Eddie Alvarez on MMA vs Boxing

[JKS]

Citation please. Mercer was bitching about the change to MMA when they couldn't get sanctioned in boxing because all the states DID regulate boxing, but many did not regulate MMA. Sylvia SAID he'd box him, straight up, in response to Mercer going full conspiracy about it, but it wasn't in any of their written agreements. But, if you're right, you can probably find some reference to it that doesn't refer to it as a gentleman's agreement. And we see what that was worth. First thing - kick. Whether it was reflex or not is pure conjecture, since Sylvia was starched by the next strike thrown.

Sylvia may not have been the best HW (Fedor), but he ruled the roost as champion, twice, and had successful defenses in MMAs premiere promotional organization. You can't exactly claim that being at the top was some sort of lucky fluke on his part. Like I said, if he sucked, what does it say about him that he was one of the elite HWs for the UFC promotion, when he was in it?

Listen....all I am saying is that Tim Sylvia, although an elite level HW and champion level fighter was not the best representation from MMA in a boxer vs mma match up. I've always liked Tim and at his best I think he would be a top 5 HW right now. But we all know Tim was nothing more than a standup fighter who relied on defensive wrestling to keep the fight standing. His overall mma capabilities were limited, I mean anytime the fight hit the ground he got tapped quickly. And offensively, Tim never offered any sort of grappling or wrestling threat.

His MMA skills allowed him to be a top mma fighter no doubt. But in a fight where he's fighting a boxer and using his limited mma skill set, he's more than likely to lose as opposed to a Fedor, Mir, Big Nog, Barnett who have the ground threat, plus kickboxing etc. Those guys would paint a much more clear picture of a boxer vs mma fight because we know that they would push the ground game. I mean after all.....isn't that what it's all about in a match up like that?? To see how a boxer would fare vs a full mma game?? And lets be honest, the fight lasted 10 seconds.

 

[Street Samurai]

As much as i love boxing doing great, it's true thst sylvia was the perfect mma opponent for a boxer to shine

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

A lot of people here are missing the point and wasting time debating the wrong topic. The question here is not ‘who wins in da streets’ but ‘why is Eddie choosing to make this lame attack on boxing?’ (a martial art that he should have so much respect for, given his background)

You don't think he has respect for Boxing? Why is he not allowed to say MMA guys would win in a self-defense context? It's not an "attack on Boxing" lol

 

[CPH]

You don't think he has respect for Boxing? Why is he not allowed to say MMA guys would win in a self-defense context? It's not an "attack on Boxing" lol

Well.. first: nobody asked him, so just blurting this out on twitter is very clearly meant to put boxing down (and thereby get some attention).

Second:

Take your gloves and shoes and shove them Up Your Ass !!

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

Well.. first: nobody asked him, so just blurting this out on twitter is very clearly meant to put boxing down (and thereby get some attention).

Second:

Hahahahahaha good point

 

[Irabbs]

As much as i love boxing doing great, it's true thst sylvia was the perfect mma opponent for a boxer to shine

Equally Pauli malinaggi was also the best boxer for a ufc fighter in bare Knuckles

 

[fzoid4454]

Listen....all I am saying is that Tim Sylvia, although an elite level HW and champion level fighter was not the best representation from MMA in a boxer vs mma match up. I've always liked Tim and at his best I think he would be a top 5 HW right now. But we all know Tim was nothing more than a standup fighter who relied on defensive wrestling to keep the fight standing. His overall mma capabilities were limited, I mean anytime the fight hit the ground he got tapped quickly. And offensively, Tim never offered any sort of grappling or wrestling threat.

His MMA skills allowed him to be a top mma fighter no doubt. But in a fight where he's fighting a boxer and using his limited mma skill set, he's more than likely to lose as opposed to a Fedor, Mir, Big Nog, Barnett who have the ground threat, plus kickboxing etc. Those guys would paint a much more clear picture of a boxer vs mma fight because we know that they would push the ground game. I mean after all.....isn't that what it's all about in a match up like that?? To see how a boxer would fare vs a full mma game?? And lets be honest, the fight lasted 10 seconds.

