She is a looker, Thai boxer too.
She is a looker, Thai boxer too.
Psalms 144:1
Praise be my Lord my Rock,
He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !
I missed the Morrison story.
Boxing in good shape for '08
Norm Frauenheim
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 31, 2007 12:00 AM
It was a good time not to be included in all those year-end lists of top stories.
Among Barry Bonds and Marion Jones and - did we mention steroids? - Roger Clemens and Tim Donaghy and Michael Vick, maybe there just wasn't any room. Or maybe the rest of the sporting world has begun to behave like Mike Tyson.
Still, it is astonishing. In any year dominated by scandal, a list without boxing has got to be an upset. There was always at least one spot reserved for scandal, which for years simply meant boxing.
But not in 2007. It's hard to figure out what that means.
Maybe nobody is paying attention, although HBO's record pay-per-view numbers - about 4.85 million customers - say otherwise. Maybe it just means that for one year, or at least a part of it, boxing showed it could sweep away the usual anarchy and move forward amid some unusual order. It worked.
The question for 2008 is whether the battered game can sustain the momentum. Like great fighters, the business has always been at its best when confronted by danger. It exhibited that traditional resiliency in late 2007 amid signs that mixed martial arts were about to take it down.
If danger is boxing's ally, however, success is its enemy. Like a fighter with a lot of money for the first time, the sport has never been able to handle it.
If it hopes to avoid that familiar meltdown in 2008, here are a few resolutions:
More of welterweight Miguel Cotto and middleweight Kelly Pavlik, who kicks it all off on Feb. 16 in a rematch of his dramatic victory over Jermain Taylor.
No more of Evander Holyfield, whose pursuit of another title in a loss in October in Moscow was just another sad summation of the heavyweight division.
More of Floyd Mayweather Jr., against Cotto, Sugar Shane Mosley or Antonio Margarito.
No more talk from Mayweather's representatives about a possible escape into mixed martial arts, which would allow him to duck Cotto or Mosley or Margarito and take him even ****her from fulfilling boasts that he is Sugar Ray Robinson's equal.
More of HBO's 24/7 documentaries, which reached out to casual fans with compelling portrayals of Ricky Hatton, Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya.
No more of former heavyweight champ Tommy Morrison, who embarrassed two sports - boxing and mixed martial arts - in an MMA exhibition with fixed rules that allowed him to wear shoes and beat a barefooted foe in June at Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde.
More television coverage of boxing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and more medals for the United States, which has managed only three gold in the past four Olympiads.
More of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, who promise to deliver a lot more on March 15 in a rematch of their dramatic draw in a 2004 super-featherweight fight.
No more of Roy Jones Jr., who practiced last week with the New York Knicks and might be able to help them a lot more than he'll help himself against Felix Trinidad on Jan. 19.
More of Juan Diaz, the world's best lightweight and, hopefully, first in line for a shot at the Pacquiao-Marquez winner in a fight that would make 2008 a Happy New Year.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
Bah, typical Americancentric article, seemingly ignorant of the excitement that could be generated by:
Junior Witter 'the Hitter' (36-1-2 / 21 KOs) WBC Superlightweight Champion (since Mayweather) who just defeated Vicious Harris for the first six rounds on points then with a left hook KO from his back foot under pressure from the notoriously aggressive Harris.
David 'Hayemaker' Haye (20-1-0 / 19 KOs) WBA and WBC Cruiserweight Champion, hungry to come up a weight after his title unification fight with...
Enzo 'Big Mac' Maccarinelli (28-1-0 / 21 KOs) WBO Cruiserweight Champion, who last year crushed up-and-coming Bobby Gunn in the 1st and Mohammed Azaoi in the 4th...
not to mention...
Joe Calzaghe (44-0-0 / 32 KOs) himself, WBO, WBC and WBA Supermiddleweight Champion (ex-IBF Champion; 10 years defender WBO title) who is perhaps most avoided by the US boxing community, since he's on the top of the world in his game and ready for Wright or Hopkins or anyone who not scared!
... given a chance to cross over into the States.
