Floyd Mayweather stands almost 5-foot-9, weighs 154 pounds, has a 72-inch reach and can drop most mortals with a single swing of either hand. He's fast, athletic and dodges punches as well as anyone, maybe ever. In 13 world title fights, he won all 13. His next one is May 5 in Las Vegas, this time as a junior middleweight, against Oscar de la Hoya, as big a fight as boxing has seen in years. His nickname may be "Pretty Boy," but he is one bad, bad man. On Cinco de Mayo we'll find out if Mayweather can beat de la Hoya – he's the heavy favorite – but could he beat a snarling, menacing, multi-skilled champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship? How about lightweight (155 pound) champ Sean Sherk, who may stand just 5-foot-6, may suffer from a distinct reach disadvantage, but as a mixed martial arts master is schooled in "interdisciplinary forms of fighting that include jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling." ADVERTISEMENT Could the best pound-for-pound fighter in the old combat sport (boxing) handle a champion in the new combat sport (UFC)? "UFC's champions can't handle boxing. That's why they are in UFC." Mayweather said Tuesday from Las Vegas during a break in training. "Put one of our guys in UFC and he'd be the champion. Any good fighter, he'd straight knock them out." Dana White, a one-time boxer and boxing instructor and current UFC president, laughs at that. "Boxers couldn't become mixed martial artists. That's why they're boxers," White countered Wednesday from England where UFC has an event Saturday. "They are one trick ponies. Our guys can do everything. They can box, they can kick box, they can wrestle and do jiu-jitsu. They are much better athletes than boxers." Mayweather may be right, but he'd have to be. Any boxer stepping into the UFC octagon would have to knock his opponent out before the mixed martial artist got a hold of him, because once the fight fell to the mat, where things get nasty, the boxer is all but finished. But, as Mayweather points out, the often (by boxing standards) clumsy and lead-with-their-face UFC guys would have to walk through a hail of vicious jabs, crosses and hooks to get there. "Take Chuck Liddell," Mayweather said of the UFC's biggest star and light heavyweight champion (about 205 pounds). "Put him in the ring with a (boxer) who is just 10-0 and Chuck Liddell would get punished." So you'd punish a UFC champion, too? "Come on, man. What'd you think? Am I just 10-0?" Mayweather is 37-0. Liddell, with six inches and 50 pounds on Mayweather, isn't possible, but someone like Sherk, someone his size? With that insane reach, unreal punching power and by UFC rules aided by small, light 4-ounce gloves would Mayweather carve up Sherk instantly? Or would Sherk fight throughout the barrage and get Mayweather in a clutch no ref will save him from? "They wouldn't have a chance to grapple (us) because we'd knock them out," Mayweather said in general. "(The boxer) would be knocked out before he even touched us." Of course, without having their fists taped (UFC rule) a boxer might just break his hand on the first hard punch. Or perhaps no punch is strong enough to stop a charging opponent. No one really knows what would happen at such an elite level. "I used to talk like Floyd Mayweather when I was involved in boxing," White said. "I talked just like him, until I educated myself about this sport. These guys are amazing athletes, Floyd Mayweather is one of the best boxers ever, (and) Sean Sherk will whoop his ass in under two minutes." "Any day that Mayweather wants to put his money and his ass where his mouth is, I'm ready," White continued. "If he wants to step up, let's do it." First off, Mayweather was talking mostly in general about his disdain for UFC – "Boxing is an art, UFC is a fad." But Mayweather has spent almost as much time this spring ripping UFC as de la Hoya, who he seems to consider as little more than a matinee idol useful for only increasing the purse. "I never knew popularity to win any fight," Mayweather said. "I'll beat him and come home and watch basketball." The UFC, though, is clearly on his mind. He brought it up on his own Tuesday. Earlier this month he cracked that "anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight." Mayweather may be a talker – loquacious doesn't begin to describe the 30-year-old – but he isn't dumb. So maybe he is setting up another big pay day in the event he dusts de la Hoya and boxing has little to offer. Or maybe he just wants to promote a fight involving others. Of course, the economics of UFC would have to change to get Mayweather to participate. UFC fighters make a fraction of top boxers. As part of the family business, Mayweather, his dad and his uncle handle all aspects of his career. For the de la Hoya fight he'll earn millions. "Why would I go into a sport paying hundreds of thousands when I'm in a sport paying $20 million?" Mayweather said. Mayweather knows full well, though, that the pay per view money is there for the taking on something like this, a battle that would be intriguing at nearly every level. White would just about kill for this to go down, preferably with Mayweather involved as a fighter. "I'm willing to put together a fight for Sean Sherk and Floyd Mayweather with numbers that would make sense for Floyd," White said. "And I guarantee you he would not accept it. Floyd Mayweather would never fight in the UFC because he would get his head ripped off." Yes, he would. But only if Sherk didn't get his head ripped off first. http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=dw-mayweather041807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns I think any of those MMA dudes could take Floyd in a straight boxing match, but if it were UFC rules and they could get him to the ground... I dont know
Oh My Gawd Tyson v. Liddell This would be the first pay-per-view I ever paid for since Tyson-Holyfield 2.
