Issue 023

March 2007

By Hywel Teague.

Not so long ago you would hear a certain question frequently asked among mixed martial arts practitioners, fans and newcomers to the sport. The conundrum everyone pondered was this: If you put the boxing heavyweight champion of the world in with the MMA heavyweight champion, who would win?  

To set the record straight, I too wondered what the outcome would be, but I had a feeling from day one it wasn’t quite as simple an answer as you may think.  

Put a boxer in with a MMA fighter and let them fight ‘no holds barred’ and not withstanding any freaky accidents or lucky shots the chances are the MMA fighter will win, hands down, every single time. How? Most likely by using grappling skills, something boxers do not train for. Switch it around and stick a MMA fighter into a boxing match with any capable boxer, and its pretty certain the pugilist will win (even though MMA fighters train in striking, the time spent in this range will be far less than that of a boxer, so if all physical attributes are the same, the boxer’s finer skill should take the contest).  

The question (or something close to it) couldn’t be left unanswered and many boxers have stepped up to fight under MMA rules, and by and large have suffered for it. Predictably, their lack of grappling training has left them at a distinct disadvantage. A select few MMA fighters have moonlighted as boxers, not without some success. Jens Pulver and Chris Lytle are two fighters to have taken to the squared circle, with both racking up notable wins.  

But enough of these musings – the real subject of the boxing vs. MMA debate I wish to tackle is not what goes on inside the ring, but what takes place in the offices of those driving the sports forward.  

Boxing is big. In fact, its very big. It has been around in various incarnations for hundreds of years and enjoys a storied tradition, and even though it has seen something of a downturn in recent years, there are still millions of boxing fans around the world. It is a cheap and accessible sport to take part in, and kids on almost every estate and in almost every housing project will have dabbled in it at some time or other. Though it arguably lacks some of the names and pulling power it once did (where are the Ali’s, the Leonards, the Tysons?) boxing still has a huge fan base, which truth be told is far larger than that of MMA. But things are changing, and they’re changing fast.  

Led by promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the International Fight League in the USA, MMA is poised to become a real challenger as the dominant combat sport in North America and beyond. Boxing has very little exposure on free TV screens in both the US and the UK. A key strategy of the UFC’s parent company Zuffa LLC has always been to bring MMA to the masses by way of regular free TV programmes showcasing live fights.  

Thanks to their tremendous diligence and hard work, the UFC have secured this with the TV channel Spike TV, a “men’s lifestyle” network that hits the key 18-34 year old demographic. By broadcasting events, reality TV shows, behind the scenes documentaries and more, the UFC have moved into the public consciousness like never before. Their pay-per-views are drawing ever increasing numbers, with rumours that their December 30th PPV was one of the largest yet, topping over one million buys.  

While boxing continues to draw plenty of viewers of its own, fragmented politics and confusing championship status means that it is difficult for the public to keep track of who’s who and what’s what. With a huge roster of entertaining characters neatly contained under the same banner, organisations such as the UFC and the IFL can easily promote their athletes, and rely on this recognition to generate interest in upcoming events.  

As boxing’s big guns continue to make lazy matches featuring no-name fighters competing for paper titles, the MMA world builds upon its existing fan base by matching recognisable talent in exciting, worthwhile matches. If boxing promoters don’t take a leaf out of their mixed martial arts counterparts, we could well see boxing slump even further in the near future. You never know, when it comes to business, rather than MMA tapping out to the pressure, we could well see boxing out for the count. Round one has come and gone and MMA is coming out strong, get ready for round two…