mma fighters that have gone to boxing?

Most mma fighters come from a different background.

I.e wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, Thai-boxing etc...

So an mma fighter fighting a boxer at boxing is not the same as the boxer fighting the mma fighter mma. Its more akin to the boxer getting into a BJJ match or a wrestling match with the mma fighter.

 

Arlovski had a small stint in boxing.It was a charity fight or some **** like that.I think i heard Freddie Roach trained him for it. I don't recall it being an actual him trying his hand at it afterwards kind of deal.

 

It just takes the boxer to train mma for a long time and cocentrate on improving his whole game. Champion wrestlers/BJJ guys dont get chucked in at the deep end as they would not fair as well as they could if thrown in with the sharks off the back. Same would be for boxers.

However, there is no impitus for boxers to cross over and train mma loads because they can make much more boxing.

 

I think in your A and B situations, neither have a fair chance.

Much like Toney vs. Randy... No way in hell a prime MMA guy stand and trade with even and old pro boxer. You can see the MMA guys punches are thrown differently, and are less effective.

Toney vs. Randy on the ground is the same "wolf in the hen house" scenario. No way fat ass James Toney can keep up phsyically with Randy, who is always in great shape, not to mention he has zero chance of submitting Randy. He will be lucky just to avoid full mount/elbows to the face.

In other news...

Kimbo Slice should consider coming to boxing, assuming he can get in good enough condition. He has heavy hands and the HW division is WEAK. Kimbo would generate a lot of interest in both camps. He would be a good example of someone who could cross over, and go back and forth because he has no deep history of training in either discipline that I know of.

The problem for him, and potentially others, is that you can't expect to train for 3 years as a grown man and do well against someone Mayweather, Wladimir or Oscar who have started as kids and have 20 years of training and fighting experience on you.

Same with a boxer going to MMA. You can't expect to come into a new sport and compete on the ground against someone who has spent their entire life doing BJJ.

 

What's the point of kicking if you can't kick below the waist? You're severely limiting their effects. Might as well say you want the boxer to win so we'll just box.

 

Ali fought Antonio Inoki with hybrid rules. He said Inoki couldn't kick unless he was on his back.So he stayed on his back the entire fight.Ali wound up with nerve damage in his legs from all the damage he took.

MMA fighters aren't limited,at least the successful ones aren't.You tell them not to kick below the waist,they'll tag you in the head.Put a boxer in with a Muay Thai fighter and tell him not to kick below the waist and the boxer will wind up with a face full of flying knee.
If you want fairness,then tell the boxer to round his game off a little bit and don't show up with just his boxing skills or he'll lose.

 

...nope not really.
And to be honest,with all the talking James Toney has done, he deserves whatever happens to him in that fight. He followed Dana White around incessantly from city to city,demanded meetings and a contract,bad mouthed the talent of MMA fighters,and has just been all around full of hot air. So when James steps into the Octagon, if he gets a rude awakening, then so what?

MMA fighters without Karate backgrounds or Muay Thai or any other striking art will fall back on boxing.It's basic.There's obviously a discipline and proper technique to throwing an effective straight right but it's easier to learn how to box and throw leg kicks then full on karate striking or muay thai kicks. Randy may not be the best but when it's MMA rules,you don't have to be the best at one thing to win.

 

under exhibition rules,absolutely boxers and mma fighters could come up with some sort of halfway point.Prizefights?Not going to happen.

It's hard to argue that the majority of the most exciting MMA fights involved a decent deal of striking,be it boxing or whatever else they used.But part of the excitement to it is seeing how someone will reverse one discipline with another.I've seen a wrestler try and take someone down,get rolled over,and had an arm bar put on them.It was fluid and amazing to watch how good some of these guys are.If an MMA guy is hungry though,he's not going to fight a boxer,he's going to compete in small time MMA fights and get his name out there much the way a boxer would.

Boxing doesn't need MMA to survive and MMA doesn't need boxing to survive.You have standouts in both organizations. If you think that they should amend the rules to make it fair for one discipline over another,MMA is not your sport to watch.You bring what you have and see how you can use it's strengths against another's disadvantages.You don't mandate that an outfighter should have to stay within a certain distance of an outfighter.