Boxing and MMA

I don't like organized violence, - it's unnatural and cold blooded. I prefer the natural form of violence, namely open armed conflict between countries, be it on a small, or large scale, using covert or overt means. The armed forces of this work employ violent means in order to protect our nations from malignant threats, but they work and thus far have stopped entities like IS from gaining control over the rest of the world. I don't condone Boxing or MMA because it's also an artificial practice. Everything is prearranged, the strife is manufactured.

Of course, when they are used in warfare or law enforcement - like guns are, then both are acceptable and very practical for self-defence and/or taking down the enemy. Animals employ it for the same reasons, but they're smart enough to realise the importance of spontaneous violence.

Not long now to the Maymac fight. In truth I naively didnt think this fight was going to happen until the contracts had been signed. I foolishly underestimated the almighty power of the dollar.

A really big fight for boxing. In recent years MMA has made some real inroads into boxing and the claim to be the number 1 combat sport in the world. For years each set of fans have argued with the other over whose fighters are the best. For MMA fans this contest is a no lose situation. Mayweather is arguably the greatest boxer of his generation, and one of the best the sport has seen in the professional era. Fighting him is McGregor, a bloke who has NEVER boxed professionally in his life, and hasnt boxed at all since he was a teenager. So Mayweather should win, and win comfortably. If he does MMA fans will simply shrug their shoulders and say 'put Mayweather up against McGregor in an MMA bout and see how long he lasts'. If however, against all odds, McGregor does win then the sport of boxing almost becomes a laughing stock. If an MMA fighter can beat a boxing great at his own game what does that say about modern boxing?

Like many people I reckon McGregor's only chance is to stop Mayweather in the opening 1-5 rounds...

Few orthodox boxers like fighting southpaws and in the past some have questioned Mayweather's trademark defence (eg how he guards his body with his left arm and rolls his shoulder to deflect punches). But against arguably the finest southpaw of the past 20 years (Pacquiao) Mayweather was ok. But McGregor isnt only a southpaw he is an MMA southpaw and used to throwing punches at angles not usually seen in boxing. Combine this with the fact that Mayweather hasnt fought in nearly 2 years and maybe, just maybe McGregor gets one of his famous left punches through Floyd's legendary defence.

It may take Mayweather a few rounds to really come to grips with McGregor's style and to sharpen his ring craft. If, during this time he doesnt show McGregor enough respect then maybe the Irishman is able to land a big left.

I'm sure alot of McGregor's trash talking has been to try and get under Mayweather's skin and get him to engage in an early, high tempo exchange of blows. I think Mayweather is too experienced though to fall into this trap. I would expect him to be a little cautious early before taking control in the 4-6 rounds as McGregor starts to tire. I reckon the ref will most likely step into stop the fight somewhere btw the 5-8 rounds with victory going to Mayweather. I would be very surprised if the fight went the distance and flabbergasted if McGregor won a points decision...

You would expect CM to try and get FM up against the ropes where he can use his strength advantage and limit FM's defence. But the ring craft of FM is going to make doing this a difficult task for CM.

I called a few sports bars around me here locally and they are charging people to reserve a seat. One of them wanted 35 bucks a seat. That included one drink. I'm like f*** that s***.

I wanna see the fight but I'll probably just look for it on youtube in a day or so.

And what if it goes like 35 seconds! Hahaha!

Wasn't there a big Tyson fight that was over in less than a minute?

I don't know if you are old enough to remember but back in the day we'd all watch Tyson fight and yeah, I remember more than one or two being over in like 90 seconds or so. Not a huge boxing fan but it got to the point where people stopped ordering the pay per view because it wasn't worth the money.

I don't have a lot of boxing knowledge but I have a feeling that this will go a few rounds.

I remember them happening, I never watched. I was never a boxing fan, can't say I've even seen a whole fight. Maybe a few rounds here and there when out at a bar.

Yes, it will probably go more than a few rounds - the promoters have made sure of that!

That's a rip off. I got to watch the fight at a pub for free (well drinks were jacked up a bit).

The fight itself was pretty predictable. As promised CM came out strong and was the dominant fighter in the opening three rounds. Despite all the punches he threw however the vast majority only found FM's arm, shoulder and gloves. For his part FM sat back and took time to work out CM's fighting style. Once he felt comfortable he slowly started taking charge. 2-3 yrs ago he probably would have been able to stop CM a few rounds earlier. Hats off to the Irishman though, he was taking a pasting towards the end as he really fatigued but he never looked like going hitting the canvas.

