I understand your bias but have you seen any of the top 10 UFC fighters in action? What makes you think pure boxing can be successful in the octagon?
Aspinal has more boxing skill than Williams had in his prime and even if he would have lost to a prime Williams in a boxing ring, he is a far better finisher.
I agree with your broader argument but I wanted to point out that all those above sports you listed are refinements on one or two specific aspects of striking. It's silly to paint one as more "real" than another.
Kicks are more powerful than punches but they're also harder to set up, harder to land accurately, slower to the target and can't really be chained into combinations. KOs aren't about raw power in most cases, but accuracy, timing, following up on a stunned opponent etc, all of which are much easier to accomplish with punches. The most powerful strike you can land with your fists is probably a spinning backhand or a big windup haymaker. The first is obviously illegal in boxing, but the second is perfectly legal, and yet you hardly ever see fighters get knocked out by such telegraphed shots (and no, Wilder doesn't count; his right hand is actually very technically well thrown when he isn't spazzing out). And in kickboxing the number of fighters I've seen knocked out with a spinning backhand is probably in the single digits.
Boxers just have to refine technique including foot and leg placement to generate power etc. MMA fighters can't use the same footwork as they open them selves up to a take down or getting the crap kicked out of their legs. As fas as francis and boxing technique, i don't think anyone that foillows MMA considered him anything special with hands. I and many expected Fury to walk through him with in 2 rounds with out being touched. As far as people saying a boxer only needs 6 months of take down defense to be a champ LOL. The ones saying this please explain to me why guys like Tuivasa, Derrick Lewis etc have been training wrestling and take down defence for more than 5 years and still a decent grappler can take them down with ease and beat them Yet a boxer only needs 6 months? eff off.
The idea that AJ couldn't do that to Ngannou in the UFC is mma fan fantasy land. When Ngannou was UFC champion, AJ has a great chance at sparking him out early.
Ya, this definitely has nothing to do with the fact that the economics of both sports almost ensures that the shot boxers who have no business still fighting, and have been pushed out of boxing are looking for what little money they can still manage to milk from their name by going to mma, whereas mma fighters actively seek boxing matches while still relatively fresher because it's usually a pay increase. Has a legitimate top 10 boxer at the time ever actually competed in mma? Meanwhile Ngannou was top 2 mma fighter on the planet. And what big name boxer has an mma fighter beaten in boxing? Unless youre referring to just Nagnnou Fury.
aj got tied up several times during that match. that would have been over in the first clinch exchange. it took him like 5 mins to get a ko after two knockdowns. boxers also have no experience fighting with tiny gloves. their defense is heavily focused on using those gloves to block punches. i’ve named plenty before silva chavez artem paulie, that fight also showed how pointless a boxers jab and run style is with no gloves . plenty of times in bare knuckle boxing have we seen boxers lose to mma guys and even brawlers. because boxers are not use to fighting a pace where you have to actually fight more in the clinch without the ref interfering every 2 seconds . i already showed plenty of examples like mayorga with 50 boxing fights experience vs a 2-4 mma fighter who out struck him on the feet. Jeremy williams vs. 40 year old wrestler who had no prep and on short notice. Jeremy landed clean shots and could not dent a wrestler when Jeremy had 6 fights in mma, judo background, and full training camp. the wrestler lost in round 3 by exhaustion after telling the ref he was done after laying on williams through out the fight. mike perry beating a boxer with 25 fights and a regional title. conor mcgregor gave floyd a tougher fight than canelo and dela hoya who didn’t win a single round, conor won the 1st 3 rounds Clarisa shields losing to a low level fighter now around 4-4 record. going to split dec with negative record opponents . a pure boxer with just boxing would equate to being a low level mma fighter with a puncher’s chance. i dont hate boxers or the sport, i maintain they need to train their boxing fir real fighting. because boxing rules give them a false sense of how much those moves really dont work in real fights.
He would definitely have a decent shot. Obviously there are some guys stylistically who would be more vulnerable to a boxer than others. Guys like Ngannou, Lewis, Tuivasa, Gane, Rozenstruik. You put AJ in there with those guys and hes going to win some. But Aspinall, Jones, Jailton, Blaydes? much less likely.
Gayj would have a heart attack as soon as he hit the mat, gas and get finished in the first round. That's much more likely.
Lewis, Ngannou and Gane would likely take him down and pound/out submit. Rozenstruik and Tuivasa are probably dumb enough to like their chances and try to brawl with AJ. Little to no chance against Aspinall, Jones, Almeida, Blaydes etc.