Anderson Silva has destroyed all competition in the cage who has challenged him. He is the best fighter in his weight and wants more. Silva’s manager has gone on record via MMAMania.com stating that Silva wants to fight Roy Jones Jr with boxing rules to prove that MMA fighters are just as technical as boxers. Silva and Jones are considered to be two of the pound for pound best fighters in the world and both have dominated in their respective sport.
As a boxer, Roy Jones Jr. was named fighter of the decade for the 90’s by the Boxing Writers Association of America. His name echoes around the world of boxing as one of the best ever and his accolades tell the story themselves. The Pensacola native has been the IBF middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavy weight champion. He fought one fight at heavyweight and it was for the WBA title (he won). Not impressed yet? He also held the WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, NBA, WBF, and IBA light heavyweight belt all at the same time! This silver medalist and 8 time world champion was no doubt the top light heavyweight boxer in the world. This past January in his last fight, Jones defeated Felix Trinidad at the famous Madison Square Garden by unanimous decision.
In the MMA realm, Anderson Silva has many things in his favor. If he was allowed to fight in other organizations he could/would have multiple titles. He beat Dan Henderson who was the Pride Middleweight Champ. Silva in my opinion would beat 99% of the other fighters at his weight right now and I say 99% because of the upset factor. Face it, it happens. Silva is on a roll in the cage. He is dominating opponents in the octagon, and isn’t having any problems doing it. He is very marketable and is considered a great champion. Dana White has said that he is the best fighter in the world.
This could be an advertisers dream! Imagine the UFC promoting a boxing match in the cage to determine the true pound for pound best fighter in the world. It is something that Don King and Dana White probably think about on a daily basis. This sounds great, but it will never happen. Unless Roy or another boxer decides to take a major pay cut and put the pride of boxing on his shoulders then it won’t ever happen. In Roy’s fight against Trinidad they had over half a million pay-per-views buys. For the boxing community this was proof that they are still here, and aren’t going to just fade away in the sunset. The highest paid boxer makes at least twice what the highest paid MMA fighter makes. Why would Mayweather or Jones fight for a quarter of the money they usually make? The answer is simple… They won’t. Unless Dana decides to make something like this happen, it won’t happen. Keep in mind, this is the same guy that wouldn’t sign Fedor and allow him to fight Russian Sambo.
This goes back to the argument of MMA vs. Boxing. Let’s try something else, let’s compare golf and putt-putt (that is just an example, not saying either is like putt-putt). You can’t compare the two. They are somewhat comparable sports. You use a golf club and a ball, but there is a night and day difference between the two. The same is with boxing and MMA. Reminds me of the saying, “they are exactly the same… but different”. You can’t even compare the two, but thousands of people try to do it daily on the forums.
Anderson Silva and Roy Jones would make a lot of money. It would be a big draw for MMA fans and Boxing fans alike. They would enjoy seeing the chance for a real MMA fighter to finally put up or shut up, and face a true boxer. It is no secret that the sporting event would more than likely decide the overall outcome of the fight. If the two fought by boxing rules, Jones would pick Silva apart. Jones’ hands are far better than Silva’s no matter what the average MMA fan thinks. If they were fighting by MMA rules, Silva would simply take Jones down, and submit him on the ground. It is that simple. As much as I would love to this battle of true athletes, I don’t feel this will ever happen. It could be good or bad for either sport. It is not a true measurement of which sport if superior, and would do nothing but add fuel to a never ending feud.
Loading ...
I do still love MMA and have...