Mayweather would get destroyed. And he's only saying what he's saying b/c he knows there's no chance of him having to prove it. oh yea, i'm assuming he was talking about a street fight as opposed to boxing.
it would be interesting to see. Of course the boxer would have to learn takedown counters, but the handspeed of mayweather would be much different than fighters in the ufc are use too.
I think Ali had one of these things againt Ioki. From all accounts, it wasboring as the wrestler spentthe entire time on his back waiting for Ali
I'd pay to see that. Floyd would get beat though if it was UFC rules. I doubt any of the UFC fighters could beat Floyd if it was straight up boxing though.
I don't think Mayweather had great punching power. He is great, but I never thought of him having a great punch.
if ufc fighters were good enough they would be pro boxers; i agree with mayweather. maybe an ultra elite fighter like georges st. pierre (did i get that name right) would have a real shot.
Agreed but with a better chance at an upset with boxing rules. No chance of it with UFC rules. Sherk would literally ground and pound Floyd and it would be over in less then 2 minutes.
Why would you assume that? UFC and boxing are two different things. That is like saying, 'If that Rugby player was any good, he would play pro football'. They are two different sports. But MMA involves takedown, submissions, kicks, not just punches. Boxing is all about punches. Not saying that is nothing, but just saying that is only a small part of MMA. Floyd would get killed in the UFC. I mean, once he gets taken down, what is he going to do? He has no idea how to defend against a kick to the head, he has no idea how to avoid a submission.
i would think the opposite. there would be a greater chance of a boxer winning in ufc, b/c all it takes is one punch with so little padding A ufc guy trying to box would not have as high a likely hood of the knockout punch b/c of the increased padding on the gloves.
Mayweather's right in one sense. High-level boxers are certainly better athletes than UFC fighters. It's really not that close. But UFC isn't boxing. Mayweather in the octagon would be like Pujols trying to hit Cat Ostermann's pitching.
I agree with Mayweather with one caveat. The boxer would get to train for the UFC for a year. All the boxer has to do is learn how to avoid being taken down and defend himself on the ground.
Thats my dawg mayweather!!! I love the fire in him and the ferocious toughness of this boy!!! Boxers endure more pain and stamina because all they use is the two hands that they fight with. I'm not taking anything away from mma fighters, but to finally hear a boxer to call out one of these guys is just pure sports orgy!!!!
its really sad b/c i love boxing and would watch a great boxing match over a great ufc fight any day. Its just there arent that many great boxing matches anymore and the sport is just poorly run.
Mayweather just likes to talk major **** to get attention. He needs to focus on getting out of the ring alive on May 5th, and quit worrying about boring-ass UFC.
I guess Mayweather's is pissed that MMA has taken over boxing in popularity and will never look back. The fact is that it takes MUCH more atheleticism and skill to be an MMA fighter than a boxer. If you give Mayweather a year to train MMA and fight Sherk he still loses within a couple of minutes (and probably bleeding horribly), but if you let Sherk train for a year in nothing but boxing he would not win but would have a much better showing than Mayweather would in MMA. It is what it is. Sherk is a world class wrestler and Mayweather would be on his back within 15 seconds. All you do in boxing is use your hands, in MMA you use your whole body. I like boxing, but I just find it extremely boring compared to a MMA fight.
I'm no big fan of boxing, but I'll take a Gatti fight over a Gracie fight any day of the week. Plus, boxing is much moe practical in a street fight, while a MMA guy would probably get his ass stomped while he was trying one of his wrestling moves.
