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Why are good fighters leaving boxing for MMA?

The ailing sport of boxing won't force its fighters to take on all legit contenders, so those whom the public actually wants to see are finding other venues

by Duncan Herrera on 03 June 2007

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Tommy Morrison in his heavyweight heyday (Gettyimages.com)

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MMA (or Mixed Martial Arts to the uninitiated) had a successful weekend recently as it sold over 1 million tickets on Pay-per-view , and the arguments soon started: What is better, MMA or boxing?

People sometimes prefer easier things such as: "Hey, these guys are both undefeated and around the same weight, let them fight." I remember a time when boxing was like that, but let's face it, boxing is now a money sport. If the money is right than anyone will fight. MMA basically says: "Hey, you have to fight this guy. If not, then just quit"

Take boxing:
Ricardo Maygoria said a while ago that he would not fight anyone unless the money was right. Well, there wasn't anyone willing to fight him for lots of money, that is until Oscar De La Hoya heard him say that. So Hoya said: You'll get $10 million if you fight me! And without asking questions, Maygora agreed. He lost by KO in the 6th round, but if you had seen the fight, Maygora's face was all smiles.

Also, in a recent interview, Floyd Mayweather did say that he is retired but still looking. So what does that mean? Well, again, if the money is there he will fight again. ESPN asked Mayweather whether he would fight Jab Zudah again, and Mayweahter said: No, I already beat him, no-one will pay to see that fight, so ESPN asked: What about Mayweather v Oscar De la Hoya Part 2? And Mayweather said: Oh yeah, I would definitely fight that one again, and he also said it would probably make even more money than the first fight.

Take MMA:
I have spoken with Lisa Woodard (Tommy Morrison's Publicist) and basically it's been hard to get Tommy fights in boxing recently. People are still saying that he has AIDS, even though many tests have already been done and they show that Tommy no longer has AIDS. But in case you didn't know, Tommy is scheduled to fight in the MMA on June 9.

Now whether or not Tommy will ever box again is uncertain at this point. Tommy "The Duke" Morrison's record as a heavyweight is 47-3-1 with 41 knock-outs. As Tommy prepares for his first MMA fight, I'm sure he will definitely rely on his knock-out punches, so other MMA fighters, beware!

Brock Lesnar, a former WWE wrestler, is also now fighting in the MMA. In 2004, when Lesnar quit wrestling, he tried to play in the NFL but with no football experience he never made any team. I guess he wasn't talented enough. Brock Lesnar did sign with the NJPW (New Japan pro Wrestling) and won the NWJP championship fairly easily. Now he wants better competition.

Lesnar (6ft 4ins and 295lbs), a three-time WWE world heavyweight champion, and a one-time college wrestling champion, has now landed in the MMA. Lesnar says he is the future of MMA as he will use his power and wrestling skills and his speed to win every fight. Now with all that said MMA only has five weight classes, but I'm sure that the MMA's heavyweight class will eventually take over boxing's heavyweight class.

IF the Boxing Commission would just get a little tougher on fighters, and tell them they have to fight certain opponents no matter how much money is involved. I think boxing would slowly get back to the way it use to be. The only fight I'm looking foward to all summer is Winky Wright v Bernard Hopkins. Winky has fought all good fighters on his past four fights. We need more boxers like that, who aren't afraid and just go out there and box!

Comments (3)

by Dave NJ Boxing on June 03, 2007

You can't kill boxing. It's an American tradition. Golden Gloves. USA Boxing. Olympics. Professional boxing has been riddled with problems, but the fights that are good are REALLY THAT GOOD! There are always poor fights in any fighting sport. It is usually based around styles. MMA fights bore a lot of Americans, too. Tito Ortiz and the purely grappling MMA styles usually leave people yawning unless there is a lot of reversals. I love both sports, but the promoters really should follow the rules of Pride and the World Combat League and penalize fighters for stalling. Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski... they should have made NO MONEY!!! The promoters need to make more contracts with "FIGHTERS WILL NEED TO FIGHT THE WHOLE FIGHT" in order to make money clauses. There are enough fighters out there to sign that dotted line.

by Sean Swift on June 03, 2007

...the advantage that MMA has (and if you do a follow-up article, you should mention this) is that UFC essentially controls most of it now. Unlike boxing, there isn't 9 million different commissions each with their own belts and rankings and contender set-ups. Not only that, but MMA doesn't have a situation where, say, Don King owns fighter #1 and Golden Boy Productions owns fighter #2. It's basically Dana White controlling everything. Boxing needs to become accountable in its scoring and with oversight on its commissions if it wants to break itself out of this mess. Of course, it's been so corrupt for so long, the chances of that happening aren't good. Oh, and one other thing: New Japan Pro Wrestling's title is called the IWGP World Title - short for International World Grand Prix. Many Japanese companies give different names for their titles - Pro Wrestling NOAH's is the GHC (Global Honored Crown), for example. Also, New Japan giving their title to Brock was a financial disaster, one they are only now st

by lisa on June 03, 2007

I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THIS WRITER IS BUT FOR ANYONE READING THIS ARTICLE THIS IS LISA WOODARD AND THIS ARTICLE IS UNFOUNDED, COMPLETELY NOT TRUE AND I NEVER EVER SPOKE TO THIS SO CALLED WRITER... PLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ FOR ALL THE TOMMY MORRISON FANS...