Boxers vs. MMA Fighters

There's always the debate about boxers taking on MMA fighters and vice versa. To me it boils down to the fact that Roger Federer could beat Robert 'Tractor' Traylor in a tennis match but Tractor could beat him in say, speed eating: two totally different things. Manny Pacquiao would beat a lot of MMA fighters in an MMA match if he trained properly for it and learned what he had to learn. He wouldn't beat the best ones though, and the best MMA fighters would, could and shall not beat him in a boxing match. There have been great MMA fighters who have boxed, best example for me being Jens Pulver. This is especially good because he fought at welterweight (147) where Pacquiao has won before, and will presumably go if he beats Mayweather.

In 2004 Jens went 4-0 in boxing and it was clear he was no world-beater. He used a separate trainer from his MMA one for boxing, he focused solely on his hands for a time and he started by taking on equally inexperienced boxers. This is how boxing is done. I give him endless credit for doing it right. He got about 100-bucks a round and told me at the time that he loved every minute of it. 

There are many more ways to lose in MMA than there are in boxing, so a guy like Brock Lesnar can come in as a neophyte and have some success in MMA. However, boxing is only one aspect of MMA: thinking that an MMA fighter's hands would be good enough, based on his MMA record, to tangle with someone like Pacquiao is a mistake.

BSOTD: Working on a Dream