Props: Daily News
Quoteworthy:
“I don’t see how it could discredit the UFC. The guy has boxed before and he’s a tall, slick, left handed fighter. That gives everybody problems. It would be a good fight. As fighters we’re supposed to be trying to do things that amaze people and make history. This could have been something that people really wanted to see. I just think it’s wrong not to allow him (Silva) to get the opportunity to live out his fantasy to be in the ring with one of his heroes. That’s the kind of thing that boxing promoters usually do…. If I had a high school wrestling background, I’d be willing to try that stuff (mixed martial arts. But I’m lost on the ground…. He’s got a lot of heart and I have nothing but respect for him for wanting to take on the best in boxing.”
Professional boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. is disappointed that UFC President Dana White recently put the brakes on a fight that would have pitted him against UFC middleweight titleholder, Anderson Silva, at a catch weight between 180 and 188 pounds under boxing rules. Silva and his camp floated the idea after he defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” last month.
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its not that good to see anderson silva came back at UFC as a champ if “just incase this fight will happen & silva lost”
maybe someday if anderson silva is not on his prime anymore
How could it matter if Anderson lost. It’s a boxing match not MMA, and he would have lost to Roy Jones. Theres no shame in that even if Jones is not in his prime.
I agree with Roy Jones. Dana needs to stop trtying to micro manage EVERYTHING. I understand him not wanting to cross
promote, but let the man box. Would a loss in boxing really affect the way we view our beloved UFC middleweight champion? Hell No!
Props to Roy Jones for giving Silva some credit and speaking so highly of him.
Sure, it would be interesting to see what happens no doubt, but who cares really. I would much rather see Anderson Silva stick to MMA and keep dominating the Middleweight division. Not light heavyweight, not welterweight, not boxing, MMA in the middleweight division is where Silva should be.
Where/when did Dana officially say no to this? I was under the impression he still hadn’t weighed in on the matter…
Why wouldn’t the UFC just promote this fight themselves?
Ballam, you have to realize the kind of payday this would have generated for Anderson Silva. His last fight with “Hendo” he got how much, like $300K - $400k including his fight of the night bonus. He gets no backend from the payperviews. He could of easily made 3-5 million dollars for a fight with a Boxing legend. How many fights does Anderson need to fight just to reach that amount? I think thats what Dana White was more worried about. The fighters seeing the amount of $$$$$ boxing has to offer. And how far MMA is form getting there.
Dana has made the correct decision here…and it’s nice to see that Jones showed some class in admitting that he would be lost on the ground once the fight went there.
Damnit, Dana!
Listen, this could be HUGE for the UFC. Do you realize how big this event would be? No matter what happens, Silva walks out looking good and so does the UFC.
Roy Jones is showing Silva respect as a fighter. That alone could make Silva and the UFC more legitimate in casual fans’ eyes.
I’m a Dana fan, but some of the choices he’s making (from a business standpoint) make no sense to me. A deal with HBO or CBS is bigtime. Who cares if they change the production? Are people REALLY going to miss Goldie and Rogan THAT much? Give me a break. The sport’s still not big enough for Dana to think he can do everything on his own. It’s still a baby in the sports world and he needs to make business decisions that will help promote growth.
Roys a cool dude..and he’s right, thats something legends are made of…I just hope this doesnt cause a bunch of problems with Silva now…..oh yeah, and ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!
Dude imagine if in the next PPV Anderson Silva and Roy Jones are sitting next to each other, holly hell that would stir up some shit but, I highly doubt Dana would allow any of it he would probably tell the camera men to ignore him and both Goldie and Rogan not to mention his name…(kinda like Randy).
OR even have Roy go to the next Silva fight and be in the stands , hope he does
All those boxing fans exposed to an MMA fighter……. Silva would be the perfect choice for an MMA ambassador and even if he lost, the spinoff would be incredible. It would add legitimacy to the sport for those who continue to knock it.
