Boxing verse MMA, who really is the best PFP

[Iceberg Slim]

I had this argument with a friend of mine the other day. I like alot of others have become dis-enchanted with the world of boxing and have now started paying more attention to MMA. Before I would have said Floyd Mayweather was the best pound for pound but now after watching Anderson Silva fight this weekend and then going back to look at some of his fights in the past, I have come to the conclusion that he is the best pound for pound.....

Thoughts????

[TheRealDeal]

Boxing is a joke.

All the talented guys are starting in MMA now and the future is only looking brighter. No one goes to the gym to box unless you come from some shitty part of some shitty country that can't afford gear for MMA.

Boxing is dead. MMA has all the talent. JDS, Bones Silva, Aldo, GSP, Condit, Diaz, Cain, Cormier, and the list goes on and on and on, leaving out all the lightweights because there are too many to name.

So many good, complete fighters in MMA, no idea why you'd watch two guys play patty cake for 12 rounds.

[4Corners]

Boxing is a joke.

It is now with out a doubt. The Iranian government has more credibility than the WBC.

Mayweather/Pacman is probably never going to happen. Pacman was screwed in his last fight and that honestly may have been the final deathblow to the sport. I moved on years ago.

Used to be a big boxing fan. But it is a dead sport and UFC is the future. Many of my friends are UFC nuts and I've slowly developed a taste for it but strictly for entertainment purposes and honestly don't give a sh1t who wins. I do like Roy Nelson, though. I've watched every PPV the past 2 years except a few. Missed Saturday's because I drank too many beers at the pool during the day but I heard I didn't miss much.

I can tell you this, if you want to see some really trashy people, head up to any bar in the LKN area during a big UFC fight. Gross.

[TheRealDeal]

This past card was pretty weak because Dana knew it would sell a ton with just Chael and Anderson.

I have many friends who love it now but hated it earlier because they thought it was gay dudes rubbing on each other. All it took was one session on the mats to truly understand how hard they are working for every position and they had new found respect for it. It's like any sport, the more you know about it, the more you'll enjoy watching it because you understand what's going on.

Roy Nelson is a beast, would love to see him at 205 though.

[rodeo]

I'm a big fan of pre-2000 boxing. It doesn't even compare now.

MMA, to continue growing, can't be reluctant to change and improve, though. It borrows too much from boxing, like the 10 point must system, and the judges who often literally have no idea what's going on in the cage and couldn't tell you the name of a single move. But that's more up to the commissions, and not the UFC.

[Seal (SmittyIsOurSavior)]

No one goes to the gym to box unless you come from some shitty part of some shitty country that can't afford gear for MMA.

Not necessarily. I boxed for a while, and I know a lot of really talented kids that chose it over this new MMA phase.

[YoungPanthers89]

Boxing is dying a painful death and the corruption and obvious fight throwing isnt going to help

[TheRealDeal]

Not necessarily. I boxed for a while, and I know a lot of really talented kids that chose it over this new MMA phase.

Then they aren't that talented or they are really dumb. Anyone with half a brain can see MMA is taking over and if you walk into a gym and only train your hands, you aren't going anywhere.

1. Throw them in a wrestling class

2. Let them work their hands after that

3. Learn to throw leg kicks halfway decent.

4. ????

5. Profit.

[Seal (SmittyIsOurSavior)]

Then they aren't that talented or they are really dumb. Anyone with half a brain can see MMA is taking over and if you walk into a gym and only train your hands, you aren't going anywhere.

1. Throw them in a wrestling class

2. Let them work their hands after that

3. Learn to throw leg kicks halfway decent.

4. ????

5. Profit.

Well granted, these are almost exclusively inner city kids and the gym is in a bad part of the city, and I dunno if we even have an MMA gym around here.

One of the kids is a multi time state champion boxer, so I'm sure if he really wanted to make the switch, he would. Boxing is more appealing IMO.

[lightsout]

I find both to be great sports and something, if I have a son someday, that I would get my son into. Rigorous activity that teaches discipline and respect that isn't matched by anything except maybe football (and this is coming from a football coach). To me, I'd rather watch MMA if both were on TV. Boxing is all well and good, but since MMA has taken off, it seems mostly irrelevant. Boxing is but a part of MMA, and I think it's pretty common knowledge that a boxer couldn't just come in to the world of MMA as easily as an MMA fighter could come into boxing. Of course, that is a bit obvious, since the MMA guys (for the most part) already have a decently strong boxing background as well as the ground game; whereas a boxer would need more than a few months to get his ground game to the same level of a decent MMA fighter. A guy like Liddell in his prime could train for a few months for a boxing match and probably win it, since he was one of the better strikers in MMA and he'd be focusing his training for months on ONLY the best part of his game.

On the whole, I'll take MMA any day. However, I have respect for both sports. MMA is more exciting though.

[thatlookseasy]

I like both sports, but the MMA/ really the UFC is so much better organized it not even funny. It seems like it takes work to be a boxing fan these days

[lightsout]

Also, pound for pound, Jon Jones is probably the best in the world. Dude is an absolute beast.

EDIT: That is up for debate because of Anderson Silva. If Silva goes up to 205 to fight Jon Jones, then we can truly evaluate.

[Brooklyn Bully]

Two different things. Put the best stand-up MMAer against the best boxer and the MMA guy gets beat. But the best take-down MMAer against the best boxer and the boxer gets beat. They've already done it, but without marquee fighters. Randy Couture beat a boxer. Then some boxer beat the crap out of Tim Sylvia. It's all about styles really. But the best MMA guy should know how to take someone down so you'd think he'd always come out on top.

Boxing is SO dull. Punch, punch, hug, ref separate, punch, punch, hug.

[Panthers128]

I'm not a fan of either sport but I have more respect for boxing. Boxing is a very dangerous sport and one need not look far to find casualties of the sport. No one trains like a boxer trains and I like the controlled environment in boxing. MMA is too random. A sport needs a strict set of guidelines on or it becomes utter chaos.

The problem with boxing is how the sport is ran. There is too much drama. Most of the boxers are complete morons and their stupidity is embraced by promoters. They need to discipline people for poor behavior. Also historically boxers refuse to fight the best opponents. Lennox Lewis never gave Klitschko a rematch. Had he not opened a cut on Klitschko's eye, he seemed to be headed to defeat in their first match. A rematch would've allowed Lewis to go out on top or to pass the torch. Instead he backed out like a coward.

Similarly the Klitschko brothers have dodged a lot of fights and the few who do fight them don't put up much of a fight. A lack of parity has severely hurt the heavyweight division and the Klitschko brothers won't fight each other. It is awkward to have the two best heavyweight fighters be brothers who won't fight each other. Especially when, as I said before, they both have a tendency to avoid and delay fights, although they have both stepped up and picked up more wins when they've had to.

Then there is the problem with how boxing matches are scored which we saw recently with Manny Pacquiao.

MMA is not a replacement for boxing, though. They're completely different sports. Fans of violence may like both, but any fan of the finer details of boxing won't be satisfied with MMA.