Georges St-Pierre officially out of retirement. After a 4 year break he will take on Bisping for the middleweight title.

Could someone please outline the pros of Boxing and MMA? Sorry if I seem a little biased, but I am not in favor of people thinking about how to bash each other's brains in and then going ahead and doing it.

Okay, crimes are committed, people get hotheaded, but that's human nature. What's the art of malice with afterthought that boxing and MMA have become?

I adore sport. I love watching (and have played) Rugby Union, a game with a pretty high incidence of injury caused by physical contact.

But in almost all sports, an injury is caused when something goes horribly wrong. In boxing however, a serious injury is caused when something goes horribly right.

Right, that is, in the sense that the injury was perpetrated intentionally, for the specific purpose of causing trauma and suffering to another human being.

Boxing is a contest in which the winner seems often to be the one who inflicts more brain damage on his opponent than he himself sustains.

Boxing has slid down the sporting canon in Britain, the big fights on pay-per-view have been marginalised by football, rugby and athletics. To me, it's astonishing that it’s still going on in the 21st century at all.

It’s not risk that makes boxing inappropriate to modern life. Risk sports are more important than ever in a world where life is so comfortable for many people. Sport is the world’s most accessible adventure.

Most sports require serious physical commitment, some carry more risk of injury than others. But whatever you play, everyone gets hurt now and then. I've had some very painful muscle strains and a sprained ankle or two playing netball - a non-contact sport..!!

For some, injuries are worse. For a very few, very much worse. In 1999 five people were killed in the sport of eventing - mostly by falling from their horse.

Deaths in sport are particularly awful: they seem like death in pursuit of a triviality. But the pursuit of excellence is never pointless — and that’s what sport is all about. There is an ancient Greek paradox, first coined in the time of the ancient Olympic Games: people who take part in sports don’t have a death wish. They do it from an exaggerated love of being alive.

Sport is not a death wish..... it's a LIFE wish.

Broadly speaking, brain damage in sport comes in two ways. One comes in traumatic circumstances, sometimes with a single blow; the other is subtle and cumulative and comes from repeated blows.

Boxing gloves don’t protect the opponent from a blow. Quite the opposite: the padding protects the fist of the puncher from damage and lets him hit much harder. A padded fist is a lethal weapon.

Headguards worn for amateur bouts (as in the Olympics) don’t protect boxers from concussion: they make the target area larger and exaggerate the torsional effect of a glancing blow.

Boxers are not necessarily stupid (although in my opinion, Tyson Fury is). Sugar Ray Leonard when asked what he would do if his son wanted to take up boxing replied "I'd lock him up." Muhammad Ali very articulately defended his decision to refuse to be called up for the US armed forces. These men, and others like them knew what they were doing when they went into the ring, so why they did it at all beggars belief.

But boxers have always been expendable. It’s always been easy to sell the spectacle of two fine athletes inflicting potentially lethal damage on each other. It’s the people who pay and the people who profit who must carry the responsibility for what happens to boxers.

If you follow boxing... pay for PPV bouts on TV, or gamble on the outcome of fights, then shame on you. You have the blood of every boxer who ever suffers on your hands because it is your patronage that makes it profitable to those who facilitate the vile spectacle.

Most sports are metaphors. The territorial ball games are battles, tennis is a duel, races are about hunters and hunted, cricket is all about character. Alone among all sports is boxing, which is not a metaphor at all. It really is a death-duel.

The ultimate achievement in boxing — like taking a wicket, scoring a goal or try, serving an ace, crossing the winning line first — is to knock someone out. That is to say, to inflict permanent brain damage.

I simply cannot comprehend how this could be called a public entertainment in 2017.

I think I comprehend it. People have evolved in terms of brutality. Laws have actually twisted the human psyche into an ugly shape. By imposing the rule of law and I am not saying that's a bad thing - it's not, as it keeps our society safe and free of chaos - the government has made rules and regulations mutate the desire for blood and battery into a more cerebral, more controlled form.

What I mean by that is human society restructured its organized violence into a more privatized, more indoors variety. Why they did that is a question I would like to be answered on this message board. We used to have ritual duels outdoors and now we conduct it inside arenas, knowing that all Jennifer says happens and no one does anything about it.

Why?