And if he won…… phenominal.
hopefully this wont upset silva… thankfully it seems ufc have their champions locked into rolling contracts so even if he threw a tantrum like randy it would mean he couldnt compete elsewhere… this would probably be enough to get him to give up on the boxing idea if DW wont get behind it
guy above DW has publicly stated he doesnt need HBO or CBS
ufc have spike tv and PPV and they are making a very healthy profit
signing up budweiser as a sponsor was huge and if budweiser do one of their collect the bottletops or codes on the bottles or free ufc gifts inside the cases… then it will take ufc to a new fanbase
i cant see a downside to silva boxing (unless it made him leave the sport permanently to pusue a boxing courear)
but with all DW and UFC have done for mma, i believe that whatever he decides will be the correct decision… they havent made too many poor decisions so far… losing arlovski and tito may not be great movees but again you have to gime them the benefit of the doubt based on what they have done in the past
Anderson Silva is a current UFC belt holder, so I have no problem with Dana refusing to let him box. Boxing needs the crossover fans right now, not MMA. Leave a crossover match to someone who can strike that isn’t currently a champion. Maybe somebody that’s a purer striker than Silva.
There is no purer and more precise striker than Silva in MMA.
Ryan:
Dana told Silva’s camp to stop talking about it because it wasn’t going to happen. I don’t know exactly where the official word was posted but that’s what he told them.
The last thing Dana wants to do is piss Silva off. With the way he tells his fighters what to do they could easily look to fight somewhere else, especially as there are more up and coming organizations like Dream, EliteXc, Strikeforce. I know he still got a contract but the UFC need Silva much more than Silva needs the UFC. Hes proven himself in that division so he could look to fight somewhere else if he really wanted.
Speaking of boxing, last Friday was Kassim Ouma vs Cornelius K9 Bundrage. K9 was on the show The Contender and was the underdog from day 1. He was as scrappy as a fighter as they come. K9 was like plus 500 on BetUs and I was going to bet $20 on him, but I ended up leaving work early and didn’t have the opportunity. Of course K9 pulled off the upset…
i think white’s just doing the math. i don’t know how true this is but i read somewhere that anderson silva has a 1-1 record as a pro boxer. jones is 173-17 when you combine his amateur and pro record. i’d give silva little chance in a boxing match against jones despite jones’ age. i do however think silva should be able to take that chance if he wishes. maybe there’s a stipulation in silva’s contract (i’m just guessing). it certainly would have been a gigantic moment.
I wonder how Roy Jones’s boxing contract works. Don King is his promoter, right? I wonder if he could somehow get out of his boxing deal, and sign a 1 fight contract with the UFC. Then Roy Jones Jr and Anderson Silva can have their fight. Both of them have the utmost respect for each other, so before hand, even thought its an MMA fight, they can agree that there will ONLY be punches thown - essentially a boxing fight in the octagon. The only problem is that Dana would most likely have to be kept in the dark about the no kicks, elbows, ground game agreement.
I not a big boxing fan, but isn’t Roy Jones Jr. old? Could he go 5 rounds with Silva? Don’t get me wrong, I would drop some coin to check out his fight. I think it would be a good fight for both parties. Love to see this happen one day, if not Silva vs. Jones maybe two other dudes going at it.
yeah jones is old but still at the top ans till goos he not in his prim but not far from it he just got lazy the time he tries is when ppl get a good hit on him then he goes and knocks then down or out
If Silva and Jones fought and Silva were to win, Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant would carry out their murder-suicide pact right there on the air.
Does anybody know how many fights are left in silva’s contract? it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t renew his contract with the UFC. Anderson is all about respect, and he isn’t getting paid like a champ and best p4p fighter should get paid (100k salary c’mon).
Once his contract is up, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him leave for a different organization or sign up for the jones fight (he could retire with the money he’d get from that one fight).
I would think this fight would bring even more fans/attention to the UFC and MMA in general. That would mean more money for everybody in the long run. I say let them rumble!
That’s great, how he talked so highly of Silva. Also, I’m not surprised this fight isn’t going to happen since it was all left up to Dana to say “yes”. What a stubborn bastard, you can’t have everything Dana!!
if i was anderson i would ne pissed that dana just stopped something big from happening in his career, i am sure it would have been a big honor for him to fight roy jones along with a big payday.i hope dana did not piss him off to much.
Way to go, Dana.
mac daddy:
roy jones is 39 years old. he won a 12 round decision over faded great felix trinidad a couple of months ago.
