Are they the same?
But is it even fair to compare the two? If you add it all up, the matter of the fact is – Specialist VS All-rounder, Purist VS Variety, Perfectionist VS Jack of all Trades. The comparison is rather prejudicial, both arts are extremely beneficial for their own sports but then there IS a difference – heck MMA gloves are NOT boxing gloves, that alone is a testament to their difference. But strangely, they have similarities within these differences. Let us explain.
While Boxing is a part of MMA, MMA is not a part of boxing. MMA is a new but more complete art, yet it owes its success partly to boxing. Both very different but entwined – one thing they both share in common though: is the ‘puncher’s’ chance’ if they were to challenge each other in their respective sports.
The equation is simple. The more time you spend on a particular thing, the more you improve at it. Boxing involves the entire body but it mainly focuses on the hands. MMA too, involves the entire body but it focuses on the entirety of it – in every kind of situation.
Now to equate the puncher’s chance:
Example: Boxer spends 10 hours a day on hands. MMA fighter spends the same 10 hours dividing it between hands, legs, knees, elbows, submissions, wrestling, etc.
Obviously, the Boxer will be GREAT with his hands but not adept in other facets – the MMA fighter will be OKAY with the hands, and great with the rest.
Now if a boxer goes into an MMA bout he’ll have to worry about 10 different things in the form of takedown, punches, kicks etc., but if he can land a shot or two (with MMA gloves) – the MMA fighter may be in trouble, because getting rung by a boxer in those thin padded MMA gloves is like getting shot by a laser cannon – precise and deadly.
But if an MMA fighter takes you down, I don’t care how big a boxer, or what your size is, but someone with basic ground skills would be able to take you down and keep you there till you’re unconscious.
On the flip side if the MMA fighter fights in a boxing ring, he has to worry about ALL sorts of punches but if he lands a lucky haymaker (with those extra padded boxing gloves) on an unsuspecting boxer, the complexity of the fight could change. But good luck trying to land a haymaker on a boxer, they’ll see an MMA punch happen in slow-mo as if they went back in time, saw you throw that punch, stand there thinking: “hmmmm, yep, that’s an arm punch, i’ll just slip to the right, body shot to the liver, bring the guard down, upper-cut to the forehead, lift his head from the guard, and boom – counter left to the temple, lights outs”.
This may sound like an exaggeration but it’s almost NOT. A boxer will have a juicy combo ready for that recoil punch that spans a few continents before it reaches anywhere near him.
Both are obviously at a disadvantage in their distinct sports.
So really and truly the comparison is silly. Apples and oranges. Both fruits but completely different. The rules are different. The dynamics are different. Heck, you have a 10-second count in boxing while MMA doesn’t. You can’t be a tennis player and expect to destroy a table tennis player or a football player looking to dominate a basket ball player – they’re all similar sports that involve rackets and balls, but you just can’t compare the two. Why are we even writing this article?
Boxers will NOT fare well in an MMA bout and vice versa.
On the other hand though, if an MMA fighter and Boxer were to ever meet in a street fight, WHICH would surely be interesting. A true litmus test for which art is better – but then again ‘contact sports’ is not ‘street fighting’.
The question remains though, in light of practicality. Who would prevail in a no-holds barred, no rules, no referee fight? The answer may be more obvious than you think.
Sound off in the comment section below! Let’s not be prejudiced. Both sports are equally beautiful that are full of courageous individuals pour their hearts and souls into the sport – let’s support them however we can.
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