Interesting video. No doubt, Silva is relaxed, great vision etc but he takes a good shot. It is an overlooked part of game. We saw against Sonnen that he is tough. Put that chin and that toughness together with that ability and that confidence and it is clear he can pull off finishes like Griffin, Belfort etc [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCgsNKKti7o&feature=g-vrec&context=G2ddc5efRVAAAAAAAAAw[/ame]
To me Silva reminds me of Ali - prime Ali wasn't renowned for his chin because he was so fast he never got hit. It was only in the seventies that people started to realise how great Ali's chin was because he had slowed down to the point that fighters could now tag him. I think Silva's going to be the same which is why the comparisons with Roy Jones that are often made are bogus.
If anything Ali's chin was a question mark! After Cooper most were convinced Liston was going to devastate him early (which admittedly would be said of Liston even against durable fighters) and, as you say, it was only when he lost his legs that he really showed how good his powers of recovery were. Totally the opposite for Roy Jones.
Just going out there and try all you can and still not land **** isnt what you look for when sparring thats why Anderson let Bader hit him to build Baders confidence
I think everyone who's trained with Silva would say he's a red light performer who doesn't go all out when sparring - there's a good interview with Freddie Roach when he talks about being seriously disappointed when sparring with Silva and so thought he was overrated until he saw him perfectly use things they had worked on in a fight.
I always compare his downfall to that of Ken Shamrock (Ken's actually in an even worse position though)
I suppose they both have the problems with money but they're not really the same - Roy Jones was a supremely gifted fighter who got old while Shamrock was a fighter who simply failed to keep up with the times. Plus the killing of the UFC on PPV in the mid-nineties forced him to go the WWF in his prime rather than stay in the sport.
Disagree with you on Ali. His chin was very solid, and his ability to recover quickly, when he did occasionally get caught, was first class.
You actually agreed with them. The one guy said his chin WAS a question mark until Liston and when he started to get tagged as he got older. No one could ever say Ali didn't have a well above average chin.
Both were one huge stars, though, now there careers are in tatters. Its hard to make this type of analogy comparing a boxer to an MMAist.
Probably bettr just not to make one then. Other than they were big stars and now they're broke there's not much similar with their stories. Certainly nothing that would allow you to draw a conclusion any more profound than "man, fighters are really bad with there money". Which to be fair is pretty profound
Don't compare Silva to Ali - that's just insulting. That's like comparing Chris Humphries to Michael Jordan. lol
How does that make sense? Silva and Ali competed in different sports. Humphries and Jordan both played basketball. Comparing Silva to Ali would be closer to comparing Michael Phelps with Lebron James. Your post is like comparing De la Hoya to Ali. That is insulting. That would be like comparing Cris Collinsworth to Jerry Rice.