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At the basic level, all fighters are cut from the same cloth, so the thinking goes. If a pro grade fighter from any full contact combat sport wants to cross over to apply his talents to another set of rules, it pays to know what you're getting into, and it's nessisay to train appropriately. Doing that much right, your natural fighting talent becomes the driver, and the challenge can often times be met.
Just before a near 50 year old former boxer "Merciless" Ray Mercer stepped in with recently deposed, mid-late career UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, in the main-event of Adrenaline MMA III: Bragging Rights in Alabama back in June 2009, something odd happened.
Regulation challenges from the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) forced the promotion to change the clash from a Boxing fight to a MMA fight, disclosing that Mercer had once been a top contender in Boxing, and Sylvia had to be allowed full use of his arsenal in order for the match to be fair. Notwithstanding that Mercer was 15 years Sylvia's senior, and fighting in his first non-scripted MMA fight.
Mercer, always a good puncher, allowed the UFC champ a couple low kicks, then laid him out cold with one shot. It was settled in just nine seconds.
But at the press conference prior to fight, Sylvia and Mercer agreed that "A fight is a fight".
No truer words were ever spoken in combat sports.
In his non-preparation for his non-title 10 rounder with another UFC champion, Francis Ngannou, world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury would have done well to bear those words in mind.
Obviously fat, loose and playful; Fury nearly had his head handed to him, faced not with an MMA fighter from another discipline trying his hand at boxing; but a life-long Boxer who had applied his boxing skills adapted to the rules of MMA, and he had rolled all the best grapplers, wrestlers, kickboxers and martial-artists in the UFC up and smoked them. Moreover, Ngannou came in ready and determined.
Had Fury lost that razor thin verdict, his plans for a huge belt unification showdown with Oleksandr Usyk would have to had been placed on hold, to make way for a redeeming title fight with Ngannou. It was a very close call.
Now, we have another of the best heavyweights of this generation, 2-time multiple belt holder Anthony Joshua facing off against the upstart 2-sport superstar.
In this, we'll be able to see how much of Fury's close call was attributable to Tyson Fury's lackadaisical approach, and how much was Ngannou 's actual boxing talent, honed in the cage against other hybrid warriors.
My question is this:
How good must Anthony Joshua look against Ngannou to bolster his legacy?
We know that Ngannou can box pretty well, and punch great.
He's got to be considered a dangerous opponent for anyone, regardless of the rules, so long as those rules allow him to Box.
But Joshua, was thought to be building towards all-time greatness not so very long ago, as many observers saw him as a frontrunner among the three title claimants Fury, Wilder and Joshua at one point.
Since then, he has suffered some deep lows and most recently, some new highs, and genuinely appears to have recaptured the form that made him the biggest sporting star in the UK.
If A.J. looses this upcoming fight, he will no doubt suffer irreparable harm to his legacy, and possibly drop beneath Frank Bruno on the all-time rank of British Heavyweights, and below the Winner of the upcoming Wardley-Clarke clash in the current Domestic ratings; one has to believe.
But should he win impressively, and knock Francis Ngannou spark out, or somethingvery close to that; he will have outdone his countryman Fury, and perhaps, restored his star status in full.
How badly does Joshua have to beat this newcommer to satistfy you that he is indeed all that he was once thought to be?
Just before a near 50 year old former boxer "Merciless" Ray Mercer stepped in with recently deposed, mid-late career UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, in the main-event of Adrenaline MMA III: Bragging Rights in Alabama back in June 2009, something odd happened.
Regulation challenges from the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) forced the promotion to change the clash from a Boxing fight to a MMA fight, disclosing that Mercer had once been a top contender in Boxing, and Sylvia had to be allowed full use of his arsenal in order for the match to be fair. Notwithstanding that Mercer was 15 years Sylvia's senior, and fighting in his first non-scripted MMA fight.
Mercer, always a good puncher, allowed the UFC champ a couple low kicks, then laid him out cold with one shot. It was settled in just nine seconds.
But at the press conference prior to fight, Sylvia and Mercer agreed that "A fight is a fight".
No truer words were ever spoken in combat sports.
In his non-preparation for his non-title 10 rounder with another UFC champion, Francis Ngannou, world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury would have done well to bear those words in mind.
Obviously fat, loose and playful; Fury nearly had his head handed to him, faced not with an MMA fighter from another discipline trying his hand at boxing; but a life-long Boxer who had applied his boxing skills adapted to the rules of MMA, and he had rolled all the best grapplers, wrestlers, kickboxers and martial-artists in the UFC up and smoked them. Moreover, Ngannou came in ready and determined.
Had Fury lost that razor thin verdict, his plans for a huge belt unification showdown with Oleksandr Usyk would have to had been placed on hold, to make way for a redeeming title fight with Ngannou. It was a very close call.
Now, we have another of the best heavyweights of this generation, 2-time multiple belt holder Anthony Joshua facing off against the upstart 2-sport superstar.
In this, we'll be able to see how much of Fury's close call was attributable to Tyson Fury's lackadaisical approach, and how much was Ngannou 's actual boxing talent, honed in the cage against other hybrid warriors.
My question is this:
How good must Anthony Joshua look against Ngannou to bolster his legacy?
We know that Ngannou can box pretty well, and punch great.
He's got to be considered a dangerous opponent for anyone, regardless of the rules, so long as those rules allow him to Box.
But Joshua, was thought to be building towards all-time greatness not so very long ago, as many observers saw him as a frontrunner among the three title claimants Fury, Wilder and Joshua at one point.
Since then, he has suffered some deep lows and most recently, some new highs, and genuinely appears to have recaptured the form that made him the biggest sporting star in the UK.
If A.J. looses this upcoming fight, he will no doubt suffer irreparable harm to his legacy, and possibly drop beneath Frank Bruno on the all-time rank of British Heavyweights, and below the Winner of the upcoming Wardley-Clarke clash in the current Domestic ratings; one has to believe.
But should he win impressively, and knock Francis Ngannou spark out, or somethingvery close to that; he will have outdone his countryman Fury, and perhaps, restored his star status in full.
How badly does Joshua have to beat this newcommer to satistfy you that he is indeed all that he was once thought to be?
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