Which current top boxer could transition to MMA the best?

Discussion in 'MMA Forum' started by Slavic Fighter, Apr 4, 2016.


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  1. Slavic Fighter

    Slavic Fighter Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Obviously in this hypothetical scenario the boxer gets some years of extensive grappling training.

    Which one of the current top boxers would have the best chance to dominate his division?

    Personally I think Povetkin. HW division in the UFC is shallow as hell and Povetkin has legitimate kickboxing experience, having won some European and world titles in the late 90s. Povetkin also has that brawler style which is probably the most suited for MMA. He has that stocky build and would be hard to takedown, he seems like a natural grappling talent, to be honest he looks more like a wrestler than a boxer.

    Then there's also GGG who supposedly has some wrestling training.

    Maidana has show to have legit muay thai and even scored a takedown on Floyd :lol:

    Marco Huck has kickboxing background

    Stylistically I think short stocky fighters with no neck have the best chances to develop good defensive grappling (hard to take down, hard to submit), a bit like Vovchanchyn back in the days. Provodnikov for example.
     
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 4, 2016
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 4, 2016
    #1
  2. pablinov

    pablinov Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Mike Alvarado, claims to be 97-0 as a wrestler.
     
    pablinov, Apr 4, 2016
    pablinov, Apr 4, 2016
    #2
  3. GOrtiz18

    GOrtiz18 Member Full Member

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    In the past, I'd say George Foreman....I remember hearing about how Lucas Matthysse was interested in MMA.
     
    GOrtiz18, Apr 4, 2016
    GOrtiz18, Apr 4, 2016
    #3
  4. Eel87

    Eel87 Active Member Full Member

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    David Haye, Andre Ward, DeGale, GGG, Sergey, Joshua, Eubank. Vitali would have done well.
     
    Eel87, Apr 4, 2016
    Eel87, Apr 4, 2016
    #4
  5. anders100

    anders100 Active Member Full Member

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    Shannon Briggs. Why not. "LET'S GO CHAMP".
     
    anders100, Apr 4, 2016
    anders100, Apr 4, 2016
    #5
  6. Slavic Fighter

    Slavic Fighter Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Slavic Fighter, Apr 4, 2016
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 4, 2016
    #6
  7. Barry Smith

    Barry Smith Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Any top boxer would do well in MMA. Guys like Brendan Shaub and Travis Browne have done well in MMA within a short period of time despite being average athletes and having little or no combat sport experience prior to taking up the sport in their mid 20's.

    MMA is not a top level sport like boxing is in terms of talent required for success. The natural athletic talent of top boxers is lightyears ahead of their MMA counterparts. It's like comparing the PGA tour to guys who are good at crazy golf.
     
    Barry Smith, Apr 5, 2016
    Barry Smith, Apr 5, 2016
    #7
  8. BEATDOWNZ

    BEATDOWNZ Boxing Addict banned Full Member

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    The latest HW champ won the belt after picking up Boxing when he was nearly 30.

    The current UFC LHW champion owned him.

    Try again.
     
    BEATDOWNZ, Apr 5, 2016
    BEATDOWNZ, Apr 5, 2016
    #8
  9. Slavic Fighter

    Slavic Fighter Well-Known Member Full Member

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    To be honest back then he was a bum beginner at MMA/boxing and Cormier is just a beast of a fighter. A total mismatch.

    “It was quite a humbling experience being schooled by a wrestler like that,” Browne said.
    “He split me across the eyebrow with an elbow and I needed 13 stitches. Obviously, they called the fight off.“I’d done cage fighting for two years. I trained for three months and had my first MMA fight. Two weeks after that I had a kickboxing fight.
    “The weekend after that I had a boxing fight. After the Cormier cage fight, I decided boxing was the way to go.”


    Cormier beat him so badly he had to find another sport!


    I wonder if a rematch could be arranged now to unify the WBA HW and UFC LHW belts
     
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 5, 2016
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 5, 2016
    #9
  10. Barry Smith

    Barry Smith Boxing Addict Full Member

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    The thread is about top boxers. Lucas Browne may be able to pick up a meaningless alphabet trinket in a terrible heavyweight division, but he is not a top boxer or athlete. Do you really think guys like Joshua, Wlad, Kovalev, Ward, GGG etc wouldn't do well in MMA after 12 to 18 months training?
     
    Barry Smith, Apr 6, 2016
    Barry Smith, Apr 6, 2016
    #10
  11. coog

    coog Active Member Full Member

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    I disagree I think that the MMA guys are better natural athletes. I do not think that that many boxers are great athletes
     
    coog, Apr 7, 2016
    coog, Apr 7, 2016
    #11
  12. Joe.Boxer

    Joe.Boxer Chinchecker Full Member

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    Joe.Boxer, Apr 7, 2016
    Joe.Boxer, Apr 7, 2016
    #12
  13. caballo

    caballo Active Member Full Member

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    Tyson Fury. His length alone would make him dominant.
     
    caballo, Apr 9, 2016
    caballo, Apr 9, 2016
    #13
  14. Slavic Fighter

    Slavic Fighter Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Jon Jones is a wrestler, his base is Greco-Roman.

    Wilder doesn't know **** about wrestling.
     
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 10, 2016
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 10, 2016
    #14
  15. Slavic Fighter

    Slavic Fighter Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Length is a disadvantage if you're bad at grappling. Wrestlers in the HW division would pick his long legs up and dump him on his head easily. Werdum snatches one of his long limbs like nothing and makes him tap.
     
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 10, 2016
    Slavic Fighter, Apr 10, 2016
    #15
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