Puh-lease! Give us some press!
And even Hatton still has a better-than-average slugger's chance at a good level, though I doubt that he'd acquit himself any better in a rematch against Mayweather...
its safe to say that I train some martial arts. Im not that good really, but most people really suck, so I feel ok about that - Sunfist
Sometime blog on training esp in Japan
Could be game on...
Though Hopkins has changed his purse demand last minute before...
its safe to say that I train some martial arts. Im not that good really, but most people really suck, so I feel ok about that - Sunfist
Sometime blog on training esp in Japan
Joe is great and smacks from some weird ass angles, but to be truthful, he hasn';t sold me yet, maybe its his style, after all, he is the champ.
Nevertheless, if you go to youtube, for example, and try to find a highlight reel of Joe, you can't, at least not that I found it...( I could be wrong).
A fight and victory over Hopkins would be great for him, and he may have chance, not sure if he can KO Bernard though...
But the beat the champ, you must BEAT the champ.
Psalms 144:1
Praise be my Lord my Rock,
He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !
Here's more on Mayweather & MMA...
Mayweather Sr. Blasts Floyd Jr. Over MMA Move
By Mark Vester
The Mayweather family is celebrating the New Year with that special kind of the love. For the last few years, trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., and pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., have carried on a public feud in the media and on television. The ill feelings between father and son were the main focus of HBO's De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7 mini-series.
In a recent interview with Percy Crawford of FightHype, Mayweather Sr. blasted his son over a possible move to mixed-martial-arts. Several weeks ago, Floyd Jr. met with Mark Cuban of HDNet Fights, discussing a possible debut in MMA. Several key figures in boxing and MMA have spoken out against the move.
Mayweather says that his son will end up like former champion Vince Phillips, who took a beating in the MMA ranks.
"He needs to leave that sh*t alone. He’s going to get the same f*cking thing Vince Phillips got; leg broke, arm broke or whatever. Vince Phillips got his arm broke. You can’t mess with that…that’s what they do. You can’t beat nobody at their own game," Mayweather Sr. said. "All of this he talking about right now, this martial arts sh*t, I’m telling you, he about to get broke the f*ck up right now. I’m telling you, he could forget all of that stuff being cute and how you supposed to hit somebody with a check hook. Man, them motherf*cker’s going to take that check hook motherf*cker and squeeze your guts out."
Forget a possible retirement. According to Floyd Sr., his son will definitely retire after testing the MMA waters. He doesn't feel that any of Floyd's skills as a boxer will help him in the world of MMA.
"He ain’t got to worry about retiring. When they get through with his ass, he will be retired. He will be retired f*cking with them motherf*ckers. They would love to fight him. This ain’t no f*cking boxing; ain’t none of these motherf*ckers scared of his ass. I’ll fight one of them motherf*ckers if they just want to throw their guards up. I’m old and I’ll beat they ass, but when they start talking about that going to the ground, elbows and knees and all of that, man f*ck that sh*t. I ain’t about to go in there. Them motherf*ckers dangerous man. One thing about it, them guys can take a f*cking punch man. Those guys will laugh at Lil Floyd when he hit them."Klitschko: "Mayweather Will Get Hurt in MMA"
By Mark Vester
IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is against Floyd Mayweather Jr's possible entrance into the world of mixed-martial-arts. As quoted in a recent ESPN interview by writer Michael David Smith, Klitschko is afraid that Mayweather will get seriously hurt if he decides to follow through with his plans for a mixed-martial-arts debut.
"Please, Floyd, don't do it," Klitschko said. "I think he'd get hurt. There are so many difficulties from changing one sport you've been doing for a long time and swithcing to something else. ... I wish he'd stick with boxing."
Klitschko's comment has been echoed by several high-profile personalities in the business. A few weeks ago, Mayweather met with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who also owns HDNet Fights, to discuss a possible deal for a future MMA bout.
Most in the sport view the meeting with Cuban as nothing more than a publicity stunt. If the unthinkable happens and Mayweather actually decides to venture into MMA, it's very unlikely that his opponent will be a legitimate threat.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
Floyd got his ass kicked on Dancing with the Stars.
