Who Likes Boxing?

..well?

... helena?

no..

OHhhhh BOXING.

Yes, boxing.

What about boxing up?

Boxing is for pussies.
Real men watch mixed martial arts.
I'd love to watch any boxer step into the octagon.
It would be over in about :10 seconds.

Boxing is not for pussies. You're thinking about saucers of milk.

Ronald K Fried does

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579621015/sr=8-1/qid=1145540264/ref=sr_1_1/104-8270898-2264722?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Agreed(not so much on the boxing part, but MMA is great), except I think the octagon is completely bogus because of that idiotic fence which creates an artificial advantage for some fighters. Pride Fighting Championships is way better. (+ less rules regarding use of the knees and/or elbow)


[Edited on Apr 20, 2006 by Westley]

What? Aren't both fighters using the same octagon? How can it be an advantage for just one of them?

I like boxing. In fact, I love it, and I am a member of a boxing gym in Moscow and generally go four round bouts about once a week when I am home. Not that I have any plans to be a professional, for me it's simply a hobby and provdes me with self-disipline and a good work out regime. It's like chess but your using your body.

Because not all fighting styles are the same. The fence favors grapplers, which is one of the main reasons that the talent pool, especially in the heavier weight classes, is consistently beneath the talent pool in Pride.

Besides, even if both fighters are using the same style it does not change the fact that it is an artificial element added to a fight.

[Edited on Apr 20, 2006 by Westley]

It's a fighters choice to not learn grappling.

Plus, any MMA octagon fighter without grappling skills is mostly likely going to lose anyway, except the heavyweights.

It's not really a question of "not learning grappling", everyone in MMA trains in all aspects these days, however it is absurd to assert that a fighter with a ju jitsu background is going to be as adept at grappling in the octagon as a fighter with a wrestling background(which in a natural environment would rarely be the case). Lots of stiffs have managed to do decently in UFC because they can simply use force. Pride recognizes that the beauty of MMA is in letting the contrasting styles compete equally, and UFC does not. Sure, the fence is there for all to use, but it is an artificial element. I prefer to see how the fighters match up against each other, not how the fighters are able to utilize their own skills in tandem with the fence.

Edited to add - You are way too fast for me, I added to my previous post.


[Edited on Apr 20, 2006 by Westley]

Isn't that like saying starting a round standing favors a fighter with a boxing background?

Dude that's such myopic logic. They are 2 totally different sports.

I do, but I don't follow it like I do other sports.

No shit. Michael Jordan couldn't hit a curveball, you know?

Plus it's like saying, Dude boxers a pussies, they'd totally lose a fight in which they had a knife and the other dude had a gun.

Sorry to be dismissive, but I don't see much of any correlation here. If someone doesn't want to fight standing up they drop onto their back (much like Royce Gracie did). If someone wants to fight in a natural open environment where they can not be slung into a fence and held there for the duration of a round, they leave UFC and go to Pride (much like Royce Gracie did).

I am simply stating a preference. I don't think the octagon is a natural environment, and tends to be an advantage for a brawler. Less well rounded fighters are more likely to enjoy success in UFC which is still catching up with Pride in the "mixed" portion of mixed martial arts. I'm certainly not the first person to make such a claim. The reason the fence was there in the first place was to enhance the brawling aspect of the event in it's early days. The fighters have developed into well rounded athletes that practice multiple techniques, but UFC has left the fence up because it is their gimmick.

I haven't been comparing the UFC to Pride.

You asserted that the fence was an advantage to grapplers. I've been saying the fence is neutral to all types of fighters. The fence is part of the sport. Like goal posts in football. If one team has a bad kicker does that mean the goal posts are unfair?

All I know is that UFC provices some hot ass homoerotic pummeling that makes my naughty bits all tingly. Seriously, that shit is hot.

Octogon, forum, pool hall, I don't care! Put Vitaly Kitchko into any ring, and the oppenent is turned into tomato bisque