Boxing vs. MMA

[1bad65]

Considering it's been around almost 15 years now, only idiots and those who hate the sport still call it a fad.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Considering it's been around almost 15 years now, only idiots and those who hate the sport still call it a fad.

I am talking about around the world, and while UFC and such have been around since the 90's, MMA as it is now and its CURRENT popularity are NOT 15 years old.

[AmanuJRY]

...ah, I remember when skiers thought snowboarding was just a fad...who's laughing now...

[Shaolin Wookie]

...ah, I remember when skiers thought snowboarding was just a fad...who's laughing now...

I am, when I watch them both fall, break all their bones, and sip their food through straws.

[AmanuJRY]

I am, when I watch them both fall, break all their bones, and sip their food through straws.

You need to get away from the bunny hill...

[JKDISBEST]

Wel, its been awhile, but I'm back.

I remember I said something like this before, so I'll say it again. A good boxer, De la Hoya, Hopkins, Calzagi, Mayweather, etc could and would beat any MMA fighter. For the very reason that boxers have great footwork and are great with their hands. I am not hating on MMA guys footwork, they do have good footwork, and have very good hands, thats why Liddell has so many knockouts, but they are not up to a boxer's standards. Boxer's punches are so powerful that they have to wear those really padded gloves. If a good boxer punched a MMA guy with those thin gloves that MMA guy would go down fast.

Boxers would use their footwork to stay out of grapples and to keep away from submissions.

[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...

[Mr Punch]

I love boxing. I'm really looking forward to Hatton-Mayweather and Calzaghe vs Wright/Hopkins/anyone who has the balls to face him without suddenly switching fight purses...! However, it's a different game.

For the very reason that boxers have great footwork and are great with their hands.

Boxers have good footwork against boxers.

Boxer's punches are so powerful that they have to wear those really padded gloves.

You've got that backwards. Those gloves were developed and so boxers can punch that way.

Boxers would use their footwork to stay out of grapples and to keep away from submissions.

LOL, JKD doesn't have kicks?! You're talking woulds and coulds when don't forget we've seen what happens before: Mercer and Botha were never top flight but neither of them are slouches, and both of them have gone down to reasonably competant kickers frequently, and that's just in K1. Boxers have to get in close to avoid kicks and longer shots, and that's when the grappling comes in for the usual GnP scenario.

The only example of a good boxer who's made it in MMA is Kid Yamamoto, and that's because he's also an Olympic standard wrestler.

On anotehr note, the only reason MMA purses aren't going up is because of the UFC monopoly and exclusive contracts. I can't believe Zuffa, White et al let Pride die: one of the best promotions in one of the ripest scenes with reasonable pay for the fighters; and I really hope that the new Japanese promotion (Sengoku is it?) with its non-exclusive contracts takes off, and provides some disgruntled fighters between contracts with a good stage for fighting people they should get to see... like Fedor-Couture for example, sicne they're both out the loop right now. Then you'd really see UFC having to up their purses and the MMA industry would really take off. Until then it's never going to be a challenge to boxing economically.

[GeneChing]

This could sit well in the Women in MMA thread too. Click for pic. Reid is striking (ok, bad pun, sorry).

Female boxer breaking new ground in MMA
Reid will be first boxing world champ to participate in MMA bout
By David A. Avila
updated 7:21 a.m. PT, Thurs., Dec. 27, 2007

Elena “Baby Doll” Reid, the current flyweight champion of the world in boxing, makes her debut in the world of mixed martial arts against Tammie Schneider.

“I’m a fighter,” explains Reid. “Whether it’s boxing, or MMA, I like to fight.”

Reid becomes the first boxing world champion to participate in an MMA bout, beating Rid**** Bowe and Floyd Mayweather to the punch when she meets Schneider at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas on Friday.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

“Fireworks in the Cage 4” won't be televised.

Women who are attractive and petite usually don’t fit very well in the fight world, but Reid has spent the past seven years perfecting her craft in professional prizefighting.

So why is she moving to MMA?

“These past two years I’ve tried hard to get a fight in boxing, and it hasn’t worked out,” said Reid, 26, who has the IFBA and WIBA flyweight world titles in boxing. “It was very frustrating.”

In her last boxing match, she fought Shin-Hee Choi, the IFBA flyweight titleholder from Korea. Though Reid hadn’t fought in almost a year, the possibility of rust affecting her in the unification match between flyweight champions didn’t faze her.

Reid obliterated Choi over 10 rounds of one-sided action.

But now she’s in MMA.

“It’s so different,” Reid said. “The training is different.”

Her trainer, Chris Benn, works the corner of MMA super star Randy Couture. In an effort to make his schedule easier, Benn invited Reid to train at Xtreme Couture. She quickly became interested in adding yet another wrinkle to her fighting prowess with jujitsu. Now she’s making her MMA pro debut.

“She’s pretty good, as you can see,” said Dennis Davis, who sported a black left eye from working on takedown defense with Reid.

After more than a year of training in one of the most popular MMA gyms in the country, Reid attracted the eye of Couture and his wife, Kim, who liked the female fighter’s work ethic. They signed her three weeks ago to a contract.

“Randy Couture has been giving her a lot of advice,” said Sean O’Heir, the public relations director for Team Couture. “He wants to make sure she isn’t sandbagged.”

Now with her MMA debut within sight, Reid mentally slips into her fighting mode.

“Most people are surprised by my other side, my fighting side,” Reid said. “In the ring or the cage I’m all business.”

Her business is fighting.

“I only have a few years to do this so I’m taking advantage of my youth,” said Reid, who wants to defend her boxing titles later in the year.

[sihing]

When ever there is big money involved, and national exposure (like it is with MMA today), then it is not a Fad, but rather a revolution and here to stay. We don't nearly see as much PR about boxing today, as we did in the old days. What I find interesting, is the low purses the fighters get as compared to the top boxers. Rich Franklin only got $37k or something like that for his last fight with Silva? Do any of the top boxers in their division make that little?

James

[Shaolin Wookie]

We don't nearly see as much PR about boxing today, as we did in the old days.
James

I see just about as much as usual, actually.

[sanjuro_ronin]

When ever there is big money involved, and national exposure (like it is with MMA today), then it is not a Fad, but rather a revolution and here to stay. We don't nearly see as much PR about boxing today, as we did in the old days. What I find interesting, is the low purses the fighters get as compared to the top boxers. Rich Franklin only got $37k or something like that for his last fight with Silva? Do any of the top boxers in their division make that little?

James

Its a tad similar to the early days of pro boxing, even the champs got kind of crappy pay cheques in those days.
Thouhg considering how much many they make in pay-per-views nowadays, it wouldn't hurt them to bring that income into the fighters pockets, it will only better the sport.