What really highlights the difference between the two sports is Aleks against Kharitanov, who was a pan Asian medalist in boxing; Aleks was able to get the KO and generally control the boxing, but in an actual boxing match he looks much different because his opponent is able to focus entirely on boxing. It forces both guys to dig deeper into their boxing toolbox, and the boxer just has a much deeper one, with many more tricks of the trade and tactical adjustments.
I think that is an important point. What is required of boxers in MMA and a boxers in boxing are worlds apart. Aleks was completely out of his depth since the boxer did not have to worry about any of his grappling, submissions etc..
very true. when you are specialising in one trade (boxing, judo etc) you are limited so you are forced to make that limitation as versatile as possible. in doing that you are learning/establishing ineffective skills for mixed combat. boxing in its purest form would be slightly limited so shoulder roll, screw shots, side on stance etc were created. this created even more versatile fighters who prospered in boxing BUT in mixed combat these skills would generally be ineffective. the same applies to other martial arts.
Kharitonov fights for like Tajikistan. And Aleks really didnt control the boxing in that fight. In fact, Aleks got dropped pretty hard and got countered quite a bit in that fight. Kharitonov ate some jabs but Aleks really didnt land anything significant the whole fight until a couple nice right hands which forced Sergei to go for a leg and the fight ended quite quickly after that. Aleks was certainly not putting on a clinic, in fact, neither of them were really getting the upperhand.
He said, that he enjoyed that fight and that his was surprised with the decision, he thought that he had won the fight and that he would continue to do both MMA and boxing. I have no information about his next fight though.
True He seems to have the chin for it though...(i doubt a guy like arlovski would've been able to eat as many jabs as alex did).
After reading all the posts, he didn't look as bad as I was expecting. I didn't bother watching the entire contest, so I don't know if he turns it up to win a couple rounds. Emelianenko's problems are evident in the first couple rounds. His biggest flaw is his understanding of range. In a fight where kicks are concerned, fighters normally keep a range accordingly. Since there is no kicking in boxing, he just didn't seem to understand his opponent was close enough to reach out and touch him. Emelianenko also had no answer for his opponent's jab. If he still wants to pursue his mma career, I wouldn't throw too much else at him if I were his trainer. Defending the jab, and being more aware of his opponent's distance won't necessarily hurt his mma performance. I have no problems with people who pursue more than one sport. There's just the concern of improperly adapting the techniques from one sport to the next. I think when mma guys focus too much on boxing, they run the chance of developing a disregard for dangers(kicks, takedowns) that are present when the fight goes to close range.