Sylvia, being a striker, might not be the best strategic and stylistic matchup to go against boxing, but that's part of the fight game, isn't it? Not getting to cherry-pick the most favorable characteristics is part of MMA and boxing, and, certainly, if the argument is about what is closer to "real" fighting, as has been posited on this thread, you don't get to pick your matchups in the magical/hypothetical "street fight" that so many get to trot out.

And, again, we have to go back to your claims that Toney/Couture is somehow a more legit representation. If we can dismiss Sylvia as not being a "real" matchup because his style doesn't maximize the differences, can't we also argue about whether Toney represented the best possible matchup to go against MMA? That still cuts both ways, but you only seem to want to acknowledge the side of that which suits you, which was my original complaint about that point.

 

[Naoya#1]

I just skipped most pages and some guys here really know jackshit about bareknuckle-boxing.

Stick to boxing or MMA boys.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

20 guys in a cell? That sounds like an advantage to the boxers to me.

 

[BigDramaShow26]

boxing is a joke. slugs like Ksi and Jake Paul would never thrive in mma or any legit sport
like they did in boxing

How is Jake Paul thriving? Lol he knocked out an ex NBA player and Ben Askren. He's thriving because he's popular. You make it seem like he's beating actually good boxers. You're basically just shitting on Askren and Woodley. Dana White literally had CM Punk on two UFC Main cards due to only popularity, and he was horrible.

 

[JudoJabs]

How is Jake Paul thriving? Lol he knocked out an ex NBA player and Ben Askren. He's thriving because he's popular. You make it seem like he's beating actually good boxers. You're basically just shitting on Askren and Woodley. Dana White literally had CM Punk on two UFC Main cards due to only popularity, and he was horrible.

Exactly. It really makes you question combat sports “fans” when you hear stuff like that.

 

[BigGing]

MMA fighters need to be more secure...why do they think they're going to entice boxers to come make less money?

 

[Naoya#1]

How is Jake Paul thriving? Lol he knocked out an ex NBA player and Ben Askren. He's thriving because he's popular. You make it seem like he's beating actually good boxers. You're basically just shitting on Askren and Woodley. Dana White literally had CM Punk on two UFC Main cards due to only popularity, and he was horrible.

Yeah cm punk was an old and unatheltic guy.

 

[John Creed]

Who would win in a fight, an MMA fighter or a 120 pound street thug with a glock?

If you let 10 boxers out in a cell and 10 street thugs with guns Whose gonna live and whose gonna Die ... Case closed . Take your training and technique and shove them Up Your Ass !!

/sarcasm

Boxing and MMA are two different sports. Boxing has sucked for years and I prefer MMA but let's not act like high level boxers aren't premier athlete's. There are PLENTY of boxers at his weight who could most likely beat Eddie Alverez in an MMA fight but I couldn't see Eddie winning too many boxing matches.

 

[NEETzschean]

As someone who generally prefers boxing to mma, mma is obviously the more effective combat sport in a street fight because it's so multifaceted. Boxers are one-dimensional by comparison and are only better in the highly specialised art of fist fighting. MMA fighters are better at everything else and they are better able to defend against boxers than boxers are able to defend against them. A boxer has at best a large puncher's chance in a street fight but the mma guy wins 8/9 times out of 10.

People make the analogy about the gun being more effective than any martial art but guns often aren't available and can land you with a big prison sentence automatically, so hand to hand combat matters in itself.

If you have a lot of talent and care about money and fame more than being the baddest man on the planet in your respective weight class, boxing is better. If you want to learn a martial art to defend yourself to the greatest degree, mma is better.

 

[Titleboxe]

Eddie is just angry that his ODLH payday fizzled out.