Boxing has an established place in American culture—and it is this longevity which continues to validate it today. Like football team loyalties, an appreciation of boxing is something given by many fathers to their sons. The history of boxing in America is rich and colorful, full of not just great fights but great moments in history. Who among us has not heard “down goes Frazier!” Muhammad Ali was named the Sportsman of the Century by Ring Magazine—beating out such memorable figures of Americana as Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Even before boxing reached its heyday, the fights between Max Schmeling and Joe Louis were emblematic of big, world-changing issues, like the veracity of German claims to racial supremacy.

But, like the sports in question, I should head straight for the meat of this debate: the combat. Mr. Chapman-Smith’s consideration as to the variety of types of combat in Mixed Martial Arts is duly noted; and is certainly a valid point. Proponents may ask, is the point of combat training not to see who would win in a fight without scorecards, in real life? The real question as to whether you see yourself as an MMA man, or a boxing man, deals with how much specialization you want to see. One can only spend so much of his training period learning grappling, say, if he knows he must also prepare to strike. One can only learn to punch so well if he must also consider kicks.

The way I see it, specialization is the name of the game. A good boxer is a good boxer—period. But a great brawler could annihilate one MMA opponent, and get grounded in 2 seconds flat against another man. Once the limits are removed, it becomes much more difficult to rank the fighters, since so many more variables come into play. Within even boxing, with much more narrow parameters, there are in-fighters, out-fighters, and brawlers. Some debates within the UFC, say, the greatest grappler, are virtually impossible to answer, since one may know Russian Sambo mixed with Muay Thai (grappling and striking, respectively) and another may know Judo and Karate. Did the latter man win because of his Judo training, or the Karate? It is literally impossible to know.

In closing, I would like to address the Rocky effect–that little twinge in every sport-follower that wants to think that sometimes, every once in a while, the man with less training and equipment can gain victory through sheer will. Of course, no

Related posts:

1. Down Goes Boxing
2. Kaleidoscope’s Fate Remains in Question