All I'm hearing is
"[insert boxer] wouldn't last in a street fight against [insert MMA fighter]"
"MMA is the real form of fighting / closer to real fighting" ("real fighting" obviously referring to brawling in the street or in some random setting outside of any sport competition)
"Conor would beat Floyd in a real fight"
etc.
Why the hell would an adult be impressed by someone's ability to win potential street fights (that will never happen anyway) against some other individual?
It has absolutely zero relevance in real life. Even if this was some sort of lawless society people would just pick up guns or other weapons to fight.
MMA skills are just as "useless" in real life (outside of sport competition) as boxing, if not more. Obviously they have their use but are largely irrelevant and professional combat sports athletes mostly never used them outside of the cage/ring.
What matters is that boxing is the more aesthetic sport with a better and a more sound ruleset which makes the fight less of a lottery and makes it more clear who the better man and the better athlete is.
I think because MMA is new and Media outlets like to try and get people debating so they talk about it a lot. also MMA is not as established as Boxing., most MMA fans get very defensive and try to look for ways to sell off the sport as more credible/elite when it's laughed at because it's simply the sport they are more familiar with, and don't like the idea of knowing they are watching up a washed up product with a low skill level.
Look at casual sports fans. They will swear up and down that Mike Tyson destroyed every single man alive yet when they hear of guys like Sugar Ray Robinson or even Lenox Lewis, they don't comment much because they aren't that familiar with the sport.
People like to up play what they know, and downplay what they don't know.
Realistically I think the mma fans who talk their shit and are supporting conor in this fight don't truley understand boxing, or understand the skill level involved in both sports.
Anderson Silva looks like the greatest of all time against guys like Forrest Griffin. his striking looked absolutely fantastic. they see guys getting knocked out while commentators tout them as the deadliest strikers alive.
But if you put prime elite Striker Anderson Silva against a top boxer all of a sudden Anderson would appear to be in quick sand as far as his boxing is concerned.
people bullshit a lot about K-1/Kickboxing/Muay Thai, Jujitsu because it's a specialized form of fighting, but when it comes to boxing it's not just specialized fighting, it's got the craziest talent pool out there. it's ridiculously popular.
It's easier being the best in your classroom at something, than being the best in your country at it.
MMA is a young sport that hasn't been around for ages and is constantly evovling. watch early MMA events and notice how the guys look like they would get smashed on against present day mma fighters. you currently still have rosters of guys in mma who succeed after only training for a few years. throw in a fighter who has been training 8 years against floyd mayweather and watch him get destroyed easily.
Brett Rogers went from working at costco to knocking out the #2 ranked fighter in andrei arlovski. all in 4 years and not even training full time.
Travis Brown started training at 26?
Randy Couture in his 30s?
Cory hill managed a 2-0 ufc record with 2 years of mma training.
boxers usually start as children, and essentially live in gyms. even then sometimes they never make it. I didn't really start any type of serious training until I was around 13, or 14 years old and constantly heard I started way too late. You can literally youtube "5 year old boxer" and find hundreds of kids who are prodigys or show promise. Saw this video the other day of a 15 year old amature boxer taking it to Jamie Alvarez(TUF Alumni) in a sparring session
Brock Lesnar went from having an old collegiate wrestling career, went on to be a fake wwe athlete for the length of a decent career, and then transitioned into mma easily and winning heavyweight gold.
the fact that mma's amateur level is almost non existant is proof that the talent pool doesn't even compare.
You can't really get by being one dimensional in boxing as you can in MMA. there are guys with brilliant footwork who can't even make it at an amateur level. As I said Anderson being elusive against mma guys isn't that impressive to me when you look at the talent level of his opponents. you can find guys who are bums who make guys on the street look just as stupid as forrest griffin.
The reason for this and what a lot of these conor is going to beat floyd fans need to understand about it is the skill level to succeed is ridiculously low in mma at the moment, and the competition isn't there yet. Also there are multiple variables and methods of winning in mma so you can get by with not being rounded or polished. in boxing, you literally have to amazing in every area or else you will get abused.
You might be able to get away with it in the Heavyweight divison, but even those guys are amazing. in the early 1970's even George Foreman easily plowed through 5 professional fighters in a row with ease. the skill gap in boxing from the top to the middle is ridiculous far apart.
top of the chain boxers are literally unbelievable for making it as far as they do.
McGregor looks like a great counter puncher but he is going up against guys who aren't great at striking to begin with.
Most fans don't see the skill gap between the two sports, and most guys don't like hearing that the biggest star from the only sport they know is going to get humiliated.
Also this real street fight crap is nonsense. neither boxing or mma is a real fight. they are both sports matches. an mma fighter using any ground game in a real fight is asking for a boot to the back of the head, or asking to get hit with a hard object. hell I might even argue that boxing > mma in a street fight.
most fights start with a sucker punch and finish as soon as the guy is on the damn ground.
give me a guy with the better hands and chin 9/10 times.
