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Real BOXING vs MMA??? - Passing Fad or the real deal
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by B. Zelley | July 15, 2009 at 12:54 pm
511 views | 22 Recommendations | 6 comments
With the recent death of Arturo Gatti, it seems a side story on the internet is the debate about real boxing and the MMA craze.
Without slamming the MMA craze or the Ultimate fighting fad, my personal opinion of the MMA is a glorified "tough-guy" contest with limited skills for many of the competitors.
Also, why are supporters of these MMA competitors yelling instructions during the match?! If the fighter is listening to the peanut gallery, then they are unlikely to be in the fight, and if they are not then what is the point.
MMA may be a fad, a passing fancy, or it may become the top global sport, but it isn't boxing/ Comparing real boxing to MMA is like comparing roller derby to hockey.
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Joe Hachem
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (6)
at 15:25 on July 15th, 2009
Modern Mixed Martial arts competition emerged in American popular culture in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Originally organized with the intention of finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors of various arts were pitted against one another with minimal rules for safety.In the following decade, MMA promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. The name mixed martial arts was coined by one of the developers of these rules, Jeff Blatnick, a former Greco-Roman wrestler and Olympic gold medalist. Following these changes, the sport has seen increased popularity with pay per view reach rivaling boxing and professional wrestling.
at 00:14 on July 16th, 2009
Regardless of the rule changes and safety issues, for pure fighting skills my observation of the so called 100 best UFC contests indicates a lot of fighting flaws.
For instance, the gloves they use appear to be modified bag gloves, so one would expect that the fighters would be able to score devastating punches. However, that is not the case, many of the top competitors lack the ability or overlook the opportunity to score effective power punches.
Part of the problem is all of the fighters have started with a grab bag of fighting styles, and effective boxing is low on the list of skills. It is likely, if the heavyweights of the UFC were to fight boxers like Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, or a Rocky Marciano in their prime it would likely be lights out in short order.
A typical case in UFC fights is both fighters are on the deck, and one starts unleashing a barrage of punches with many of the punches landing with the small bag like gloves. If a boxer like Tyson was to land ten or twenty shots on an opponent while using bag gloves then it is likely the opponent would be carried away on his shield, never to return.
So the question is why can't many of the UFC/MMA fighters score effective punches?
Even if the bout was a lightweight bout, could one imagine them facing the great Roberto Duran when he was lightweight boxing champion of the world. Based on the skills of many of the UFC or MMA, and if Duran was to wear 4-ounce gloves it would not be a pretty sight if a ROBERTO DURAN was to connect with a volley of ten to 20 punches. It would likely be a repeat of the EMILE GRIFFITH - BENNY KID PARET welterweight title fight of March 1962 (and they were wearing the larger 8-ounce gloves).
If the UFC/Mixed Martial Arts fighters were to wear 8 or10 ounce boxing gloves, it would reduce their ability to wrestle, but I guess they could still use their elbows and knees, and their pushing techniques.
The sport is growing in popularity, but in many ways it is what happened in those glory days of Roller Derby when we all came to cheer or boo the "Kansas City Bomber", but the glory days of roller derby would fade away.
at 13:51 on July 20th, 2009
I just have to point out that although the UFC in 93 stated it's purpose was to compare arts... it was really a marketing campaign for "Gracie" Ju Jitsu. Which if you do your research you will learn that Gracie or Brazilian Ju Jitsu... is in fact... Judo.
at 07:25 on July 23rd, 2009
It is most likely some of the terminology used is a "marketing" tool. But, an important marketing tool is to use catchy little words to catch the interest of the public and to ring-up sales of the products being distributed, and the bottom line is to measure success in the form of "cash flow" and profits.
at 13:00 on September 9th, 2009
I completly disagree with B Kelly. Boxers would get taken down and choked out or have their arms broken. And your right about roller derby vs hockey boxing is like roller derby because it is limited to brawling just like boxing is limited to punching. MMA is like hockey a much more strategic and dynamic sport.
at 19:36 on September 28th, 2009
Interesting how some starry-eyed MMA fans spend so much time knocking boxing and attempting to minimize the skills of the boxers, or assume in a mixed fight the boxer wouldn't break thearm of his opponent, or choke him.
If one looks at the history of the sport of boxing with the likes of Fritzie Zivic, Tony Galento, Harry Greb and many more, many boxers are masters of everything from head butting, biting, stepping on toes, thumbs in eyes, choking and some of the other not so delicate techniques of blood sports including elbowing and kneeing.
To claim boxers are limited to punching in a mixed bout is foolish. Not even the well known "Two Ton" Tony Galento limited his fighting methods to punching in such bloodbaths as his fight with Lou Nova. To expect the former lightweight champion Lew Jenkins to restrict himself to throwing single knockout punches is a pipe dream by somebody smoking funny cigarettes.
I'm sure if the late Lew J. could be in action today in the boxing ring or an MMA cage, we could expect to see some good use of elbows or feet, but heaven help his opponent if Lew landed one of his sizzling power punches.
Or take the case of George Chuvalo "The Clouting Canuck" of the Sixties, what current MMA heavyweight would hope to body slam George and make him cry uncle if the Chuvalo of 1965 or 1966 was eyeballing them in the middle of the cage. Or Muhammad Ali of 1966 or 1967, the hapless MMA heavyweight would think he was surrounded by Ali's speed of foot, then when Ali snapped out a few stinging jabs to the eyes and nose they would have tears running down their cheeks while waiting in fear for the blinding power punch.
It is about time, some of the starry-eyed MMA fans that don't have a clue about the art of real fighting, took a reality check. They should stick to praising their MMA heroes and quit trying to diminish boxers or paint them all with the same used brush.