Comments Thread For: Khan Tells Joshua To Restore Boxing's Reputation Against Ngannou

[wileyhemi]

That's nonsense. Most MMA fighters are primates who are nothing more than glorified bar brawlers. On top of that, the whole sport is juiced to the gills while only some boxers are juiced to the gills. If MMA fighters were skilled enough, they'd be boxers. It's that simple. The large majority of them aren't because they can't compete when knees, elbows and other cheap shots are not allowed.
Good try though.

I'm a boxing fan but to be fair it can't be denied virtually all MMA champs have top level wrestling or BJJ backgrounds and are highly skilled grapplers

[TMLT87]

That's nonsense. Most MMA fighters are primates who are nothing more than glorified bar brawlers.

If you think this its because you dont know **** about the technical facets of MMA, which in turn means you dont know **** about the technical facets of basically any form of combat outside of boxing considering MMA is essentially a mix of them.

If MMA fighters were skilled enough, they'd be boxers.It's that simple. The large majority of them aren't because they can't compete when knees, elbows and other cheap shots are not allowed.

So basically you're saying they arent skilled because they cant compete unless quite literally theres more skills involved (or "cheap shots" as you call them)...ooookay.

Havent we just seen a nearly 40 year old MMA fighter arguably beat the WBC champ? btw thats an MMA fighter who has multiple losses, has lost in stand up before in MMA and turned wrestler in his final MMA fight. Conversely we've also just seen Claressa Shields, the supposed "GWOAT" boxer, going life and death to a split decision vs a 35 year old soccer mom with a 1-2 record in MMA.

[TMLT87]

I'm a boxing fan but to be fair it can't be denied virtually all MMA champs have top level wrestling or BJJ backgrounds and are highly skilled grapplers

MMA has access to cream of the crop talent from every combat sport other than boxing because thats the only one that pays better at elite level. Current UFC champ Poatan was maybe the best kickboxer ever at his weight, Adesanya was 75-5 in kickboxing, Cedric Doumbe was Glory champion when he left for MMA etc. And yeah tons of elite grapplers.

[Atypicalbrit]

MMA has access to cream of the crop talent from every combat sport other than boxing because thats the only one that pays better at elite level. Current UFC champ Poatan was maybe the best kickboxer ever at his weight, Adesanya was 75-5 in kickboxing, Cedric Doumbe was Glory champion when he left for MMA etc. And yeah tons of elite grapplers.

I think some, maybe around 10% of the guys who are at the top of MMA could have been decent boxers

But a lot of MMA guys are BJJ or wrestlers, that's a totally different skill set to boxing that doesn't translate at all.

Grappling is all about technique that's why you get nerds, autistic people and fat men at the top of that sport, it's not about athleticism.

And the kickboxers like izzy and pita have got absoloute glass jawas and would have been found out in boxing long before world titles.

I belive Ngannou is an exception, there'd be one or two others but most MMA guys could not make it anywhere near the top of boxing even if they had started training it as a kid.

[TMLT87]

I think some, maybe around 10% of the guys who are at the top of MMA could have been decent boxers

Its not even about where they rank in MMA, its about what their stylistic approach is. There are guys who had good hands in MMA but werent great overall because of weaknesses in other areas.

I think it would be way too big a leap to say someone would be good enough to be an actual champ etc without seeing them actually compete at that level, but there are definitely plenty of guys in MMA who would do better in boxing than many actual career boxers do. If you saw someone like Holloway on a boxing card nobody would go "wow that guy sucks" yet because hes in MMA you get boxing snobs automatically downplaying his skills.

Grappling is all about technique that's why you get nerds, autistic people and fat men at the top of that sport, it's not about athleticism.

If by "grappling" you mean chilled out pajama BJJ then yes. But if we are talking No-Gi grappling or college and olympic wrestling its a different beast. Wrestling is hands down the most athletic combat sport.

And the kickboxers like izzy and pita have got absoloute glass jawas and would have been found out in boxing long before world titles.

I would not be surprised at all if they could compete at top 10 level in a weak division like current cruiserweight tbh. Pereira would be one of the biggest punchers there.

