By: Miguel Serrano

When it comes down to the topic of a boxer fighting for Mixed Martial Arts, you tend to hear the same old cliche all the time. “The boxer will get taken down and submitted” is what they all say. Or “the boxer will get knee in a clinch and get knocked out”. Or the really favorite ones among the computer nerds is “the boxer will get destroyed by leg kicks”. Yeah we seen it happened in numerous occasions when a boxer would get taken to the ground and then be force to tap out or when a boxer would get weaken by leg kicks. The example that a lot of these MMA fanatics be bringing all the time is the classic case of boxer Art Jammerson fighting Black Belt Brazilian Jujitsu legend Royce Gracie on the night of the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Let’s recall this for a sec. Jammerson with only one boxing glove gets ready to square off against Gracie while not being fully aware of what kind of technique Gracie will apply. After a bit a hesitation between the two, Gracie shoots for a fake kick only in an attempt to follow up for a take down. Jammerson puts his guard up to avoid the kick while covering his face in a similar fashion as that a of kid protecting himself from a abusive stepfather. Royce takes down Jammerson and then smothers up Jammerson on the ground. Jammerson, not knowing what the to do, quickly taps out. The rest is history.

Does this mean that boxers are not good enough fighters to compete in the Octagon or MMA ring? If that is the case then how about the two other fighters Royce Gracie submitted that night? He submitted Ken Shamrock who was a catch wrestling specialist and a Pancrease fighter in Japan and on the final tournament match of the night he submitted a very dangerous Muay Thai striker from Holland by the name of Gerard Gordeau. Does that mean that a catch wrestler and a Muay Thai fighter cannot do well in MMA either? Don’t be ridiculous.

So why do boxers get such a bad rep when the mention of them fighting in MMA is bought up? Maybe boxers just have a hard time getting respect because of the perception that all they do is punch. Just because a boxer’s only offense is punching makes it seem like they are handicap in the world of fighting. However there is more to boxing then just punching. The head movements, bobbing and weaving, foot work, quick reflexes, defenses, fighting from angles, side stepping. All of this and more are all very instrumental in making boxing one of the most effective styles in the world when it comes down to stand up fighting, a lot of it being adapted from the Filipino art of Mano Mano, which in itself makes Boxing a “Mixed Martial Arts Style”. Or maybe it’s just simply doubt and intimidation. Intimidated by the fact that Boxers can really be a threat in MMA yet they go on doubting this.

In one ESPN interview, UFC’s very own colorful personality man, Joe Rogan, totally dismissed the boxing defensive technique of “bob and weave” from ever being effective in MMA. Yet later on, Randy Couture, who was a boxer in the Army for 6 years and who cleverly never boasted about that, showcase how effective bobbing and weaving really is in the Octagon when he humiliated Tim Sylvia and then outclass Gabriel Gonzaga in the stand up. Quinton Jackson use good fainting to counter Chuck Liddell’s offense before countering with his own knock out shot. Anderson Silva totally embarrass the very tough Rich Franklyn with his own style of “bob and weave” in the middle of the Octogon to make Franklyn look like a amateur. Now imagine had they all been a way quicker and more powerful Mike Tyson when in his prime.

Fact is that boxing is as important to the cross training element of MMA as is Muay Thai and Brazilian Jujitsu. But yet boxing is not really bought up in topic of conversation when talking about the attributes of what makes a MMA fighter dangerous. I might have an idea of why this is. Before Mixed Martial Arts ever came into fruition, Muay Thai practitioners and grapplers (wrestlers and submission artist including Judo and BJJ) didn’t really have a legitimate setting for them to display their skills at. MT fighters would go over seas or Karate fighters would adapt their style into American Kickboxing. But kickboxing in the United States could never generate as much money or attention as boxing was doing, unlike what K-1 has done in Japan. Collegiate wrestlers could only really show off their abilities in a scripted match at a WWF show or go to Japan and fight in Pancrease if they wanted to make a good living. MMA in America opened up doors for practitioners of these styles including Karate, Muay Thai and grapplers to finally showcase their talents while garnering a lot of attention.

