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Originally posted by lparm
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Mayweather ended up winning both those hype fights by outlasting them. The last nail in the coffin was a boxer (Holm) beating Rousey, who the UFC hyped as being able to beat Floyd (the top boxer right now). It showed that what people thought was way, way off. It didn't take a male boxer to stand up to a female MMA fighter; a female boxer, largely unknown and just starting out in MMA, was good enough. It set the record straight.
The reason this is significant is because, frankly, it was really disrespectful to watch everyone, even boxing ESPN writers, act like MMA fighters would annihilate boxers. These writers, for as much as they know, have never boxed a day in their lives. It was a betrayal to the sport which stung all the more because of it. Much the same when it came to fans, in the sense of not respecting the sport. Public opinion was truly terrible at the time, and it was insulting. Not so much in an utterly serious way, but still so.
I, for one, have boxed, and I know how dangerous boxing is as a martial art. I take pride in it. So, it was a victory when Holm proved them all wrong. I don't care so much about the Floyd aspect of it, but he was the one who symbolized boxing for them, so his victory is boxing's victory, in this sense.
Anyhow, I can tell you right now that, in a street fight, the boxer has the ultimate advantage. Why? Most fights start standing up. That right there is an edge. Second reason? Who in their right mind is going to wrestle someone on the ground, when a fighter can get their eyes gouged out and so forth?
That is a point most people miss when they start listing all the supposed ways in which "a boxer would lose to an MMA fighter." Let me add a third reason: kicks. Most head kicks fail to land. So, is the plan to hope you can get in range, over and over again, to kick someone's legs enough to get them down? That's what they're left with.
You know how open that'll leave an MMA fighter? All a boxer has to do is keep the distance, wait for an opening, and boom, fight's over. That is what a real street fight could very well look like, if it includes a good boxer. How people have missed this is beyond me, but whatever.
To get to the point, every martial art is equal. They can all be deadly, given the right circumstances. Hence, anyone can lose to anyone. But, and I'll repeat this again because it is extremely important, boxing maintains the first edge in any fight. That is simply the truth because of the stand-up commencement aspect. In my opinion, this adds to boxing's value overall. It can be defeated, of course, but it has something that the others do not. Boxing's simply the most efficient way to begin a fight. Once it begins, the boxer doesn't have to worry about getting out of a hold right off the bat, but the MMA fighter has to worry about getting out-boxed immediately. This concept can be extended to any kind of ring you think of.
Nevertheless, learning other martial arts besides boxing is useful. In particular, I think something like Krav Maga is very interesting. The idea of applying a martial art to real world situations is headed in the right direction. That's what fighting is all about, at the end of it--winning no matter what. Of course, I see flaws in the style, but I keep in mind that it appears that the objective is many times to avoid getting shot or stabbed, instead of winning a physical fight. All the slappy punches make sense in that regard.
MMA fighters, eventually, will be more fearsome than boxers. But this is when, and only when, they begin learning as many martial arts as possible from the beginning. That time is not here yet.
Most UFC fighters don't even know how to throw a jab, they would get destroyed in boxing.
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