The old boxing v MMA debate

[redsamurai]

wow, you don't watch MMA dude. Are you seriously saying that no MMA fighter has ever had to really dig down and gut out a win? Are you kidding? How many times have I seen a dude who's arm looks about an inch from snapping somehow twist out of it. How many times have i seen a dude who by all rights should be sleeping/snoring right there on the mat somehow fight off the choke and get back to his feet. Fuck dude....that was a horrible argument to make cause ain't nobody in boxing ever have to deal with half that. I know boxers get into deep waters going into the later rounds.....but nothing like a grueling 5 round MMA fight.

 

[AztecWarrior]

and where all these stars ready to step in? I suspect that alot of kids training today in boxing will eventually use that training as a springboard into MMA, which I think the writing is on the wall for being the future of combat sports. I love the notion of boxing or "standup" fighting in general.....I just think that pure boxers are too specialized anymore and that makes for ever increasingly boring fights. Boxing needs an infuse of skilled brawlers who can bang for more than two rounds. They get that and maybe it's a relevant sport again. The money that's still in boxing is simply left over good will and an entrenched infrastructure in vegas that doesn't like these new MMA upstarts that think they can control their own brand. Letting the inmates run the asylum was the worst thing that boxing ever did.

Boxing has many guys on the rise in the sport. Chad dawson, abe concepcion, David haye, juanma lopez, lucian bute, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Guillermo Rigondeaux, anotino escanlte, andre ward, and so many more. I can go on and on. Haha. Stop being funny.

 

[AztecWarrior]

wow, you don't watch MMA dude. Are you seriously saying that no MMA fighter has ever had to really dig down and gut out a win? Are you kidding? How many times have I seen a dude who's arm looks about an inch from snapping somehow twist out of it. How many times have i seen a dude who by all rights should be sleeping/snoring right there on the mat somehow fight off the choke and get back to his feet. Fuck dude....that was a horrible argument to make cause ain't nobody in boxing ever have to deal with half that. I know boxers get into deep waters going into the later rounds.....but nothing like a grueling 5 round MMA fight.

Same could be said on both ends. The punishment level is vastly different. The number of deaths and complications are proof of the difficulty. MMA is more of a natural thing. I love watching mma but I know the difference of both. Matches do happen like that but it isn't always come down to that and I think you know that. Unlike most mma fans, I dont want to rain on your parade. The boxing community has nothing to prove and mma shouldn't either. Why be mad and bitter at another for success? Makes no sense. They can co exist if the respect and proper credit was given. I love all aspects of fighting, why the hell would I be training in MMA, if I didn't like it? Makes no sense does it? I'm not greedy, I like it all.

 

[AztecWarrior]

See this is the type of defensiveness (Joe Rogan style) which I think takes away from the credibility of the sport. Btw, the responses aren't surprising as I know how big MMA is on bodybuilding boards.

seriously though..how can you ask what I am talking about? We aren't just talking some big fights - ANY of the headline fighters in boxing will make more than any MMA figher. Hell, even Amir Khan is a multi millionaire and he's already lost. Beating an over the hill Barrera is his only notable victory. If Mayweather and Pacquiao fight they will each make over 100 times more than any MMA fighter ever has in a fight. Anyone who says the interest is not there in boxing is having a laugh and ends up sounding stupid ala Joe Rogan.

The training is more brutal? It is just as tough, but in different ways. A MMA fighter would struggle with boxing training and vice versa. I've done both (boxing a couple of times a week and MMA slightly less regularly) and I find hitting the heavy bag the hardest of all. Grappling is tiring and requires a different sort of strength but is nowhere near as cardio intensive. MMA fighters obviously have to incorporate more weightlifting into their training but then don't have to run the distances that boxers do. Boxers (besides heavy weights) do a lot more body weight work to keep the speed that MMA fighters lose by training to grapple. It's just different. To say is is tougher is just ignorant. To be the best in either sport takes ridiculous amounts of work and pain.

The amount of belts in boxing has I agree been a farce at times but in ways can also make things more exciting in my opinion. It means so much more when a boxer unifies the division. Also, the super six tournaments are proving very successful for those who have the need to know for certain who is THE best. Again, this is partly for ignorant fans because styles make fights and sometimes there is no 'best'. Only rarely do you have real stand out fighters like Pacquaio and Mayweather. I know what you're saying but for me, the controversy of boxing and the setting up of fights makes it MORE interesting than having one company dominating an industry rolling out event one hundred and something after the other.

I forgot to mention in my original post. The main man behind UFC Dana White is a disgrace to his own sport - obviously a very good business man to have marketed UFC (mostly to people who share his type of personality) but the way he speaks on the internet to journalists and the like hasn't done the sport any favours in my opinion.

MMA fans are so insecure. Not sure why they can't just enjoy both fights. They don't talk crap about any of combat sport...man, i was told so many times after the record breaking purse of floyd-oscar that boxing was dead and there was nobody left. But i don.t know what ufc fight i should be looking forward to and why guys like liddell and coujture are still being peddled around.

anyways, i digress. You have a lot of people who watch ufc because it is the ufc. problem is those types of fans aren't gonna stick around for long/ if u really think all those drunk bleached blond girls with ed hardy wearing friends are at the ufc because they have a keen interest in the subtleties of jiu-jitsu forget it. MMA was (and relative to boxing is) new, fresh, well marketed to a juvenile crowd, but is already losing steam. The build up of new exciting ufc fighters is false.

