Exploring the Success of Boxing Crossovers
MMA and boxing already hold some of the most impressive and successful events in sports. The biggest fights pull in millions, with the brightest stars finding international fame and respect for their skill. The highest level of these fights lets us see how the best of the best compare, but they lead us to other questions. The most natural of these from anyone who loves more than one fighting sport is whether the best in one discipline can compare to the best in another.
What happens when a world-class striker in MMA is forced to come into the boxing realm, to rely only on their fists? How can these two different forms of specialists compare, and what is it about this potential that excites us so much? It’s an interesting question, especially in an age where crossovers in so many types of media are only becoming more popular.
Why We Love Crossovers
As humans, we’re a naturally curious species. We love to compare hypotheticals, and we love to combine our passions in new ways. The idea of who would win in strength is a great way to encourage debate and attempt to flex our knowledge of strength and technique. This could be as simple and direct as something like a fight between prime Tyson and Ali, or the more recently famous absurd questions of who would win between one gorilla and a hundred humans.
Crossovers in media in general succeed more from our desire to see two things we love brought together. On the smaller scale, this is famously seen in online casino titles, which routinely combine different properties to great effect. When you play Slingo online, for example, you’ll commonly see crossover with other properties like Sling Reel King or Deal or No Deal Slingo. On the larger scale, crossover promotions in food brands like Subway or KFC deals to support film releases. Of course, this progress in films like Freddy Versus Jason or comic adaptations is almost growing out of control.
Notable Crossover Matches in Boxing
When noting boxing and MMA crossovers, the most visible example we have to start from is 2017’s McGregor vs Mayweather bout. This fight set pay-per-view records, captivating audiences across the world, while also illustrating to modern audiences the problem inherent to such competition – the rules. While some crossover fighters from MMA do occasionally win, they do so at an immense disadvantage. MMA is broad, while boxing is more focused. Any fight with boxing rules here plays to the boxer’s strengths, while essentially asking the MMA fighter to massively reduce their skill-set.
The issues that this kind of direct competition generates were best illustrated in 1976, with the infamous fight between Ali and Antonio Inoki. Ali came to this fight as a WBC and WBA champion, while Inoki had more skill in pro wrestling, while technically wielding an MMA skillset. This ended with 15 rounds of Inoki spending most of the time on the ground, throwing kicks and avoiding Ali’s fists. Ali could only return fire a handful of times before the match was over, and spectators walked away disappointed and confused.
Despite any misgivings about whether crossovers between MMA and boxing are truly viable in a competitive sense, we don’t expect such approaches to go away any time soon. Both sports are too popular, there’s too much money to be earned, and the fascination we have with the concept is too great for it to ever go ignored for long. Whether or not these count more as a novelty or legitimate competition, that’s up to you.
