I don’t like either of the brothers. It’s a toss-up as to which one has the bigger glass chin, and Vlad’s technique of throw a punch, then lay on his opponent is just plain boring to watch. Give me a good scrap with the likes of Manny Pacquiao any day.
From the link:
“But most significantly, if it weren’t for the decline of boxing as a prime influence on the behavior of Americans and its replacement with martial arts and eventually mixed martial arts, Abu Ghraib would never have happened.”
Mixed martial arts is responsible for Abu Ghraib? :dubious:
A champion needs a big time adversary to measure himself against. Ali had Frazer and Foreman. Vlad has no one to gather interest. At least he did not to a Roy Jones and turn a fight into a dance show.
“More stringent”? Drug testing is non-existant in Japan.
That being said, CroCop and Fedor are not two that have really been under suspicion for steroid use. They are skill fighters, known for their strategy, technique, and heart. People like Wanderlei Silva and Shogun Rua are much more suspect.
Cro Cop’s problems the UFC came from, I think, fighting down to the level of his competition (he did not respect Gonzaga, only had his eyes on the belt), and not training in a cage. Cheick Kongo was a successful kickboxer and, being bigger and stronger, was basically just a bad matchup from Crocop.
Fedor won both of his fights that took place in the US, so I don’t see any reason to question his supplementation habits. The UFC doesn’t drug test fighters - the state athletic commissions do, so if he’s willing to fight in the US there’s no reason he wouldn’t be willing to fight in the UFC. The reason he didn’t sign is because his management wanted him to be a package deal with other Red Devil fighters and he wanted to be able to compete in sambo tournaments outside of the UFC.
That being said, 2 of the UFC’s 5 champions - and 3 of 5 until this month - are old Pride fighters. The “lack of success” has not been as widespread as it seemed at first. Most of it can be attributed to confirmation bias, luck of the draw, ring rust, bad matchups, etc, etc.
There’s also stories that seem pretty reliable about some Pride fights being worked, shady bonuses to lose, creative and freakshow matchups, etc, but isn’t this thread about boxing?
Was you surprised by the outcome, david? I’ve only seen highlights of it, but Cotto looked pretty roughed up at the finish. And that Margarito looks massive for his weight.
I was a little surprised, I’m sorry I didn’t see it. I probably would have put money on Cotto if I was the gambling type.
As long as the thread is bumped, I’m interested to see if Sequitorian is going to come back and elaborate on his Boxing v. MMA manifesto.
It was an interesting link, wasn’t it. The Abu Ghraib comparison at the end was obviously for effect, and seemingly a little over the top, but I tended to agree with the general gist of the article. I’ve always been a fan of boxing and even did a little bit in my younger days, so appreciate how hard it is to be good, in what is a very unforgiving sport. I’ve also been in a few one on one street fights, and can appreciate the sort of abilities a good MMA fighter needs to have. From a purely aesthetic pov, I’d prefer to watch boxing, but MMA contests still have their appeal.
In a different thread, perhaps, devoted to MMA. I would have hoped that another bump here would be talking about boxing. So I was wrong.
Mods, please close.
And what about this bit, Frank?
This thread has turned out to be somewhere about 50% about MMA. I’m not interested in continuing to check back in only to find that the bump is about the MMA. You want to talk boxing, fine. You want to talk MMA, start a new thread, please.
Not you personally, but the general you.
I promise I won’t mention it again after this post, Frank…in fact, I won’t even mention it by name now. Do you not like it at all, and have you ever discussed it in any other threads?
All right, probably best for everyone involved if we close this puppy.