Why are boxers and Boxing fans bashing MMA well in fact boxing was originally like MMA?

Question

I keep hearing boxers and boxing fans say that MMA is for sissies and that boxing will defeat it.But BOXING WAS ORIGINALLY LIKE MMA!Originally,in the Bare Knuckle boxing era,boxing had wrestling techniques,sweeps and throws,dirty tricks such as eye-gouging,and kicks from another ancient British martial art called Shin Kicking!So why do they keep saying this?

Answer 1

When you have 2 mostly naked guys, sweating and writhing around each other fighting for a position called "full mount", well, isn't it BEGGING for a little bashing?  I've never watched g*y p**n, but I assume it's a lot like an MMA fight.

But the most annoying thing about the MMA fans is their inferiority complex.  Notice how they always compare boxers to their sport in their own context.  How would a boxer do in the cage?  About as well as Chuck Liddel would fare against Roger Federer at wimbledon.  I guess that makes tennis players tougher than MMA guys, eh?

It's apples and oranges, dude, different sports and there really is no point in comparisons.  So why do you MMA, hyperviolence fans keep at it?  You can't just enjoy your sport, you've got to bring boxing into it.  So just go away and we'll all be happier for it.

Answer 2

It's because MMA is a revenue threat and is basically making boxing irrelevant. You bash what you most fear.

Answer 3

Well, since YouTube and videos were not around during the original origins of boxing, two irish guys in the woods is hardly an argument that sweeps were integral.  But did bare knuckle fighting originally include a host of "dirty tricks" like blows below the belt that are not allowed now?  Sure it did.  

Boxing evolved to include more rules and more padding because in order to make a career of it, you need some protection.  People also wanted the blood and violence, but were shy of the fatalities associated with the sport before it added the required protection.  

If you really want to be period, they should allow wooden clubs and barbed knuckle guards, think about that before calling anyone a sissy.  Is this a sport or just watching a brawl?  If you want to watch two people harm each other, use the same rules they use in dog fights.

I mean, people can pick any level of violence between two combatants, up to and including "to the death" and call it a sport - we are still primitive enough that you could fill a stadium to watch two people maim or kill each other.  So is this just good fun and should there be regulation?  Do the observers care whether either combatant survives the match or is permanently injured as a result?  Gladiator fights were very, very popular.  Is there any line to be drawn before someone opens the gate and lets in the lions?  Because gladiators were placed in man-animal combat all the time as well - wouldn't that sell?  I am sure PETA would lose their mind but I bet it would fill stadiums still.  

Unless you are going Roman Coliseum - don't bother discussing how manly one sport is over the other or how traditional.  The Roman Emperors knew what the crowds wanted and held their power by holding such displays.  It was not just for prizoners - it was a major means for someone of the lowest classes to achieve rock-star-like fame and fortune.

Answer 4

I love MMA!! I go to the CCF fights here in Boise everytime they are here!! In fact going to them in March!  I am a huge UFC  fan too! Maybe they bash it because it's harder and tougher to do than traditional boxing and it's a combo of martial arts and they again are jealous of the talent these fighters have??

Answer 5

I think most boxing fans who don't ignore MMA are satisfied to just acknowledge that the two are very different sports - I think it is the people running MMA and Boxing that are perpetuating this.

I actually think MMA fans are more belligerent about this issue; one of the main reasons for why both get so pissed is  because of the popular arguments;

1. is that guys who compete in MMA are just boxers who couldn't make it - which is stupid;

2. the superior "striking" of MMA to boxing - anyone who thought Liddell vs. Silvia was an epic battle should check out Tito v. Vargas.

Either way, I think that most people that like one, are beginning to like the other as well - it isn't a real threat to boxing, no more than basketball is to football.

Answer 6

Anyone who says this,is just admitting their own ignorance of both sports. I am a fan of both and their isn't a boxer alive that can seriously compete inside of the octagon. It's two different sports,like apples and oranges. You have got to be an around fighter,with some decent martial arts skills. Floyd Maweather was considering going to MMA and was advised correctly that he'd be seriously injured in this very brutal sport.

Answer 7

because they arent ready to admit that peole who master in mma could beat the h3ll outta all of them!!  they are jealous because they are not thought of as being "hard core" anymore because they are pansies in comparison to people who practice mma.  they need to get over it an convert to mma and be real men!!

Answer 8

Like I said when you asked this in the martial arts section, it probably has something to do with all the "MMA fans" claiming MMA to be the death of boxing.