He stood more of a chance there.
Psalms 144:1
Praise be my Lord my Rock,
He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !
No, I don't think there are any. Mind you, there are only highlight reels for the US fighters... why? Because generally people in Europe (don't forget it's usually the fans who make these things) don't bother making them. There aren't highlight reels of most European boxers... they're not as media savvy maybe, which is another reason they don't get the press in the States - they don't hype themselves so much. There weren't any highlight reels of Hatton until he was due to fight Mayweather.
Calzaghe's not such a big hitter but his boxing is phenomenal. As for champs, he beat Chris Eubank, though admittedly long after Eubank's best but when he was still up-and-coming, Jeff Lacey is still recovering from being knocked into the next few years...(A fight and victory over Hopkins would be great for him, and he may have chance, not sure if he can KO Bernard though...
But the beat the champ, you must BEAT the champ.!) and Kessler is pretty hard.
Hopkins would be harder than Eubank, maybe. But even then he's getting on too (although never made any vow to not KO people like Eubank did after Watson) and people are going to say that Calzaghe would've never beaten him in his prime. He can't win.
Dunno. But I sure wanna watch it.
its safe to say that I train some martial arts. Im not that good really, but most people really suck, so I feel ok about that - Sunfist
Sometime blog on training esp in Japan
The following are some very entertaining quotes from Floyd Mayweather Sr., father to current pound for pound boxing king Floyd Mayweather Jr., and a former world champion boxer/trainer himself. These quotes deal with the rumors of his son flirting with the idea of entering into the MMA fighting world.
"He needs to leave that **** alone. He's going to get the same ****ing thing Vince Phillips got; leg broke, arm broke or whatever. Vince Phillips got his arm broke. You can't mess with that...that's what they do. You can't beat nobody at their own game."
"All of this he talking about right now, this martial arts ****, I'm telling you, he about to get broke the **** up right now. I'm telling you, he could forget all of that stuff being cute and how you supposed to hit somebody with a check hook. Man, them mother****er's going to take that check hook mother****er and squeeze your guts out. I'm just being real with you man."
"If he ever want to take a mother****in' loss, you bout to take one right now mother****er. Go ahead and try that. One of them mother****ers grab you and bing, bing...hit the floor twice mother****er and it's over with."
"Lil Floyd about to get his ass tore up man. He ain't about to whoop them mother****ers. He can forget that ****!"
"Man, let me tell you something, they don't even need a referee for this **** right here. They ain't going to need a referee because he's going to tap his own self out if he's able."
"They going to break his ****ing limbs. One of them mother****ers hit him upside his ****ing head and he may never be the same. I'm just telling the truth."
"He ain't got to worry about retiring. When they get through with his ass, he will be retired. He will be retired ****ing with them mother****ers. They would love to fight him. This ain't no ****ing boxing; ain't none of these mother****ers scared of his ass. I'll fight one of them mother****ers if they just want to throw their guards up. I'm old and I'll beat they ass, but when they start talking about that going to the ground, elbows and knees and all of that, man **** that ****. I ain't about to go in there. Them mother****ers dangerous man. One thing about it, them guys can take a ****ing punch man. Those guys will laugh at Lil Floyd when he hit them."
Unless McCain becomes president and shuts MMA down.
The business of MMA in 2008
By Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports
January 7, 2008
In 2007, the sport of mixed martial arts garnered unprecedented mainstream sports acceptance, gracing the covers of ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated . Media outlets that one year ago wouldn't have touched MMA were suddenly proclaiming it as the fastest growing sport in the country, and even the replacement for traditional boxing.
But the reality is a little different. As this past year showed, the respective ups and downs of the UFC and pro boxing aren't related. Boxing had its biggest year ever on pay-per-view television, and while UFC didn't have the two incredible draws which turned 2006 into its biggest year Tito Ortiz's matches with Ken Shamrock and Chuck Liddell business solidified. Of the 15 biggest PPV events of 2007 in North America, UFC had eight, to four for boxing and three for World Wrestling Entertainment (numbers are not yet available for UFC 78 and November and UFC 79 in December, both of which are expected to crack the top 15). In 2006, those numbers were six each for boxing and UFC and three for WWE. Boxing's record year really consisted of two gigantic fights: Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather and Mayweather-Ricky Hatton. UFC did the most consistent business, and WWE, with the exception of a stellar Wrestlemania and strong SummerSlam, has faded in comparison.