VM — If King is Jones’ promoter then his contract works as follows: Step 1: Jones fights. Step 2: Give all money to King.
yeah things have gone downhill since ouma lost to jermain taylor. he lost to a mediocre saul roman after the taylor fight and now another stunning loss to “k9″ bundrage. it’ll be interesting to see what this win will do for bundrage as far as future fights.
linx is right. spider could retire after 1 fight (boxing money).
why is it that being champ of their weightclass isn’t enough for these guys? it seems like these UFC champs are out to just shock the world or something.
i like the idea of RJ jr signing a 1 fight contract for a MMA bout against Silva. but with MMA gloves i would give the advantage to Anderson.i think roy would have problems defensivly with the smaller gloves. that would leave him open & then Anderson would pick him apart.but in a boxing ring with big gloves it could go either way.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD PAY TO SEE.
Silva has a better chance in a boxing match than Jones does in MMA. Still, I think Jones wins a boxing match, and Silva would have Jones on the mat unconscious or screaming in under a minute.
dont agree w/ anyone on this post who supports this boxing match. i think ya’ll are just dana bashing. i’m more excited about seeing silva fight more mma, not boxing. i loved rj in the 90s but he is just a shell of his former self and just wanted another big payday. rj has always given mma its props, even before this supposed fight so its not just a.silva that he is giving props to. if silva wants to be a boxer he should retire from mma and become a boxer. same w/rj, retire from boxing and become an mma athelete. this was a joke from the start. it would be comparable to kobe bryant wanting to take 6 months of from the nba to play in the nfl as a wide reciever. never gonna happen, what if a.silva got hurt boxing like breaking his hand or wrist from using alot more punches in boxing than in mma. then his title would be in limbo forever(or so it would seem). dana def made the right call here! let roy come to the cage if he wants silva so bad. ha! btw the response button isnt working and hasnt for a while so i think most of the guys know who responding to.
“let roy come to the cage if he wants silva so bad? ha!
Hold on….Didn’t Spider call out Jones to begin with? I think Spider is the one that “wants it so bad”, right?
i dont know who called out who 1rst,but i think your’e right in that it was silva. i also think that they were both in on it the whole time. im sure it was discussed between both parties before it went public.
Linx: Luckily for us, Dana whites shiesty 1 sided contracts state that if a champions contract is up, it autopmatically is renewed for the same price, so as long as Silva is champion, he has to stay in the UFC. The only way for Silva to ever legally be released from his duties to the UFC would be for him to loose the title, and he has way too much PRIDE to ever do that.
That clasue is one of the main reason’s that kept Fedor from signing with the UFC. If you become champion of the UFC and go on a monster tear, you should be able to negotiate for more money when your contract expires. However the UFC clauses would force Fedor to re-sign at the same price…Totally UNFAIR!!
What? That’s crazy John, how can someone be in contract forever? There has to be a hole in this contract, but if this is true, I feel bad for the spider if he can’t raise his income even within the UFC.
kind words from roy, it’s good that he is acknoleging that it’s dana that won’t allow it and not silva that chicken out
Dana W made the right call here.
I mean, what if Silva looks silly against RJ? It would give people a good chance to say the UFC fighters boxing skills “ARE LIGHT YEARS BEHIND PRO BOXERS”(btw, didn’t that chump from ESPN made that comment?). After all, Silva is the best striker available and his hands are among if not the UFC best. Again, I’m not saying he will look silly, but what if…….
Overall it’s a good choice for this fight not to happen. Silva would have everything against him in a boxing ring and Don King promoting its a lose, lose for Silva. If Roy wins Boxing would look like the better sport, and if Silva wins, so what he beat an aged boxer that is not in his prime anymore is what critics would say. It does nothing for MMA.
JV-all good points. silva and rj were just in it for the money.
John, I had no idea that the rollover contract for fighters included pay. WOW. Hard negotiating on Dana’s part or bad neotiating by the fighters. No percentage increase or anything?
I agree with you Lucas. From the looks of things most MMA fighters would lose a boxing match against a skilled practitioner of the sport. But in a no holds barred fight, that boxer better hope for a 1 punch knockout or he’s going to win a free ride to the emergency room.