Let’s face facts, nobody knew who Chuck Liddell was when he was the World Kickboxing Association Champion here in the United States until he became a dominant figure in the UFC. Boxers have their spotlight and their millions of dollars, so why should they come to MMA and steal the spotlight? That is how a lot of MMA fans feel, the same fans who identified more with the styles of Muay Thai, BJJ, and Karate than they do with boxing. The same fans who would have the nerve to say that boxers are not “fighters” but just “boxer”.

To add boxing as a arsenal has proven to make fighters in MMA lethal. Also history will tell you of the trouble top MMA fighters would have against someone with boxing skills. Liddell’s first ever opponent in the UFC was against a boxer by the name of Noe Hernendez. Liddell didn’t score a knock out, instead it went the distance. Liddell with his awkward hand techniques, always had trouble in MMA against boxers or wrestlers with good boxing skills like Couture and Jackson whom both totally dismantled Liddell in the stand up. Vitor Belfort when he was actually dangerous, solely used effective boxing techniques to quickly knock out the very dangerous Muay Thai specialist Wanderlei Silva with ease. I can go on and on, but no matter what, these examples will always be dismiss by the hard heads and the loyal UFC fans. No one would ever care to mention that one of the greatest kickboxers of our time, 3 time K-1 Champion Peter Arts, in his second ever MMA fight was quickly submitted in 30 seconds from a heel hook applied by Shungo Oyama. Even Olympic gold medal wrestlers like Karam Ibrahim and Kevin Jackson have both fallen short in their MMA debuts. Yet you don’t hear MMA fanatics down grading Olympic wrestlers or kick boxers. These same MMA fanatics bashing at Boxers are no different than boxers or boxing enthusiast who make ignorant comments stating that MMA is no more different than a “bar room brawl”.

Both Mirco “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Bas Rutten are both primary strikers who had to learn the fundamentals of grappling when they both started fighting in MMA. And because of their athleticism and their expertise in one style, they were able to quickly adapt to cross training in other styles and have a successful run in MMA. Look at what Bas Rutten as been doing with training the infamous street fighter Kimbo Slice as a prime example. The same can be apply for a boxer who relies on being in really athletic shape for their performances. Now you have former boxers either who are over the hill or just couldn’t cut it in there sport scoring wins in MMA. From Marcus Davis who is 13 wins with 3 losses in MMA to Eric “Butterbean” Esch who is 10 wins with 4 losses, these guys have already proven the doubters wrong by scoring victories in the sport that they should quickly be defeated in. Former Boxing champion Riddick Bowe who is going to be 40 and seems like he may alredy be punchy might make his MMA debut next month. If he wins than boxing fans will say “I told you so”. But if he loses than MMA fans will say what they have been saying for the longest.

Until a high rank well publicize boxer gets in the Octagon or MMA ring, there will always be people talking crap. And to say that a high rank boxer would just go in MMA with only the use of their boxing skills is a insult to their intelligence. If Roy Jones was to announce that he wanted to participate in the UFC, Dana White and company would more than likely give him some time to train, let’s say 6 months. Every MMA training facility out there would jump into the opportunity to want to train Roy Jones so that they can acquired the bragging rights in saying that they helped transfer a boxer into a MMA star. Roy Jones would probably stop training in his boxing which is already natural to him, and no MMA fighter would even touch him with the hands. So Jones would basically trained with take down defenses and sprawling, while defending against the clinch and leg kicks. Being that he is a master of his own style and that he is in great athletic shape, Jones himself would also quickly mold into a MMA phenomenon just like Cro Cop and Rutten. You all saw the damages that Belfort in his early days used to do with his once fast hands in MMA. Now imagine hands 3 times as fast as those with reflexes 3 times as sharp. Case close.