TOP N. AMERICAN BUY RATES, 2007*
1. Boxing: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, May 5: 2,400,000
2. Boxing: Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton, Dec. 8: 850,000
3. WWE: Wrestlemania, April 1: 760,000
4. UFC: Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson, May 26: 675,000
5. UFC: Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture, March 3: 540,000
6. UFC: Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, Aug. 24: 520,000
7. UFC: Liddell vs. Keith Jardine, Sept. 22: 475,000
8. UFC: Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans, July 7: 425,000
9. UFC: Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter, Feb. 2: 400,000
10. UFC: Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra, April 7: 400,000
11. Boxing: Manny Pacquiao vs. Marco Antonio Barrera, Oct. 6: 350,000
12. WWE: SummerSlam, Aug. 26: 344,000
13. Boxing: Miguel Cotto vs. Shane Mosley, Nov. 10: 340,000
14. UFC: Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin, Oct. 20: 325,000
15. WWE: Royal Rumble, Jan. 28: 314,000
*Numbers not yet available for UFC 78 and 79, which are expected to crack the top 15. Source: Wrestling Observer.
The UFC vs. boxing news story proved to be overblown. UFC doesn't have a De La Hoya, and as long as he's active and the masses consider him a superstar worth paying to see, boxing has the potential to have the biggest single events.
Boxing also has the media edge in the sense that even though several UFC fights did business in the same ballpark as Mayweather-Hatton in North America, the company still is not established enough to get the media acceptance of being as big on a regular basis.
In the long run, both will thrive, survive, or die based on their own merits. The crossover audience really isn't there.
If you attend a live boxing, UFC and WWE event in the same market, you hardly see the same type of audience. Boxing draws a far older and more ethnic-based audience. Aside from the few times a year when a fight takes on a life of its own in the public consciousness, the sport doesn't have nearly the base of the other two. UFC draws largely white males and females, usually in the 18-40 range. You see very few teenagers, virtually no children, and no sign of the older crowd seen at most boxing matches.
WWE has strong across-the-board television viewership, but there has been a major change over the past year at its live shows. The adult male audience is rather rapidly being replaced by a growing teenage and younger children's audience, with the adults in attendance mainly being parents. That probably also explains WWE's declining base of PPV viewers.
If there is true competition, it's for the PPV dollars of the 18-40 crowd. The migration to UFC of an audience that grew up on WWE is the untold story. Will it continue? Can it reverse? UFC proved some staying power this year, but two years hardly indicates proven long-term success.
There is a business lesson from pro wrestling over the past few years that UFC should heed. WWE increased from 12 to 16 pay-per-view events, and the results of the overexposure were such that they are cutting back to 14 this year. UFC's current schedule (running major events Dec. 29, Jan. 19 and Feb. 2) is the type of schedule that caused the WWE base audience to begin to pick and choose between events. It's a slippery slope that becomes a difficult rebound. This is not as much a factor to boxing, because few boxing fans buy every show, with most picking and choosing only the big-name fights. UFC, like WWE, sells almost as much on the brand name as the main events, drawing a regular monthly crowd.
But with all the talk of MMA being the next NASCAR, or the replacement for boxing, the only true success story of the MMA industry on a national basis has been UFC. The IFL started out with strong television on MyNetworkTV, but its ratings faded most of the year and only a weak FOX Sports Net is a partner for 2008. Bodog Fight spent millions in promotion and came out with little, losing its television after poor ratings on the Ion Network, and hasn't had any television outlet for months. Elite XC purchased one smaller organization after another, but was a huge money loser and has not established itself as the Avis of the genre. It has specials on Showtime, but no clearance to hit the true national market. WEC is really just a UFC subsidiary, and while their ratings on Versus have grown, they are far from being a nationally known secondary brand. If they become one, it really only furthers the UFC domination of the market.
