Former Boxing Champion Sees MMA As Bar Fighting
Former middleweight boxing champion Marvin Hagler gave up fighting back in the 1980’s, but still made his views known in a recent interview with “Sensei Combat.” Hagler is an old school kind of guy, he likes boxing. He doesn’t like the fastest growing sport mixed martial arts. He compared it to watching a bar fight in a cage.
“Actually, I do not want to speak ill of them, but I see a bar fight. I can not see a lot of skill. For example, if I were a young man and see how fighting, would see that anyone can do it. No need to study for it. See boxing as an art, like judo, karate and everything. That’s how I see my skills in boxing, using jab, right, striking hooks. Use strategies in a fight.
In MMA, there seems to be a lot of strategy. I can not see the guys falling on the ground and beating like that. Stand and begin to fight again”
According to Hagler, he doesn’t like the fact that MMA bouts do not have as many rounds as boxing. He believes that there should be more rounds, fifteen rounds to be exact.
“I think the fight should have 15 rounds. I think this requires that the fighter has better shape and conditioning. I think the way the CMB and the OMB changed that to help the health of fighters, something I do not believe, because they can earn up to five kilos before entering the ring. They are weighed on the day of the fight.
Besides the fact that there are many champions, the public does not even know. I’m still on in the boxing world, I see young people who come, but never think it will be possible to find someone like me. I’m still looking, I see what you can.”
