by Chris Milton
I eventually decided to watch the UFC main event. Two men, 260lbs of solid, well lets call it excess weight because frankly neither looked ripped, in fact they looked prime for a few beers not fighting.
The fight started well, there was no hugging, no man on man action just two guys throwing bombs. Then Lesnar goes down and for the next 3 minuets Shane Carwin decided to apply a completely new strategy I have never seen before. Keep punching the other guy in the arms until they break.
Call me cynical, but how amazing is that? Breaking someone’s arms with your fists is clearly the right way to go. Unfortunately, after throwing around 50 punches Carwin was done, he completely gassed out and Lesnar was able to stand up. He threw a few more, but they can’t be considered punches may little pushes if I’m to be kind.
So, in the “new and supposedly best version of fighting anywhere in the world” a guy can’t throw punches for more than one round? I am not going to compare two 260lbers with Ali, Dempsey, Frazier it wouldn’t be fair so instead I’ll compare them to the Klitscho brothers.
Vitali averages around 65 punches a round and does this for 12 rounds solid. Wladimir averages around 50 punches per round again for a 12 round fight. Neither of these guys gas out, in fact they seem to get stronger as the fights go on. Hell, even Chris “The Nipple” Arreola averages the same amount of punches and there is not one person in the world who will tell you Arreola is in shape except himself.
In Boxing, we widely criticize any boxer that does not appear to be on shape, Toney, Solis, Hatton (in between fights), Arreola, yet in the UFC it’s lauded. The UFC hype machine is already in full swing calling the fight “insane”. Insane? Really? Try watching Lewis v Briggs, Lewis v Vitali, Vitali v Arreola, Bowe v Golota. Those are insane fights, not a fight where after the first round the other guy can’t even throw a punch properly because he is too tired.
What training camp did this guy have? A few beers and a pizza? Frankly, I thought it was pathetic. I’ll give Lesnar some credit because he showed heart to continue, but put them in a boxing ring and it’s a completely different story. Neither would be anything other than a journeymen used to groom the stars of the future.
Why am I talking about UFC? Well, James Toney is due to fight Randy Couture in around eight weeks time. At first, I thought he had no chance. However, it seems as though Toney is down to around 220 lbs, incredible isn’t it!? It also seems as though he has picked up quite a bit of the ground game as he has reportedly made the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion King Mo submit in training.
But here is the real factor in the upcoming fight. Toney can punch, not like the so called elite “athletes” of the UFC, last night had Carwin land around eight solid shots on Lesnar’s chin. Compare his punching technique and power to Toney’s. Quite simply, there is no contest.
If James Toney lands just once on Couture’s chin the fight is over. If James can just survive the first round but consistently make Couture work, then the fight is prime for his taking. He could actually use last nights fight as his game plan: Wait five minutes then beat up a tired fighter.
Dana White last night confirmed he is trying to make an example of Toney. Personally, I think Toney is going to make an example of the UFC and once and for all settle the argument over which sport is truly the king.
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