All three UFC rivals start 2008 needing to turn around their business fortunes or face a bleak long-term future. Also in the North American mix is M-1 Global, which held a big press conference announcing the signing of Fedor Emelianenko and talking about more big signings and a possible television deal. But they have been largely quiet ever since, with no date even announced for a first show.
The wild card is Mark Cuban's HDNet. The network committed to 24 live events in 2008, working with a number of different promotions. Just this past week HDNet aired both the IFL finals and the Japanese New Year's Eve Yarennoka show live. Today, the station doesn't have enough clearance (being in less than 6 percent of the country's homes) to be a significant factor. If HDNet becomes this decades version of the first wave of major cable stations in the 80s, that will greatly change the makeup of the sport. But that won't be happening in 2008.
Both NBC and CBS have had recent talks about airing MMA, but no deals have been announced. The CBS negotiations will have the same issues as the failed UFC/HBO negotiations of 2007: Both sides will want to control the production and the announcing.
UFC has achieved a successful formula for presenting a sport, but from a control standpoint the television product is far closer to pro wrestling. The announcers never talk about serious issues on the broadcast. You'll never hear about drug suspensions or contract disputes like you would while watching a major sports broadcast. It's a great gimmick, but if the NFL on network television can't have full control over what the announcers say, it's doubtful HBO, let alone a major network, will accept those coverage limitations. That's the major hurdle.
What to expect in 2008? More media coverage is probable. More shows, both good and bad, are likely. More small groups losing lots of money is almost a guarantee. Only a stiff decline in UFC business will prevent all this from happening. And with the base having solidified at a higher level than last year, there are no signs of that happening.
As long as UFC has success, there will be wealthy people trying to get in on the game. Most will fail spectacularly. But it only takes one group that garners the right television deal, and can sign a few UFC stars, and understands how to market the sport that the entire dynamic of the industry will change. That is also far easier said than done. Several tried this past year, and none came close to making it work.
More fighters will have an opportunity to earn full-time livings, so the quality of potential stars will increase. That, like in 2007, will probably lead to more surprises. Whether it's going to be the MMA's great lure or its great curse in the long term, the reality is that when top fighters are matched, anything can happen.
At the same time, the original cast of stars made by television in 2005, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin, are not going to be able to carry the UFC brand this next year. UFC's key for 2008 is whether people such as Quinton Jackson, Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn or whoever ends up as the dominant fighters can be viewed by the current and new fan base as being as big as the stars who made the sport a force.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
Gotta love Don King.
King: 'MMA is barbarism
By JIM MUNRO in New York
Published: Today
DON KING has thrown a jab into the ribs of mixed martial arts, describing the sport as "barbarism".
The legendary boxing promoter was at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening to host the showdown between Roy Jones Jr and Felix 'Tito' Trinidad.
On the same night, UFC80: Rapid Fire in the UK was also attracting a large chunk of the US pay-per-view audience.
Asked for his opinion of MMA, King said: "I think it's great. I think mixed martial arts is original."
But King went on to explain: "It's barbarism."
With a trademark flurry of words, the 76-year-old who has enjoyed four decades at the top of the fight game, claimed that MMA is a step backwards compared to the "beauty" of present day boxing.
King said: "This is what the Marquess of Queensberry came to uplift by making rules and regulations.
"It won't be long before they'll be crying barbarism again.
"If people are thinking quality is blood and guts, that they want to go out and see guys get knocked out of the building...
"Well, in the olden days they were feeding Christians to the lions. Then they had the gladiators.
"Later, you had fighters who would go 50 rounds, there was no such thing as going to a decision, you were going for a knockout.
"So then people became more civilised, more sophisticated, and that's how you got the beauty that is boxing."
Asked what he would say to those who claim boxing has lost its competitive edge and is not as popular as it once was, he smiled: "Well I say to them, 'Oh ye of little faith. Get thee behind me Satan!