Dana White wont let anything interesting happen.
jones has been boxing most of his life and has been a pro for 19 years. i know he’s faded over the years but he’s still a pretty fast and respectable boxer. anderson silva is a monster in mma, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to put on a pair of boxing gloves and suddenly turn into a brazilian form of chad dawson. i’d rather see silva move up to lightheavyweight and see what he can do there than this boxing thing (not that my feelings matter). i don’t know how interested he is in moving to 205 but i don’t see any top flight middleweight opponents out there in ufc that he hasn’t already beaten. i guess okami is the most logical opponent for him now. i don’t know a lot about okami, but i did see him against tanner…he’s a big young dude and a southpaw but tanner hadn’t fought in quite a while and is no spring chicken.
JV - “Overall it’s a good choice for this fight not to happen. Silva would have everything against him in a boxing ring and Don King promoting its a lose, lose for Silva. If Roy wins Boxing would look like the better sport, and if Silva wins, so what he beat an aged boxer that is not in his prime anymore is what critics would say. It does nothing for MMA.”
That’s pretty much how I see it too. As interesting a fight as that could be to watch, looking at the bigger picture, it’s a lose/no-win situation for the sport in general.
It’s the polar opposite in my opinion. You’re clearly a glass half empty man Jase.
I hope Dana White opens his eyes and lets this happen this can be a good thing for everyone involved regardless the outcome they should come to some middle ground were everyone can make some money thats what this is all about anyway Dana not being able to capitalize and make all the money its a shame I think Dana White will be the rise and fall of this sport his greed and close mindedness will do him in!
“If Silva and Jones fought and Silva were to win, Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant would carry out their murder-suicide pact right there on the air”.
That is one of the funniest things I have ever read , and too true LOL
“i like the idea of RJ jr signing a 1 fight contract for a MMA bout against Silva. but with MMA gloves i would give the advantage to Anderson.i think roy would have problems defensivly with the smaller gloves. that would leave him open & then Anderson would pick him apart.but in a boxing ring with big gloves it could go either way.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD PAY TO SEE.”
Roy has never blocked a punch with a glove in his life, he uses amazing foot and hand speed to stay away, that is why in his older years he has been knocked out with one punch KOs
VM — If King is Jones’ promoter then his contract works as follows: Step 1: Jones fights. Step 2: Give all money to King.
No one takes Roys money the only reason he is with King is because his own promotions werent generating enough money for him, Dons not making much off roy I’ll tell you that. Further more Don King pays way better then dana white, dana gets the same numbers but keeps it for him self and his suga daddies. Dons got a bad rap, but he is pretty much santa claus compared to dana white
DANA STINKS!!!
HE power trippin and right after his win silva said he wanted to box jones so why wait and then say no!
its not like silvas getn paid anything close to what hes worth in the ufc he’d get more with elite prob 350,000-500,00!!!!1
GO ELSWHERE SILVA
wow, dana is a bigger dick than i thought. hes such a control freak.
What does Dana have to lose??? Seriously, Roy Jones Jnr is a professional boxer and would definetly give Anderson Silva a lot of grief in the ring. Basically Silva is very likely to lose a boxing match to Jones.
That said, i’m sure Silva would give an excellent account of himself and show the depth of talent in MMA.
It would also be unprecedented promotion for the UFC that would no doubt be worthy of worldwide pay per view coverage.
Dana has a tough job but he is so fricking pig headed it is setting MMA evolution back….
You say it’s setting back the evolution of MMA, but you couldn’t be more wrong. ( Cotto vs Gomez ) free on HBO ( Hopkins vs Calzaghe ) free on HBO ( Delahoya vs Forbes ) free on HBO. Seems to me boxing is not doing so well, these are four of boxings biggest stars on free cards. Picture this, Silva loses then where does MMA stand as a sport? How will it be looked at by the general fans? It puts boxing back on the map, and sends MMA back where it started, trying to defend itself as a sport. Don’t get me wrong I would love to see this fight but as B.W. posted Silva and Jones are talking about this cause there is money.
well cotto/gomez and de la hoya/forbes are mismatches on paper. i’m actually looking more forward to the margarito/cintron rematch on the cotto/gomez undercard. hopkins/calzaghe is hbo-ppv. i’ll be waiting a week for the replay.
sorry jv…hopkins/calzaghe is hbo non ppv like you said. i think originally it was ppv and it was moved. not sure how i missed that update. i guess it explains my level of interest of the fight. it’s a significant fight, but sitting through a hopkins fight has been difficult for me more times than not. not sure what the real reason behind the change was, but i’m not going to start expecting this from hbo during these ppv happy times we’re living in.
