Boxing vs. MMA

[cjurakpt]

well, here's the thing: a good boxer has excellent footwork, true - but that's in relation to another boxer; in other words, his good footwork and the powerful shots he can generate using this footwork is predicated on the notion that his opponent will be only trying to punch him and will pretty much stay at the same distance / level; meaning that he would have to adjust his game to contend with kicks and with things like a shoot (and again, his footwork is not inherently designed to avoid a shoot, and certainly not to counter strike while he is avoiding one); certainly, he could modify his game accordingly, but the "problem" is that when you have someone who is so highly specialized at something, tweaking it can be a biotch, especially if the skill sets are similar, the ingrained pattern may surface inappropriately, and even "get in the way"

point is, MMA is MMA - it's a mixed group of skills sets, because it takes place over a greater variety of ranges, whereas boxing is mostly punching range, with some clinching, but the goal of clinching in boxing is much different than in MMA - in the former it's a dead-end street, so to speak; in the latter it's both a potential striking range, and a portal into grappling / throwing / ground range (or something like that -point is, it's not an end unto itself)

so, good boxer would definitely have an advantage in punching range, but he'd be at a disadvantage in the others: I think that a good MMA guy would exploit the fact that he'd be better at 3 out of 4 ranges...