The buzz is pretty solid for a potential Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Conor McGregor crossover super bout that may or may not happen in the very near future, which has brought to light a lot of the differences between boxing and MMA. Because the two sports are so vastly different, fans are in agreement.
If a boxer were to fight in MMA, he would lose. And if an MMA fighter were to compete in boxing, he would lose just the same. However, there’s this old saying that goes: “Styles make fights.”
Although fans would be right 90% of the time, there are some special instances where the gap would be much closer than you think. Some guys are really talented enough to excel in another sport of given the chance.
If Mayweather and McGregor do touch gloves in the boxing ring, the advantage would certainly go to Mayweather. McGregor would need at least six months to work purely on his boxing technique just to get within an earshot of being competitive against boxing’s best fighter. He would need an entire year, ideally.
Aside from the Mayweather-McGregor bout however, there are some potential fights out there that sort of makes sense. Let’s pretend that each of these guys are given a year to prepare. And choosing which sport they would compete in, let’s explore Five Boxing vs MMA Bouts That Would Have Been Awesome.
90’s Roy Jones Jr. vs 2009 Anderson Silva
Sport: Boxing
They tried to make this fight before actually. Before Silva got brutally knocked out by Chris Weidman in their first encounter, the Brazilian expressed interest in wanting to fight Roy Jones Jr. in the boxing ring.
Silva had a couple of pro-boxing fights early in his career. And by all accounts, he did pretty well. Firstly, Silva has that long reach and great power behind his punches. He finished with a 1-1 record before going on to become one of the greatest MMA fighters to ever live.
Silva’s long reach would have posed a problem for Jones. As well as his highly unpredictable striking style. Even though it would be in boxing, Silva would have still been a dynamic puncher with good defense. Jones is great, and would have most likely won, but Silva would have put up a good fight.
