[SDDNG]

Hi,

At the risk of getting a ton of abuse I have a question for the forum. (This may have been asked ad nauseum already but I am relatively new to following MMA).

I have followed boxing for over twenty years and only recently (18 months ago) began to take an interest in MMA. My question is whether anyone thinks a top-class boxer with good to very good power such as a Julian Jackson, Earnie Shavers, Thomas Hearns or even more recently a David Tua, David Haye, O’Neill Bell, Kelly Pavlike or either Klitschko could convert successfully to top-class MMA. I am not asking if they could beat everyone but whether they could be relatively successful. I am not suggesting someone like a Mayweather or a Roy Jones because I think a lot of their defensive boxing would be next to useless against takedowns but someone with good boxing fundamentals and a powerful punch. I am assuming they had less than a year to transition.

I watched Tim Sylvia’s recent bid for the interim heavyweight championship and his last fight against Arlovski and could not help wondering how a top-5 boxing heavy would do against him if they could stop takedowns. Also, it may seem blasphemy to you guys but I think someone like David Haye matches up well with Chuck Liddell if he can keep the fight standing up (so assuming he learns takedown defense). I am not delusional, I know if a boxer went over with no transition they would stand next to no chance against a top guy but I do believe a top boxer with some training and the small gloves would be very competitive.

Regards
Dave

[bubbleboyjones]

No way you can really answer it...depends how fast they can pick up MMA. If they can pickup MMA tactics with ease then yeah they would be dangerous...if not then they would be exposed easily.


I would say for the most part though with less than a year training they would have way too many holes in their game to do much at all.

[Fark]

They would definately have a chance considering one of their punches are vastly more accurate and powerful.

If, and its a big if, they could keep the fight standing long enough to land a power punch, it would likely end soon after.

I'm not sure many people understand how accurate and quick boxers' punches are compared to other fighters. A boxer would land a very high percentage of punches in an mma fight.

I'm not claiming a boxer can come into mma and dominate, but they do stand a chance. Kelly Pavlik is nearly 6'3" with a 75in reach weighing around 160lbs. One of his punches (w/o gloves) can easily ko the average 160lb mma fighter. Combine his reach advantage with his power and he is likely to make first contact. The problem occurs if Pavlik's first few punches don't ko the mma fighter.

If the boxer can't keep it standing he stands no chance. If he can keep it standing he has a great chance because punches are much more efficient than kicks.

One guy with great pure boxing technique is Anderson Silva. There is a sparring session between him and nog on video, its very impressive.

[axhand1e]

MMA is still a young sport. Boxing is much older and is still evolving, but at a much slower pace.

Once MMA has reached that plateau, where all the arts involved have been studied and integrated to their fullest potential, then we'll see striking in MMA that is worthy as being dubbed something equal to a "sweet science". I will love it when that day comes, but I'll enjoy watching the sport unfold and evolve until that day does come.

[Fark]

If I were to pick a discipline to be my foundation it would be boxing.

It seems like a lot guys have learned bjj, muay tai, wrestling and other disciplines relatively late in life.

Hendo, Randy, Chuck, Lindland, Hughes = all learned very good bjj/bjj defense after successful wrestling careers

GSP has better wrestling than guys who've been wrestling their whole lives

I can't think of any fighters that learned excellent/proper boxing technique as a second or third discipline.

It seems like the learning curve might be a little higher for boxing. Some may say it takes a great deal of time to learn how to wrestle. This is true. But many wrestling moves don't translate to mma. Especially various takedowns and matt wrestling.

*I'm not talking about throwing punches. I'm talking about proper technique and footwork.

[ricobjj]

Truth be told - heavy hands don't play as important a role in MMA as they do in boxing. Trust me - getting hit with 4 oz gloves feels different than 10 or 12 oz gloves. Of course, hands are also more prone to injury and damage because of the glove size difference. The typical European boxing style of standing in front of your opponent wouldn't do too well in MMA. Now - the more slick style of boxing utilized by pros like Hopkins, DLH, and Whitaker (all of these boxers used good footwork, lateral movement, head movement, faints, punch combinations, shoulder rolls, etc) would do well in MMA if grappling and takedown training is implemented and how quickly they can build those new skills and techniques.

[Feelz Good]

Some could convert, some couldn't. It's all about how they pick up the training and how good they are it. Great boxing is an asset in MMA, but there's so many other factors. They'd have to train for a while before they became a force. I'm sure if they fought a guy who was primarily a standup fighter they could fare well, but it would be years before they could take out a wrestler or BJJ guy. The other problem is that the boxing stance isn't useful in mma, so they'd have to adopt a completely new stance. It's really a tricky subject, but a great boxer with 4 years of MMA training could fare well in the sport.

[Steve4192]

They could match up well with guys who refuse to use their ground game (Liddell, Sylvia, Wandy) or guys who have no ground game (Alexander, Sakara, Guillard). Guys like Mark Hunt have entered the sport with little to no grappling experience and have excelled when matched up against guys who prefer to strike.

That said, they would get tooled by the first decent grappler they faced.

[williedynamite]

Originally Posted by Fark

If I were to pick a discipline to be my foundation it would be boxing.

It seems like a lot guys have learned bjj, muay tai, wrestling and other disciplines relatively late in life.

Hendo, Randy, Chuck, Lindland, Hughes = all learned very good bjj/bjj defense after successful wrestling careers

GSP has better wrestling than guys who've been wrestling their whole lives

I can't think of any fighters that learned excellent/proper boxing technique as a second or third discipline.

It seems like the learning curve might be a little higher for boxing. Some may say it takes a great deal of time to learn how to wrestle. This is true. But many wrestling moves don't translate to mma. Especially various takedowns and matt wrestling.

*I'm not talking about throwing punches. I'm talking about proper technique and footwork.

Agreed

Boxing is so technical, they don't call it the 'sweet science' for nothing.


If you look at professional boxers they work on their skills for years competing as at golden gloves, then amateur then becoming professional.
Think of it ike this If i were in relatively good wshape and trained for a year i could probably fight an MMA fight, albeit a local on but in boxing it takes years to attian the skill level to compete outside of toughman competitions.
I can't think of a fighter whose picked up boxing 'late' say over 21, and become a fighter of note.

[bubbleboyjones]

Originally Posted by Fark

If I were to pick a discipline to be my foundation it would be boxing.

Kickboxing would be more useful striking foundation in MMA