I belive Ngannou is an exception,

Literally in the same active UFC HW division that Ngannou just left I could see guys like Gane, Pav, Aspinall knocking off plenty of the current top 30. Maybe even Lewis, Tai and Rozenstruik could pick up a few wins at that level. But obviously HW is more prone to crossover success.


For me "success" or being "decent" in boxing for a guy outside of boxing would mean can they beat someone in the top 30-50, that would put them in the top 5-10% of the weight class. And I think plenty of MMA guys could do that.

[M'Boro]

I think some, maybe around 10% of the guys who are at the top of MMA could have been decent boxers

But a lot of MMA guys are BJJ or wrestlers, that's a totally different skill set to boxing that doesn't translate at all.

Grappling is all about technique that's why you get nerds, autistic people and fat men at the top of that sport, it's not about athleticism.

And the kickboxers like izzy and pita have got absoloute glass jawas and would have been found out in boxing long before world titles.

I belive Ngannou is an exception, there'd be one or two others but most MMA guys could not make it anywhere near the top of boxing even if they had started training it as a kid.

Did Vitali Klitschko have a glass jaw!?

He was a kickboxer and the only time I remember seeing him over in his career is in a kickboxing match at the WAKO championship against Pele Reid in Varna, Bulgaria ironically...

[Atypicalbrit]

Did Vitali Klitschko have a glass jaw!?

He was a kickboxer and the only time I remember seeing him over in his career is in a kickboxing match at the WAKO championship against Pele Reid in Varna, Bulgaria ironically...

Kicks are different I wouldn't judge an MMA guy as having a weak chin because they were ko'd by a head kick but the shot Adesanya iced Potan with in their last fight was not a hard punch at all by boxing standards and neither was the one potan put izzy out on his feet with.

This guys are punchers in the same way Connor mcgregor is, they **** for MMA fighter sure, but a decent defensive boxer wouldn't be bothered by their power.

Ngannous power is absoloute freak of nature stuff, but he's a 270lb wall of solid steroided muscle, it makes sense.

Potan and Adesanya don't hit remotely as hard as Bertebiev, a guy they are the same size as

Who the **** is the same size as Ngannou? I guess Zhang, maybe Zhang hits as hard as Ngannou I don't know.

[TMLT87]

the shot Adesanya iced Potan with in their last fight was not a hard punch at all by boxing standards and neither was the one potan put izzy out on his feet with.

Its not a comparable situation because its 4oz gloves with no counts. A lot of punches in boxing do deceptive damage too, so many factors go into a knockout.

What are the chances those two really have glass chins considering they had extensive high level careers in a pure striking sport?

Potan and Adesanya don't hit remotely as hard as Bertebiev, a guy they are the same size as

They "hit" harder considering their other striking tools. They dont punch as hard, but even then Poatans left hook might actually be a nastier single punch than any single shot Beterbiev throws.

I dont think they're really the same size either. Izzy and Poatan are more like cruisers tbh. Especially Poatan who is like 220+lbs walking weight.

[TreD]

That's nonsense. Most MMA fighters are primates who are nothing more than glorified bar brawlers. On top of that, the whole sport is juiced to the gills while only some boxers are juiced to the gills. If MMA fighters were skilled enough, they'd be boxers. It's that simple. The large majority of them aren't because they can't compete when knees, elbows and other cheap shots are not allowed.
Good try though.

On the streets, I'm betting my money on the MMA fighters.

[Hazy_Daisy]

I prefer boxing to MMA, but as regards to toughness, generally MMA fighters may be generally tougher IMO. One example, further to Fury vs Ngannou is Clarissa Shields vs Abigail Montes. Shields punches had little effect on Montes, who was much shorter in height, merely 21 years old, but was physically the tougher and stronger woman; and by the third and final round, she began to bulldoze Shields and take the fight to the floor. This was incredibly draining for Clarissa, who couldn’t handle the hand to hand wrestling and being pinned to the floor with Abigail mauling her, punching her and physically dominating her. By the end Shields looked far more exhausted and beaten up than after ten rounds in a boxing ring. MMA is ridiculously tough a sport.