And at the end of the day, at no point in their respective modern histories could their be an MMA fight put together that would be remotely as big as a potential boxing megafight. There will still be more people willing to shell out coin to watch a guy like Pac beat up an overmatched opponent than their would be for Fedor or Brock.

And finally, all these articles tend to reduce global sports to america only. Just let the debates go and watch what you like.

 

[AztecWarrior]

Put your best boxer in an MMA ring...see what happens...a ONE Trick pony won't survive. Just sayin...

LOL! We haven't seen a prime boxer at there best enter. You think what anderson can make a mockery of fighters, what you think of someone like mayweather would do. There isn't anyone in mma with those reflexes, speed, and footwork in mma. And to think there arent any good boxers that don't know how to wrestle isn't true. We have o'neil bell, mike alvardo, vic darchinyan, David haye, kermit cintron, and antonio davis for examples. Hell Pacquiao did mauy thai and the klitschkos did kickboxing but turned to boxing for the money. To think they wouldn't have other tools is really blinded by a haterade to see boxing do bad.

 

[AztecWarrior]

People are saying no one cares about BOXING because noone (majority) dont care!

Wow one of the BIGGEST fights in boxing a guy made 60mil, its sports, EVERYONE makes bank, and Mayweather is the TOP TOP TOP TOP draw in boxing right now. You arent proving your point or proving Joe Rogan wrong.

LOL! this is only north america and canada. MMA fans don't speak for the whole world. Boxing is better known and is watched more throughout the world. I'm putting down facts and you guys are talking dislike for a sport that you don't understand or like. Boxing has a vastly lager following internationally then mma. It's growth has been great but no where near the level of boxing is at the biggest showcase stage of the world.

 

[redsamurai]

dude I'm mad at boxing for "what it has become". I used to love boxing, back in the day when warriors fought. I'm not bitter or mad at it.....now you stop being funny.

And I hear you mentioning all these great up and comers....fine, why aren't they fighting primetime? Could it be because boxing has a horrible system of management that allows fighters who have made it to hand pick their opponents thereby keeping these supposed up and comers from making it? And isn't that what most people are saying sucks about boxing? Even Dana say's he'd still be a boxing fan if they could actually make the fights people want to see. For me at least it's not so much that I don't appreciate the actual sport of boxing, just what it's become. Yes I would still watch a top level MMA match over a boxing one. But take mayweather/pac....I'd watch that over almost any MMA fight right now except Carwin/lesnar or any Fedor fight in the UFC. But how many mayweather/pac like fights are out there? Certainly not in the HW division, they mineswell close that division up it's garbage.

 

[Daeo]

And please explain how MMA is boring when it usually ends in something(KO, TKO, Submission)most times. I'm not watching for a judges decision...

 

[AztecWarrior]

dude I'm mad at boxing for "what it has become". I used to love boxing, back in the day when warriors fought. I'm not bitter or mad at it.....now you stop being funny.

And I hear you mentioning all these great up and comers....fine, why aren't they fighting primetime? Could it be because boxing has a horrible system of management that allows fighters who have made it to hand pick their opponents thereby keeping these supposed up and comers from making it? And isn't that what most people are saying sucks about boxing? Even Dana say's he'd still be a boxing fan if they could actually make the fights people want to see. For me at least it's not so much that I don't appreciate the actual sport of boxing, just what it's become. Yes I would still watch a top level MMA match over a boxing one. But take mayweather/pac....I'd watch that over almost any MMA fight right now except Carwin/lesnar or any Fedor fight in the UFC. But how many mayweather/pac like fights are out there? Certainly not in the HW division, they mineswell close that division up it's garbage.

Just casue the talent hasn't been pushed down everyone's throats dosen't mean they won't be primetime. You prove yourself and have to pay your due as you move up in the ranks in boxing. The potential to showcase the next big thing is there. They don't have to pull out all there cards yet, when you have big names drawing in the crowds, no need to saturate the talent. The way they do things keeps things flowing. They often shown on small time shows througtout the yr. You have to keep in tune to catch the up and coming talent. I agree, I miss the post 70's, 80's, and 90's area of boxing, but matches on that level still and does happen. A lot of awesome matches happen and aren't even shown on tv because internationall the world dosent have the means to showcase every hard fought battle.

 

[DJLegacy2k1]

LMAO, these are the most pathetic arguments Ive ever seen. Dude 90% of martial arts are bigger world wide than Boxing...All of your information is horribly wrong or all opinion based in zero fact. Dude the funny thing is you name all of these "up and comers" and I can guarantee that 95% of the population has NO clue who they are. Boxing is for pu$$ys that want thick padded gloves and a bunch of dancing to protect them while they trade jabs and hug for 12 rounds. MMA fighters train in tons of different skills and styles and don't pu$$ out for extra padded protection, boxing = basically the bitches of the fight world...just sayin.