Media Monster

Famous Boxing Champ To Fight Famous MMA Champ, End Boxing Vs. UFC Debate?

There’s a great article in the LA Times today about the upcoming MMA fight between former heavyweight boxing champ James Toney and UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, highlighting the full-blown rivalry between boxing and mixed martial arts.

As boxing waits for a Floyd Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao megafight to maintain interest in the sport, MMA is thriving. Their most recent event, UFC 116, is estimated to have done over one million pay-per-view buys, and the sport is growing its audience despite a lack of household names. The reason: your average MMA fight provides much more excitement than boxing, plain and simple.

Whereas boxers tend to dance around each other for 12 rounds, MMA condenses it’s action into 3, adding a sense of urgency to the proceedings. MMA fighters need to get their shots in early and often.

A few years ago, the UFC was seen as a violent sideshow for unskilled bruisers. Now, it’s seen as a legitimate contender to replace boxing as America’s number one source for pugilism (even the rebranding of the sport’s name, from “cage fighting” to “mixed martial arts,” seems to be motivated by a desire to make it more legitimate).

Boxing is feeling the heat. Bob Arum, in a moment of surprising defensiveness, said about the Couture/Toney MMA bout, “If this was a boxing match, I’d be watching it, but this is this cockamamie martial arts, guys rolling around on the floor. It’s not even a sport.”

Sorry, Bob, but it is.

[Bout between James Toney and Randy Couture could bring boxing-vs.-MMA debate to head] Los Angeles Times