could have knocked a few people out in his day, no doubting he hit hard and he'd be hard as fuck to knock out.

I'm suprised Lesnar hasn't done it, he's done just about everything else. I'm sure he'd take a few heavyweights!

I don't think so, Chuck Liddell would have been found out early in boxing. You CANNOT just drop your jab by your side like that and live to tell the tale vs guys who know what they are doing. He would be a dangerous puncher, but he would have been sparked early and often given how he threw his punches and what he did after throwing a punch

Lesnar is just a wrestler....he can't box. The style that he has success with is wrestling and getting opponents on the ground...you can't do either of those in boxing. Shane Carwin can punch, but I HIGHLY doubt he'd be a decent heavyweight even given the state of the division right now.

I think the guy that would have done the best in boxing is Arlovski before his chin went.

Apparently Arlovski is going to be giving boxing a go soon. Golden Boy have signed him up.

As for Liddell, I totally agree again. Could you imagine him trying the "Superman Punch" against a top class boxer?? He would seriously be risking losing his head trying that shit out.

[El Kabong]

Look how Rampage stopped Chuck....that's boxing 101 right there!



That Left hook never came back to the guard position and like every other MMA fighter his chin was up in the air unprotected.

I think Rampage could have done ok in boxing had he trained in it his whole life. Apparently Freddy Roach had been training Arlovski.

[0james0]

I think against the right fighters, Rampage and Chuck could have won a few fights before being found out.

Would Chuck had been KO'd though with bigger gloves and a rule to stop you smashing his face in when he's on the floor?

What do they weigh out of interest?

[johnsebastianmiran]

Plain and simple, we watch sports because we crave excitement. When kickboxing emerged and I m not talking the Thai version which has been around almost forever with a little exaggeration of course, Someone once said that those of us that crave violent sports invented another one. I really give a rat's ass about yuppies that did not have the stomach to watch a man's sport so they started by canceling a high rated show on cable network USA. Let';s face it, there are those of us that are squeamish and there are those of us that can't get enough. We are fans. while those hypocrites trying to abolish boxing and focus their attention on our sport. MMA was stepping up to the plate, raw and unorganized. Boxing has been around and taken a beating from people outside the boundaries of fans like us. MMA has rules that I can't abide by and when yopu are on the floor and get hit behind the head while you are down, where's the sport in that you might ask. All I can say is to each his own and if the MMA makes you happy then more power to you. I have been practicing martial arts in dojos and not in a ring and I boxed amateur but now remember this, Boxing has risen again but those promoters and those wannabe executives that never broke a sweat in their lives are the real threat to boxing. I usually find one more quality in all the gyms I frequent, there are more gentlemen in boxing than in other sports and I mean the fighters.

[CFH]

I haven't read through the thread because I'm a bit drunk and more than a bit lazy, but MMA is a threat to boxing because it's well-organized, appealing to the casual fan, and because the best fighters are constantly matched up against one another. There is only one major body (UFC) and *gasp* the best fighters actually fight each other without any prima donna bullshit because a) the fights are easier to make thanks to the absolute control exercised by UFC and b) because losses are acceptable and don't seem to derail careers the way they do in boxing. MMA learned from everything that boxing has done wrong over the last 30 years and has created a sport that casual fans actually care about. Divisional champions are easy to identify and stacked cards with the best fighters actually fighting one another occur on a regular basis. The incestuous, fractured, and often overtly corrupt nature of boxing is a joke compared with the way MMA (in the form of UFC) is run.

In my mind boxing is a far superior sport, but it's organized and run in such an inept way that it is slowly killing itself.