Boxer vs Wrestler

Am Shooting Journal ^ | J Hines

[w1n1]

Taking a break from gun stuff, lets talk about pugilist sports.
Before UFC and MMA was conceived the debate of a boxer vs a wrestler have been talked about for a long time.
Fight fans from boxing and wrestling have always talked about pitting their favorite athletes against the other.
Even thugs out on the streets corner would talk about how a good old right cross would take out any wrestler. On the other side a powerful suplex would rock the boxers world.
In the past there were promotions at the sports professional level to settle this debate, however, most turned out to be just a PR stunt to make money. For instances Muhammad Ali once fought Antonio Inoki off the record in 1976. The result was a draw with special rules in place.

Well, out in the wild west internet we came across this video of a fight between Pio Pico (boxer) and Nick Lutze (wrestler) that took place in Los Angeles 1937. This may well be the first MMA match caught on film. Not gonna tell you who won, you’ll have to watch this classic boxer vs wrestler match here.

[Paradox]

Grapplers, given lenient rules, will usually win against strikers. Even modern UFC had to change the rules to make the fights more exciting, which benefited strikers.

[rjsimmon]

Been done:

[circlecity]

Royce Gracie pretty much settled this argument for good in the early days of MMA.

[ek_hornbeck]

Regardless of who would win, I’d much rather watch either a boxing match or a traditional wrestling match than UFC. UFC feels like you’re watching a bunch of thugs street fighting rather than a sport.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Back in the late 50s, Japanese sports TV featured American stumble bum boxers matched against Judo black belts. The outcome was predictable...

[Bob434]

randy couter did too- Against Tony I beleive? Of course tony was out of shape and over the hill- but still had a very powerful punch

[Bob434]

However, mmaMcGreggor lost to Floyd just recently- big billion dollar lead balloon of a fight- Floyd toyed with him for a few rounds, took conner’s best shots- and then poured it on and won easily-

[circlecity]

"However, mmaMcGreggor lost to Floyd just recently"

But he lost in a straight boxing match. It was boxing vs. boxing not boxing vs. wrestling. Had they fought under MMA rules Conner would have won in the first round easily. And Floyd won because Conner ran out of gas. Stamina has always been a weak point with Conner as was demonstrated in his bout(s) against Diaz.

[LeonardFMason]

Are you kidding!?

MCGregor COULDN’T use MMA. He had to box! If McGregor did MMA he would have submitted Mayweather in under a minute.

[LRoggy]

There were a lot of these over the years

Antonio Inoki vs Muhammad Ali (in the build up to this Ali got in the WWE ring with Gorilla Monsoon, which is easy to find on YouTube)

Chuck Wepner vs Andre the Giant

In Japan there was a promotion that basically was started to show mixed matches. I think it was called W*ing. I think the great Russian Greco-Roman wrestler (Emilienko?) tried some mixed wrestling matches there too.

There’s also been matches where wrestlers put on the boxing gloves, such as the WWE’s version when Steve Williams buried his career after Bart Gunn knocked him silly. That led to the Gunn-Butterbean disaster at Wrestlemania. Also in Japan there was a kick-boxing match between Aja Kong and Madusa Miceli.

If memory serves Verne Gagne might have participated in a similar match.

There’s been a number of these and a lot of variations.

One of the

[MichaelRDanger]

(FYI: Former kickboxer) It would depend entirely on who is fighting who. One cannot assume the boxer would only box or the wrestler would only wrestle. Whichever fighter is 1) the best conditioned 2) The better trained 3) Is the most determined will win the fight...

[Bob434]

[[But he lost in a straight boxing match.]]

True my mind is tired- didn;t think of that-

[[And Floyd won because Conner ran out of gas.]]

I dissagree- Floyd played with him for several rounds- Conner got in a few good shots- (However, Floyd was able to take hte power away often by rolling with the punches) but then floyd poured it on in the later rounds- it was a good strategy-

Straight mma between the two? Floyd would have definitely had to learn to avoid takedowns- kicks woudl also have done damage- as boxers don’t condition their legs for impacts- Woulda been itnerestign to wtch- perhaps there iwll be another billion dollar rematch with mma rules

[Bob434]

you’re right my bad- was just boxing- however it’s really a moot argument- as conner was a boxer and mma- and floyd was strictly boxer and wouldn’;t have had the mma training that conner had- conner wasn’t going into something he had no training for- however, if floyd was made ot fight mma rules, he would have been going into it with no or very little training in mma

You take a boxer who turns to mma after years of boxing, trains in the mma arts, and they usually are a powerhouse in the mma world- A good boxer/mixed martial artist is a force to be reckoned with

Conner didn’t have to train for boxing- He already knew it (and i believe someone pointed out her was a boxer turned mma- but I’m not sure)- so he wasn’t at a disadvantage in the fight- He was just outboxed-

IF floyd were to practice mma for awhile, You still think conner would have taken him in under a minute? Floyd would be using much lighter, harder gloves remember- IF he could avoid the takedowns, which practice would help him do, then the standup would still be in his favor- IF he got proficient in takedowns himself, and submissions- and avoiding submission- I don’t think it’s at all clear conner could have taken him in under a minute- I think conner would have been a bloody mess from the punches by floyd

Just my opinion-

[gnarledmaw]

Those may have happened but you know that half those names are actors, not athletes. Those were fake. Scripted like all wwe is today.

For example, Andre certainly was an enormous actor and I have no doubt that he would have done serious damage to anyone who stood there and took a hit but in real life he couldn't fight. His knees were so bad that it caused him great pain just to stand upright. Just about any grown man could have beaten him in RL. The stiff legged stumble like movements when he moved at all was about the only part of that performance that wasnt staged.

[Billthedrill]

If it has rules, it isn’t a fight, it’s a show. So the question is really sort of academic: what rule set will allow the practitioners to make the best use of their respective skill sets? No one has really come up with a satisfactory answer, although MMA has made a pretty good effort. But relax enough rules to get a genuine answer to that question and somebody’s going to get killed.

[Squeako]

That’s only if you don’t know what’s happening. I grew up watching boxing and when I saw Fedor Emelianenko armbar Mark Coleman in a Pride Fighting Championship match replay, I immediately became bored with boxing. There are so many ways a fight can end suddenly; it’s just amazing what these guys can do.

[Squeako]

Right. If James Toney touched Couture on the chin it would have been “lights out”, hence the low ankle pick takedown and end of the fight after a little “Ground and Pound”.

[Bob434]

yeah tony was no joke with his power- but he wasn’t nearly good enough when it came to mma- You could see the lack of training right away- He was pretty heavy at the time too if i remember right-

[Bob434]

[[But relax enough rules to get a genuine answer to that question and somebody’s going to get killed.]]

They had pretty lax rules back in the days of pride fighting- stomping on head of downed opponent- crotch shots- pulling hair- eye pokes etc- it was pretty much ‘no holds barred’ although there were a few rules- Fighters back then were tougher than tough- had to be- (They are still tough in today’s mma- but not like they were back then-

Also bare knuckle fighting with no round limits- that’s when boxing was great :)