"You've got to understand something. Boxing, right now, is an equal opportunity sport. Especially now as you have no heroes.
"Why do I say that? I say that because anybody can be the champion. We don't even know who the champion is, we don't have heroes right now.
"And why don't we have heroes? Because our fighters became business boxers, rather than boxers of business. They all became the businessmen they wanted to be without fighting for glory and pride.
"Pride will prevail. When it's all over, you can try to hide it, you can be like an ostrich and bury your head in the sand.
"But when a person competes for the pride, integrity and honour of his competition, it is incidental that he should be paid.
"You don't have to trade in one for the other. You don't have to show greed and avarice and mercenary qualities in order to be good.
"Be good and you're gonna have the money."
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
We'll know MMA is really it when pro football players start switching over.
Raritan grad Howard makes switch to MMA
By STEVEN FALK STAFF WRITER January 24, 2008
Matt Howard is the first to admit he has been a boxing guy most of his life.
He has been involved in boxing as a manager and trainer since 1987. He has been involved with fighters like Arturo Gatti, Ray Mercer and Razor Ruddock.
However, he feels that mixed martial arts is gradually becoming more popular than boxing, especially when it comes to promoting events in Atlantic City.
"MMA is really where the money is in this industry," Howard, a 1976 Raritan High School graduate, said. "One out of every three kids is involved with MMA. One out of 80,000 is involved with boxing. Go to a boxing gym these days and you won't see many people in there.
"The younger generation is really into it because they are all into karate."
Howard will promote his first MMA card, in partnership with EliteXC, Friday night at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
The featured fight on the eight-fight card will pit Eddie Alvarez against Ross Ebanez. The final five fights on the card will be broadcast live at 11 p.m. on SHOWTIME.
Other fights on the card are Paul Daley vs. Sam Morgan; Bobby McMaster vs. Bao Quach; Julie Kedzie vs. Tonya Evinger and Kala Kolohe Hose vs. Belleton Frederic.
The card begins at 9 p.m.
Tickets can be obtained via ticketmaster.com or by calling the Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City box office. As of Tuesday, Howard said approximately 3,300 tickets had been sold in the Taj Mahal's Mark G. Etess Arena, which seats over 5,000.
"I talked with Gary Shaw (an executive with EliteXC) and he said, "They wanted to bring EliteXC to the East Coast,' " Howard said. "They've done a lot of (Las) Vegas and they've done one down in Florida."
Howard had been the Vice President of Table Games and Player of Development for the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City before he left last February. He was a casino executive at Harrah's Atlantic City and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City before he worked for Tropicana. He said he co-promoted an MMA card when he worked for the Tropicana. He said he was shocked that the card it filled the 2,800 seat arena at the Tropicana.
"I brought guys like Clinton Portis (the Washington Redskins running back), Laveranues Coles (the Jets wide receiver) and Gerry Cooney (a former heavyweight boxer who fought against then heavyweight champion Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title in 1982), and they all loved the heck out of it (MMA)," Howard said.
If this card is a success, Howard said he would like to promote 2-3 more events this year that will be broadcast on SHOWTIME.
In your voice
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
And she's a knockout - a former playboy centerfold.
Boxer Makes Martial Arts Debut in Honolulu
Updated: Jan 25, 2008 09:40 PM
By Jason Tang
HONOLULU (KHNL) -- After 12 years of boxing, Mia 'The Knockout' St. John is hanging up her gloves. But she's not leaving the ring just yet.
On Saturday night, right here in Honolulu, St. John will make her Mixed Martial Arts combat debut.
At the age of forty, Mia St. John isn't ready to walk away from combat sports. In fact, she's ready to take it to a new extreme.
"I think the switch is pretty obvious because boxing is kind of taking a back seat to MMA," said St. John.
Before becoming a boxer, Mia competed in Tae Kwon Do for 23 years. However, now that MMA is getting more exposure than boxing, the switch was natural. But it hasn't been easy.
"For me it was tougher, because I would forget, my trainer would be screaming 'knees, knees elbows' and I'd be 'what, you can't do that,' and then I was like 'oh yeah you can.'
