[Cole Presley]

With all the press the DLH/MW fight has been getting there has inevitably been a lot of "ultimate fighting" references concerning MMA's threat to boxing on various media outlets covering sports, mainly ESPN and junk internet columnists.

Personally I think while boxing is at its lowest in years, possibly ever, that it is far from 'dead' and Mixed Martial Arts and Boxing can co-exist due to an educated yet newer 18-35 demographic. Not to mention all the martial artists in the world such as BJJ practitioners who fully understand the art and brilliance of MMA. Old boxing fans are unfortunately fading out and the younger generation is starting to embrace MMA over boxing.

This is why I think the De La Hoya/Mayweather fight is a perfect oppurtunity for MMA to challenge a pro boxer to an MMA fight. Even if it's an unsuccessful Sherk/Mayweather fight at least get the buzz going and try to set up possible future match-ups. Fans of the 'fight game' will push for this and hopefully the media will get these scared promoters into a corner. Mayweather's latest comments on MMA merely shows he feels threatened by mixed martial arts because of its loyal following and quick rise to mainstream acceptance. (Props to Oscar for showing respect for MMA on ESPN)

I like UFC as much as the next man but Pride would be the best place for the fights to go down. (like Dana would let that happen) And I'm not talking Kimbo Slice VS Ray Marcer, I'm talking Gomi/Taylor, GSP/Tarver, A. Silva/Marc-Mormeck, Liddell/Morrsion . . j/k . . . Klitschko/Fedor etc.

I know what you're thinking . . . "But those boxers would get smashed". Exactly. That's the whole point! Did you not read paragraph two? A pro boxing champion gets egged into an MMA fight, gets destroyed and the foolish people who see MMA as human cockfighting will realize that these "ultimate fighters" . . . lol . . . are legitimate athletes capable of beating a pro boxer without hitting him in the head 400 times thoughout 36 minutes but my merely taking him down, softening him up and slapping on a tight armbar. And who knows, maybe a boxer will get a win and really spark up interest among boxings elite.

I'm a big boxing fan, but I'm a bigger MMA fan being a Kempo and BJJ practitioner. Boxing isn't going anywhere and after this older generation of boxers fades I'm sure an exciting new crop of talent will emerge and recharge the fanbase of the 'sweet science'. But MMA needs this victory over Boxing to fully achieve the goal of mainstream appeal. It also needs some initiative from the MMA community and mainstream sports media outlets to get the wheels in motion. Hopefully Dana White's presence at the DLH/MW fight is a sign. But lets wait and see what happens first before we(I) get carried away with ideas.