Holly Holm is one of the rare fighters that have competed at a high level in both MMA and boxing. That's without including the former UFC champion's time in kickboxing.
Many fighters want the title of ‘best boxer in MMA' but Holly Holm has a problem with that title. The former UFC champion notes that they would need to cross over before determining anything of the sort.
“I think it’s honestly really hard to put a name on it because as far as just boxing, it’s just very different the way you even use boxing in MMA,” Holm explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “So in order for me to be able to tell someone you’re the best boxer, I would like to see them boxing.
“Because the thing is boxing’s just different. You’re wearing a little bit bigger gloves and you’re only using your arms and when you get in the later rounds and you can still only punch and your arms feel like they weigh 100 pounds, let’s see how crisp you can hit. I feel like there’s MMA boxing and there’s boxing and I think that’s really hard.”
There are big differences between boxing and MMA and the former UFC champion notes that it gets very complicated. You don't fight the same way in the two sports.
“I think people talk about certain people’s boxing but even boxing in MMA, you’re at a longer range because you still have to worry about kicks and there’s always clinching involved with that,” Holm said. “So you can clinch and throw punches out of that. I just feel like it’s hard to say, ‘Oh, this person’s the best boxer in MMA.’ It’s really hard.
“There’s some [fighters] that don’t mind exchanging and they focus more on their standup than their grappling, but as far as being the best boxer, it’s really hard put a name on it. I’m afraid to even throw out a couple names right now cause I could argue both sides of it. You have people that are sometimes just harder to hit because they have a long reach but are they using their MMA stance to keep that range and still land their punches? Like that’s a good boxing sense in MMA. But would it be the same if they were just in boxing? It’s hard to say.”
Currently, the debates will continue between boxing and MMA. UFC fighters have been tempted to cross over into the ring for a long time.
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