Mixed Martial Arts combines many forms of combat into one. And learning new styles of fighting has challenged St. John, but that's what she thrives on.
"The ground fighting is so interesting and it requires so much skill, and I found that really challenging, but I love challenges."
From Tae Kwon Do, to boxing, and even posing for the November 1999 issue of Playboy magazine.
"I'm not trying to prove anything, other than it's just a new challenge and so far I've done everything in my life that I've ever wanted to do, so I thought why not!"
Mia's nickname, 'The Knockout', came after her debut boxing match, when she knocked out her opponent in 54 seconds. On Saturday, she'll look for similar results in her MMA debut.
Mia makes her debut Saturday night in the Blaisdell Arena.
The event begins at 5 p.m. with title matches starting at 7:30 p.m.
Local band Natural Vibrations will also be performing live.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
Or maybe it's just punch drunk. Happens to the best of us eventually, I suppose...
Boxing and MMA - What a Ride
By Anthony Santiago (Jan 29, 2008) Doghouse Boxing
The sport of boxing is like an age long rollercoaster. With a bunch of twists and turns coming at you so fast, you don't always know what's going on. Great fighters like Johnson, Ali, Fraizer, Robinson, Langford, Dempsey, Tunney and others ruled the golden years of boxing. When some fighters retire, there always aren't top rank replacements to fill those slots. So the sport dulls a bit. You can't control change, but you can hope. Boxing has always been a sport loved by the fans, who appreciated two guys climbing into the ring to risk life and limb to knock the other guy sensless. But like the rollercoaster it is, the ride lately seems to be heading straight down.
Some would say boxing is a dead sport. To me, it's in a coma and is slowly coming out. Sure the heavyweight division isn't once what it was, but that's not the only division in the sport. With this box-off tournament for Wladimir Klitschko's IBF Heavyweight Championship, that should bring back some excitement to the big boy division. But the other divisions don't get looked at as much. The welterweights now a day are amazing and the entire weight class has a ton of potential. With fighters moving up, supermiddleweight also looks promising. Not exactly saying that boxing is the sport it once was because of the certain things that are happening, but boxing today looks good for the future.
Mixed martial arts has become a hurricane and is looking to destroy everything in it's path to become popular. Debates between which is the better sport sparks all the time and you can't help but think how the breakthrough of MMA has effected boxing. What about MMA is there to dislike? It takes wrestling, some brazilian jiu-jitsu, a pinch of boxing, a little karate, and other fighting techniques. Not to mention blood, sweat, tears, and scarifice. Take all that roll it up, and you've got a nice helping of MMA. Even though the amazing sport of boxing is the art of hitting your opponent and not getting hit, some fans would rather watch two guys roll around in a cage choking, kicking, and slamming one another.
Boxing has been threatened to be taken over by the rising popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and with their recent purchase of Japan's incredible PRIDE Fighting Championships, the UFC only gets better as their roster piles up with the best competition from around the world. As that happens, boxing has been seeing young rising stars like Alexander Povetkin, Edwin Valero, and the returns of legends in Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones. Who knows where the sports of boxing and mixed martial arts will go? They both are changing constantly, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. That's just the way it is. Where both sports will be in the future, we don't know, but with the rising popularity in both sports and new comers coming from all over, were sure in for one hell of a ride.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
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Its a demographic issue and it SEEMS that boxing is losing that vital male demo of the 18 to 40 or whatever it is, to MMA.
Personally, having seen the crowds in MMA PPV, it seems that are more typical of a WWE outing than a Pro Boxing one.
Nevertheless, the threat is perceived, as such it is real.
The youngins wil be attracted to MMA for many reasons, their older siblings may be seeing it now and so they wil be brought up on it, then there is th eissue of participation in the sport, MMA has a wider skill range so many more people can do it than boxing, which is ideal for people that liek to strike and are very good at it.
MMA allows people to be "jacks of all trades" and still be fairly competitive, not the case in boxing.
Boxing should worry and they should do something about it, soon.
Psalms 144:1
Praise be my Lord my Rock,
He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !