On Saturday night we saw "the best" in boxing and the best in MMA go head to head. David Haye took on Nickolai Valuev for the WBC World Heavyweight Title in Germany and in the US Fedor Emalianenko made his debut for Strikeforce to take on young up and comer Brett Rodgers. It's the first time the two "best" from both sports have gone head to head on the same night. So which sport came off better, who created more stars and where does the interest lay for the future?
Fedor vs. Rodgers
Right from the word go it was clear that Fedor-Rodgers was the event, the atomsphere was electric, the buzz online was huge, everyone was fascinated to see Fedor the greatest heavyweight of all time arguably the pound of pound king in action. Best of all people really thought Rodger's could beat him, he was young, athletic, charismatic and marketable as hell. Now the smart money was on Fedor but there was legitimate interest in this fight, Rodgers had knockout power and enough promise that people were intrigued. Now of course Fedor won with his legendary overhand right, but the fight itself was more than anybody could have hoped for. The first round flew by, Fedor teed off on Rodgers looked to have the flash TKO but Rodgers reversed escaped a Kamora and for a second unleashed vicious ground and pound and it looked like he may have had Fedor number. Fedor would escape with an arm bar and end the round strong. With blood streaming out of Fedor's nose it was a great edge of your seat first round. Rodgers power meant that Fedor couldn't keep him down and beat him with BJJ as many had predicted. The second round was perfect, Fedor rocked Rodgers and unloaded but Rodgers weathered the storm and charged back, before late in the round he stepped into the overhand right of doom for an instant KO. It was perfect. The ultimate fight. Not the best ever but it was everything Strikeforce needed. Fedor looked incredible but not unbeatable, Strikeforce has it's legitimate star, and Rodgers put in such a great effort that he too became a star, he looked good, he was beaten convincingly but he was not out of his depth. Strikeforce now has two legitimate stars, they have the perfect clip of a Fedor knock out, and we may now have a legit number two promotion to the UFC, and of course, we got a great fight.
Haye vs. Valuev:
Haye-Valuev was the complete opposite of Fedor-Rodgers but it may have had the same result. David Haye put on a Boxing clinic, but a boring one. He fought incredibly defensively. He threw six punches at most around, he landed clean, he danced and he danced and he danced, and Valeuv a bum who has no business holding a world title couldn't catch him. Unfortunately I scored the fight to Valuev by three points. Valuev was dominated, he wasn't connecting but he never stopped coming forward, he pushed the action, and until the last round he landed the most damaging shot. Now, if boxing were scored how I would liked it to be scored Haye would have won, and I believe he should have won, but the problem is that isn't the way boxing has been scored over the last ten years. Carl Frotch just the weekend before retained his title by being agressive and landing no punches, but he pushed the action, he was chasing shadows but he was trying to have a fight. Dirrell fought smart, he was defensive, he was evasive, he landed more blows and had Frotch looking foolish. Now I also feel under the justification that the Frotch camp gave that he should still be Champion, but then so should Valuev. The problem is there is no consistent criteria for judging in boxing. We don't know what really matters, and decision vary wildly. UFC proudly states their scoring criteria, it's vague but you know exactly what scores and what doesn't, including control and aggression. Boxing must clean up it's act (fat chance I know) otherwise fights will continue to baffle and disappoint. Now on the positive side of things Boxing has the champion it needs, Haye is a colourful character, a great talker and a hell of fighter, but most all he's an exciting fighter. His bouts can be sold to the masses, and boxing can be relevant once more. Best of all we'll likely never have to see a Valuev fight on PPV in this country ever again.
Overall Thoughts:
All in all, it turned out well for both sports. They both have the great champions they need, both are exciting talent fighters. Fedor may not be a talker but he is a legend, Haye is the reverse, charismatic but unproven. As for a sporting contest MMA won hands down, Fedor-Rodgers was a classic, Haye-Valuev was a nightmare, Fedor won over millions of new fans, Valuev-Haye turned off more people than it excited. So MMA asserted why it's the growing world wide number one with it's number two promotion stealing the show, but while boxing continued to turn off fans with what happens in the ring, it found the champion it needs to take the sport forward. So the future looks bright, two questions remain: Who could possible beat Fedor? And will they find a legitimate opponent for David Haye?
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