1. 

The last time Toney could even arguably be considered anything close to a relevant fighter was back in 2003 when he beat Holyfield (who was an unimpressive 2-3-1in his six fights fights prior to the Toney fight).

In short, Toney hasn't been good at boxing in a long long time, and I'm indifferent about his showing in MMA since I don't really watch that sport often. It's only fair to point out that he was a shell of himself at that point in time.

Moreover, I don't understand why people like to compare the two sports to each other, or use the Toney-Couture fight as an example to bolster their opinion when trying to for whatever reason figure which sport is superior. It just doesn't really make sense. It's like comparing apples to oranges. The sports are different; The comparisons between the two don't translate well to one another, and people need to realize this. It's like comparing cricket to baseball because they both hit a ball with a stick.... Yet they're not the same.

Pick what you like and watch it.

MMA is not gay, it's a legit combat sport. I don't agree w/ you that an MMA fighter always beats a boxer, but that's a long discussion I don't want to have right now.

Of course Couture vs Toney proved nothing, it was a complete freak show, despite what the UFC promoted it to be.

Toney wanted a paycheck. He didn't train at all, it was a complete joke and he had no drive to win. He was training w/ some dude who did sh*t like hold a board while his students break it on infomercials too.

WTF is that? It was pathetic the UFC even put on this fight. They solely did it b/c it would draw attention/PPV buys and they knew Toney would get streamrolled, therefore making it seem like MMA is "superior" to boxing.

yea and tony was supposed to fight shamrock but hes scarred i hate ppl in the boxing section for there ignorant opinions i argue all the time ill take mayweather down and knock him out in a street fight and im a amutur with no fights not a good grappler at all but with basic judo i think it ill be a wrap for him and any pure boxer hear who wants to test this out. go watch ufc 1 http://vimeo.com/45287348 it has boxing vs bjj mma didnt even exist yet any pure strikers gunna get taken down vs a grappler

mma is better then boxing

this isnt the first time boxing met grappling and boxing has lost literally every time ive seen this happen when a boxer wins in mma hes trained mma hes never walked in a pure boxer and won

and to answer some of the stuf gordan said if a top ten boxer wins in mma he either has good grappling experince (meaning hes not really a pure boxer) or he got a lucky punch the same thing can happen if you put jose aldo vs maywesather aldo can still get in a lucky shot and win but its very unlikely. boxers dont understand hoe easily they can get taken down and they can easlily lose on the feet too they know nothing about kicks just like a week ago luke rockhold koed costa phillipou(formr fiday night fights boxer) with a kick

did this prove anything? no gene lebell proved that grappling beats stiking a long time ago agaisnt a boxer with brass knucks in his gloves. so did royce gracie in ufc 1

Ive seen this topic many times and this is the first time I will answer. First off I'm not sure why there is animosity among fans of these sports at all. Both are combat sports and both are entertaining.

Will an MMA fighter beat a Boxer every time? Of course not that conclusion is absurd. Boxing itself is a martial art plain and simple. The big difference between a guy who only boxes and an mma practitioner is that most MMA fighters are really good in one area or discipline and decent in others, and have working knowledge of some more. Rarely are MMA fighters a master in their craft, with exceptions of course but im talking in general here they are likely good in many areas.

A boxer is a master at his craft. In a boxing ring under boxing rules a top 10 UFC fighter is going to to lose to a top 10 boxer every time out. Now in the cage the boxer if he only knows boxing is going to lose more then he wins but he will still win because there is still that punch he can land or punches. If you look at someone like Chuck Liddel, he dominated for years in the stand up game and he was a horrible puncher as compared to a boxer, his punches where telegraphed, he was slow and they were always wide arcing and he was still knocking guys out. So a boxer always has a really good chance to catch a guy coming in.

Also boxers reflexes tend to be better again because reflexes is pretty much the standard to be a great boxer, all top 10 boxers (below heavyweight) have amazing reflexes. MMA has its masters of reflexes as well but they are not the norm guys like Silva and that Asian fella.

So I would say if you put a "top 10 ranked" boxer in the cage with a top 10 mma fighter, the boxer is going to win some and lose some. If you reverse it the boxer wins every time. Now lets say you take a top 10 boxer and he has a year to work exclusively with the best in the world and snuffing take downs and guard defense put that same guy back in the cage and you will see him win much more. Learning take down and guard defense can be done with enough time and training to be very proficient at it, its a mechanics lesson. Boxing takes years to breed a top 10 fighter, im talking a year or so of training, 2 to 4 years of amateur boxing, and then 3 or 4 more years fighting learning opponents, then just getting to the top 10 and even then guys don't make it.

So did Randy prove anything beating Toney? Not a thing, Toney had only fought in boxing about 3 times in the 3 years leading up to his fight with Couture, he was no where near the top 10, he was fat, out of shape. And they put him in there with one of the best take down wrestlers the sport has known. James Toney was a great fighter back in the late 80's early 90's but thats about it.

St Pierre hired one of boxing's best trainers Freddie Roach and learnt how to jab and then went in against the black fella with the blond hair who I believe was a top contender and beat him with only a jab, busted his eye and the other guy couldn't do anything about it.

What does any of this prove about boxing vs mma? Absolutely nothing, boxing is an essential part of mma and most of the popular fighters in mma have boxing back grounds. There is really no need to continue a debate on what really comes down to a matter of opinion.

It proved as much as Ray Mercer knocking out Tim Sylvia in 11 seconds.

This cross competition doesnt prove anything especially if the once crossing over are washed up has beens looking for paychecks.

To ur point, weather Couture was or was not in his prime, he still was a top 10 fighter in his division. If Nick Diaz or Rampage Jackson would cross over to boxing they would lose just as embarrassingly against a top 10 fighter of that division. Keep in mind stoppages are harder in boxing with those big gloves but still they'll likely get embarrassed by any top 10 fighter.

The only MMA fighter who i think would do well in boxing is Jose Aldo who has a well rounded stand up style both offensively and defensively. Maybe also Dominick Cruz

Joke fight. James Toney is a legend and has more skill, more heart and a higher level of accomplishment than all UFC fighters. Dana White is a despicable scumbag for allowing Toney to humiliate himself like this.

It proves that a fat out of shape over the hill boxer can get his a$$ handed to him by a decent fighter.

It also proves that some guys will prostitute themselves and have no pride or self respect.

Looking at this guy he was not even a shadow of his former self when he was young and could fight.

It shows that Toney was probably despirate for some quick cash. He never trained when he boxed, why the hey would he care to train for real for MMA.

Zero. If there was a rematch between Randy and James in boxing it would end quite quick in James favor.

Yes I know James Toney was not in his prime any more but neither was Randy Couture. James was 42 at the time and Randy was 47. I will admit that if Randy kept the fight standing up he would of been in trouble so he took the fight to his advantage and just went for the take down and started pounding him then choked him until he tapped out. I just noticed on a lot of Boxing vs UFC posts that Boxing fans say UFC is for ******* who look gay because they go to the ground when they fight a lot. How can you say a Boxer is a better fighter then a MMA fighter when Boxers only focus on one category of fighting which is just Boxing. MMA fighters are more all around fighters Boxing Kick boxing grappling and many other styles. Also for the ones who say that UFC is for ******* then a ****** beat James lights out Toney who was considered one of the best defensive Boxers and a former Boxing champion in more then one wait class.

if ufc wants to prove anything, they should bring their best up the boxing ring and not buy a washed up boxing legend to be a spectacle inside the octagon....

I love boxing much more