Answer 9

These are two completely different animals, a boxer cannot get into the octagon and wrestle and do the things that these fighters do because it isn't what they train to do, it has very little relation to boxing. Now an MMA fighter can get into a ring but would most likely get knocked out, there boxing skills are not good if compared on equal terms but they only need to learn enough to get them to there next move i.e ground & pound kicks or whatever, but they cannot be compared to in equal terms. Boxing (like many others including MMA) is a very skilled formed of fighting in the terms of learning how to be the best in there sport. A Kick Boxer will be better then an MMA fighter if it were a fight of pure leg work & I am not trying to talk down MMA its just different.

Two completely different animals and in each perspective art of fighting the one that trains for that specific style will be better then somebody who learns enough of many different styles.

Now all this talk about MMA being a real mans sport? look at it this way. You're in a cage & you're on your feet getting your but whipped in the "boxing/stand up" aspect of it, what do you do? get your guy down with kicks? rush him to the ground? try to choke him? twist his arms or legs? you have options because you were getting your but kicked standing up. But a boxer has to stand there and take a beating standing up and figure out how to beat this guy with his "pure" hands without going down, no rest periods or mounts were you do get a chance to rest.

"TWO DIFFERENT ANIMALS" and all this talk about it being the killer of boxing that will never happen and not because one is better then the other but for the simple fact that boxing is 70% Hispanic, its a hole different demographic & nationality  of people. MMA is a predominately American/white sport & all the talk is just to keep people tuning into these sports so that tickets are sold and the following grows. There are enough fans of both sports for this to be successful. GS Promotions owner Gary Shaw always talks about this yet he promotes both sports and reaps the rewards! and look at us here going back and forth? point made....

Extra NOTE:

an MMA fighter makes about a 3rd the money a boxer does and yet the promoters of MMA fights will sell more tickets? and generally make more money at a regular show! again the promoters are just trying to make there money. It really doesn't matter what we all think as long as these guys train hard and are appreciated & rewarded for what they do!!! Thanks to all of these guys for what they do...

Answer 10

I don't make a practice of bashing MMA, because I believe both boxing and MMA are just cousins in the same family tree known as FIGHTING.  

Yes, it's well-documented that bare-knuckle fighting allowed "extra-curricular" activities like eye-gouging and throws.  These "extras", though, weren't the "main course" of a boxing match, though.  The real FIGHT portion of the fight was the punching, and the two main reasons for gloves being adopted were A) to protect the hands, and B) to discourage grabbing, throwing, etc.  

Boxing and today's MMA were all born out of the same pond, long, long before Pay-per-Views and gate shares.  Ancient Sumerians and Egyptians fought hand-to-hand, and later, the Greeks and Romans took part in similar contests.  I doubt there were many "rules" like both sports today.  

I used to be a BIG fan of MMA, when UFC was new, since it brought back the no holds barred mentality, and actually matched up bartenders with construction workers. . . .real spectacles seeing teeth fly and blood spatter.  I LOVED IT!!!!!  Now, it's so homogenized with everyone fighting with ten different styles that it tends to get a bit boring for me.  Obviously, I know that MMA takes a TON of skill, since every encounter is a chess match of trying to outmanuever your opponent.  I could not, personally, fight MMA or box, since I'm not an athlete, nor do I pretend to be.  

Heavyweight championship boxing, while it is still rather exciting (in theory) is oftentimes less thrilling than watching paint dry on a barn wall. . . . if it's two blubbery bohemoths leaning on each other for 12 rounds.  JUST LIKE two MMA'ers engaging in a ground game.  Both can be sorta lame to a viewer. . . that much HAS to be admitted.  

Overall, MMA, when done well, is awesome to watch.  Championship boxing, when styles mesh well, is also the makings of a killer evening.  Both have their place, neither are going anywhere, and both make a Saturday night with a cold one and a group of rowdy friends an even BETTER night. . . . for everyone involved.

Answer 11

I don't know of any true boxing fans who bash MMA, I don't do it, You have to realize that Boxing is a proud parent to MMA, you have to be proud of your offspring.  Boxing has had and will continue to have a loyal following, It is truely a gentleman's sport.  There is enough $$ to go around for everybody, enjoy it all.

Answer 12

I have witnessed Bare Knuckle fighting, & Boxing..I say Bare Knuckle is far more aggressive, Competetive, and skilled..

They are not padded up like Boxers are nowadays..Which is more Sissie!!!!

They are afraid..They know it is tougher....Men should be Men!!!