Issue 053
August 2009
Excuse me, but did I miss something? Like manager Ed Soares losing his grip on eight-legged Anderson Silva? Soares needs his bald head examining. Just as mixed martial arts is gaining a wider portfolio in the mainstream, its credibility growing exponentially by the day, out comes Soares with a gimmick which could not do more to undermine mixed martial arts.
The Silva-tongued Soares is pressing for a UFC-sanctioned fight between his man and Roy Jones Jr in the Octagon. I’m sorry, but whichever way you look at this, it could only be seen as a farce, and a mis-match between the Spider and the cock-rearing Floridian boxer. Pure and simple. Just as it would be if Silva stepped into the boxing ring with Jones.
Jones was unquestionably thrilling with his blurry hand speed, footwork and power. After being robbed of the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics he turned professional and cut a swathe through boxing’s middleweight, super-middleweight, and light-heavyweight divisions, and even beat John Ruiz at heavyweight back in 2002.
He’s a nailed-down Hall of Fame boxer. But, and this is a BUT, with CAPITAL LETTERS: He’s 40 years old. Shot. Finished.
I was there when Joe Calzaghe fought Jones last November at Madison Square Garden, New York. He put the Welshman down with a forearm punch in the first round, yet was outboxed and out-thought for every minute of every round. Jones looked so old.
Sure, he was without question boxing’s pound-for-pound king in the 1990s, but do you get my drift? He’s an old man. Anyone who conceivably believes that putting him in with Silva, a sublimely gifted mixed martial artist, will do the slightest for MMA is climbing up the wrong cage. And just to clarify. A home and away tie between the two, boxing and MMA, would herald the following results…
The MMA side first: Jones, a washed-up fighter, is desperately plumbing has-been super-middleweights for last hurrahs. Silva would merely toy with him in the Octagon like he did Patrick Cote and Thales Leites. He’d be able to finish the fight when he chose to.
The boxing side: Silva versus Jones in a ring, Marquess of Queensberry style. Jones Jr whips Silva. Again, no contest. I spoke to Hollywood-based boxing trainer Freddie Roach (who has worked with Silva in his gym) about this subject when he was preparing Manny Pacquiao for his contest against Ricky Hatton. Roach’s response? It would take five years of training for Silva to be competitive against Jones in a ring. “He’s far too square and would be picked off. The skill sets are so very different. Mismatch,” says Roach.
Silva has been floating the idea for over a year. I believe he first raised the notion after choking out Dan Henderson at UFC 82 (March 2008). It has been ridiculously labeled the first mega-crossover boxing / MMA battle by some. Looking back over the last 20 years, the only boxer I would have given credence to getting involved in such a contest would have been Mike Tyson.
Dana White, the UFC president, might have thought long and hard about Tyson in his prime. He was a huge draw in boxing, yet I believe he had the physical build and capabilities to have quickly grasped grappling skills. Moreover, he would have made a great brawler.
I must say I was delighted with White replying with alacrity to Soares’ probing. White sees it for what it would be: a cynical business transaction on pay per view. White was categorical. “No Silva versus Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me. Jones mattered 15 years ago. He’s not anywhere near the best boxer in the world.”
McGee Wright, Jones’s manager, is just as culpable as Soares. Wright believes the contest would sell on pay per view. He’s correct. But that is not the point. White was spot on, insisting it could be done, huge money could be made, but in the long run it would ‘hurt’ MMA. White killed the idea dead – or at least until Silva finishes his four-fight deal with the UFC.
With MMA on the cusp of becoming mainstream, it needs careful nurture, not a red-coated ringmaster cracking a whip in a giant circus tent. Silva / Jones bears all the fingerprints of a WWE-style hype contest. To sanction such a contest would be a horrible step backwards.
What is mouthwatering, however, is Silva’s next fight against Forrest Griffin at 205lb at UFC 101 in August. A great match-up, and many fans will want to see Silva pressed and punched. I do. I want the man’s greatness tested, not to see his strategy implemented effectively against challenger after challenger who aren’t at his skill level.
If he really wants to test himself to the limit, and if he beats Griffin, why doesn’t the 6’2” fighting freak from Brazil with sublime skills bulk up and take on Brock Lesnar at heavyweight? If he’d been in his prime now, Royce Gracie wouldn’t have backed down from such a challenge.
Gareth A Davies is Boxing and MMA Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph
