This was in response to my Boxing vs. MMA post. Excellent stuff.
From Sasha:
Now that MMA is – collectively as a sporting genre – beating boxing financially and in popular culture, the old bastards with no sense of reality are coming out in full force:
http://staugustine.com/stories/053007/sports_4626474.shtml
Immediately, you know you’re in for an impartial, bias-free and rational comparison between the two fighting entertainment industries when the article starts, “…I am an incurable, die-hard lover of the Sweet Science.” Apparently, boxing is still the “sweet science” while MMA is just a bunch of drunk assholes brawling it out for the right to nail the toothless, 50-something, mother of nine waitress at the end of the night.
I think the point is that, until the true and beautiful “sweet science” of nature culling the old and enfeebled finally plays out, there will always be a boxer or sports writer or promoter who laments the rise in popularity than MMA has gained. There’s always going to be a Mayweather who is threatened by the fact that he is the best athlete in the fighting world’s equivalent of lawn bowling. There’s always going to be a Burwell who fights off the cloud of old age and senility long enough to remember the good old days when “fighting” was watching two grown men dance around each other, miss most of their punches and then hug in the corner when they get tired.
Sweet science? How about the science behind well-timed sprawls to avoid take-downs? How about the science behind defending yourself when mounted, and attacking while in the mount? What about a fighter thinking four moves and a minute into the future in order to execute a flawless rear naked choke? If anything, MMA is more of a science, more of a strategic competition. Your worries don’t end at well-placed jabs and lunges…you have low and high kicks to throw/block…takedowns and submissions to execute or defend against. Doesn’t it just make sense that fists, feet, elbows, knees, striking, submission and takedowns require more science and strategic planning than just fists?
“But now I’m worried that the Sweet Science is in trouble…”
And so you should be. Boxing is irrelevant – it has been for years, and over a decade of 1 round knockouts (complete with multi-million dollar payouts) and asshole champions left a void that MMA filled exceptionally well.
“and will be replaced by another blood sport that is not nearly as sweet, and about as scientific as a dark alley brawl.”
You mean, like Mike Tyson biting someone’s ear off?
“There is something disturbingly appealing to the current culture about a sport such as ultimate fighting, which lacks much of the style and skill of boxing at its highest form.”
Why is there an automatic assumption that MMA fighters don’t train, don’t focus their skills and techniques, and don’t dedicate their lives to becoming better fighters? What fighters like Fedor, Cotoure and Hughes go through on a daily basis just so that they can be a little better and a little more effective with each and every fight puts most boxers to shame. Both athletes perfect their punches, their agility and their general striking; now add to that the training and science behind leg and head kicks…grappling…take-down defense…MMA IS boxing’s highest form – old pricks who write articles about how bad MMA is just haven’t realized it yet.
I find it amusing that someone who loves a sport which started with two untrained men brawling would complain about another sport based on the same principles. If boxing has evolved into a “sweet science”, then MMA surely has as well.
Watch a boxing match from the 40’s, and then watch a fat ninja get his life owned in UFC 2 to see how far both sports have come.
“Watching Sugar Ray Robinson practice his craft was like watching a brilliant dancer with a bad attitude. Watching an ultimate fighter practice his craft is like watching a bad Patrick Swayze movie.”
The writer obviously has a fascination with male dancers and Patrick Swayze. If he wants to be taken seriously when it comes to his opinion on fighting, perhaps he could try being less of a faggot.
