Re: 50 YR OLD RAY MERCER KAYOS EX-UFC CHAMP... IN 10 SECONDS
Posted: 25 Jun 2009, 04:56
Mercer beat Sylvia at his domain though - punching. Mercer will always be a better puncher than Sylvia, no matter how old he gets. Ray is a former Olympic gold medallist and a world heavyweight titleholder. The difference in punching technique between MMA guys and boxers is massive.oliverfennell wrote:And there have been a fair few boxers who fit that description, too. Would a 48-year-old MMA practitioner with only one or two boxing matches behind him have a chance against any of those in a boxing match? Bruce Seldon, say? Unlikely.Tip1 wrote:Sylvia was basically a ufc champion by luck not skill. Everytime he had a fight with somone decent he lost.
This is not to say I'm entering into the "which sport is better" debate (I don't have anything like enough knowledge of MMA), just that the inescapable fact is that a very old boxer who long ago ceased to be relevant in his own sport just owned someone who legitimiately won a major - in fact, the premier - belt in his own sport. Overall form or all-time ranking is irrelevant, he did win that title and you can't take it away from him.
Again, let's take Seldon, arguably the least-regarded world heavyweight boxing champion, and match him with, say, Ken Shamrock - well past his best but fondly remembered - in a boxing match. What's going to happen? I think we agree it will be a KO1, and not for the fighter competing outside his own sport...
The win really isn't that impressive. If Mercer had taken Demian Maia to the ground and submitted him, then that would be something worth celebrating. Or if he'd grabbed the muay thai clinch with Anderson Silva and managed to knee Silva into oblivion.
As it is, Mercer just beat Sylvia at punching. Any young amateur heavyweight boxer would do the same. Sylvia's punching is disgusting and he's a deluded idiot to think he ever had a shot of switching to boxing in his mid-30s.