Mercer KO'd Sylvia in 9 seconds

They didnt. That was nothing more than hotair. Mike never signed with the K1.

 

Zakman, Only just got round to replying to you. Thankyou for an honest reply. I got into boxing at age 11. My father and grandfather were both boxers in the army so I was introduced at an early age. While I understand your frustration, you have to understand MMA a little more. When I was first introduced I could not understand the groundwork. It did look to all purposes like two men rolling around on the floor. But over the last two years I have tried to understand what happens. I now train MMA as well as boxing (just for fitness, not for competition), and by MMA I also mean stick and staff fighting and Hapkido which is joint locking (do not think MMA is just what you see on UFC etc). Once you have been choked or leg locked etc you do understand more what 'the two guys' are trying to do. Believe me it is nothing like WWE. I often now comprehend what an MMA fighter is trying to accomplish when taking a fight to the ground.

I'm sure that there are "fans" out there that think that following MMA is the in thing, and while that is a shame it is the norm in all walks of life. As you appear to be someone of a similar age to me I ask you not to take everything you see or hear at face value.

Boxing will always be around. I have just tried to expand my knowledge of combat sports, some styles of which, have been around for many centuries. Actually, training in Hapkido has actually improved my stance and footwork when sparring. Best Wishes

 

Thats simply not true.

Lesnar was an NCAA D1 Champion, but never world class.

Lashley wasn't even an exceptional college wrestler.

Choi competed in some sort of Sumo like competition in Korea, and wasn't really a wrestler at all.

 

Well, Sylvia would always have a puncher's chance against Pac ... if you nail Pac's feet to the canvas.

 

This is surprising? Tim Sylvia is a joke. He doesn't have any skill set that is top notch.

 

Are there really MMA fans on ESB refuting this? Go over to Sherdog and you'll inevitably find a few, but the MMA fans on this site have always seemed to be pretty logical when comparing the two sports.
There are definitely matchups where a boxer would be way over his head if he was facing a guy with a great ground game.
But, I think most of us can agree that some MMA fighters are more comfortable standing up, and like Sylvia, would find their night being a short one if they chose to trade with a boxer.

It sometimes seems that us boxing and MMA fans get lectured by boxing only fans about things we probably already agree upon.

 

If someone doesn't want to discuss MMA on this site, then it's pretty simple. They don't have to visit the MMA forum, just as you have stated.

However, there's lots of times when MMA bashing threads get started by haters, not only in this forum, but the boxing forum as well.
So, the guys who claim to hate MMA and don't want it to "pollute" this board, seem to revel in opportunities to bash it.

Just ignore it. It's simple to do.

 

Competitive eating? He could not have looked more out of shape vs. Mercer.....not that he was ever a physical specimen but :-(

 

Considering how over-the-hill Mercer is, that's pretty damn embarrassing.

Sylvia's best days are well behind him too, though.

 

Congratulations to Mercer. Amazing he could do that pushing 50.

I am actually surprised he was in such good shape for an old man. Mercer is an army man, though...some of those guys stay hard their entire lives.

Mercer was always a guy who was so close to being champ but never had that last bit. He was extremely strong, had a fantastic jab, very good power (but not 1 punch KO...kinda similar to Vitali, actually) and arguably the best chin ever for a HW (even though later in his career it was shattered).

He earned a late career KO like that. Mercer was and always will be the man!

 

And watching the replay...it is just a beautiful right hand...the kind of punch you really need a boxing background to throw. Right down the middle, counter right hand. A thing of beauty. :good

 

It's not even comparable. Sylvia is at the same stage in his career that Mercer was 10-15 years ago and he's more than 15 years younger. Sure, Sylvia is past it, but Mercer is miles and miles beyond shot.

 

yeah

Sylvia was still 50 lbs overweight.

fat SOB

 

Don't be a ***; it proves nothing. Sylvia came in grossly out of shape, meaning he didn't have any respect for Mercer and decided to do what even Kimbo Slice wasn't stupid enough to do, try to strike for a bit with a boxer. Mercer gave a **** and has a punch and it worked against a fat slob who didn't prepare for his opponent properly. That's all it was.

 

The Kimbo/Mercer "exhibition match" was pretty damn close to being considered a work.