I know Silva want to prove he can beat anyone in any style, but this fight would just be a waste of time. As Roy said he’s lost on the ground. The fact is, a top MMA fighter would walk over any boxer in a street/real/proper fight. Boxers are too 1 dimensional and over hyped and over paid. They should be learning the ground game and trying to prove themselves to MMA fighter not the other way. When MMA takes over boxing as the biggest contact sport and the fight get better paid, then I’m sure that will be the case, I just hope I’m still alive to see it.
nah boxing did great in the first quarter.500T for trinidad jones.250Tfor taylor and pavlick and 525T for pacquiao marquez and thats just for HBO.showtime dont list theyr ppv.hbo is just making some fights for free.because they are doing what ufc did with TUF which is free tv.then when they fight its ppv
also dana is wrong to turn down the fight. anderson deserves the pay of boxing. he has a family to feed and 300k he’s getting from UFC is just tooo low. pacquiao go 5.5 million dollars and hes not american and just a 130lbs champ. if anderson fought roy jones in boxing he could get a minimum of 2 million(its don king so hell get more.
no matter what dana said mma is still far as purse is concerned. peter mcknily got paid to fight mike tyson in 1996 for 1 million to be ko’d in a round.and randy coutoure the heavyweight champ gets 250T.
common dana pay the fighters Right.
Roy Jones misspoke cause he WAS the best in boxing and now he is a man past his prime looking for an easy payday against Anderson. Don’t get me wrong…I still think Roy will beat Anderson in the ring under boxing rules at this point in time.
There is no reason not to let this fight happen except for the stipulations that Dana White has made in the contracts for control of his fighter’s = the Dictator DW. Capital gain is always a factor, so that could be a motive not to have the fight for his company. Now, to clear up any misconceptions that this will be an ill move on the part of UFC or MMA as a whole, this could never be looked upon as a detriment to MMA because the audience for boxing is fading into the sport. I’m not saying boxing will eventually disappear, but the former success that they’ve experienced will never return. MMA is a sport that will not be disposed of anytime soon. Silva may be a representative of MMA, but he is not MMA. They wouldn’t even be fighting with the same rules.
In the end it’s up to the people with financial investment in these fighters and the sport. I see no backlash that could be seen as a repercussion of this fight happening unless Silva gets seriously injured, but if that’s a risk he is willing to take at the apex of his career then fine, but the people in control of his future that do not want to see him chalk up a loss, no matter in what fighting style because of the crowds he draws then ultimately it’ll probably never happen.
Roy would win a boxing match lose the wrestling match but win easily in a street fight against silva. too fast, don’t need to hit hard just clean and with 30 punches in 3 seconds working the double end bag, he gets close and sinks his knuckles into silva’s temple in 1/100th of a second. auwrite!
YOU FAT CAT BITCHES! LET THEM FIGHT! I’m a huge fan of Roy Jones and Anderson Silva. This is really upsetting not getting to see this fight, after they both state they would like to box eachother. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I would pay a nice chunk of change for an event like this on PPV.
I’m glad the fight won’t happen. Anderson Silva is my favorite fighter in MMA, and I think it’s great that he has the courage to want to get in there with the best in boxing, but I think that he would get destroyed to a degree that’s embarrassing to MMA. Just like if Roy stepped into the octagon he wouldn’t last 45 seconds w/ spider. I also think that MMA guys switching to boxing is backward. MMA is the super sport that should be receiving converts.
edit- *superior*
Hello
Only because Silva is a good striker in MMA this doesn’t mean, that he is able to resist a world-class Boxer. In the Ring the Worldchampion in Boxing is the best - otherwise the term Worldchampion would be incorrect.
If Silva looses, all the boxing fans will pray again, what they had to surpress since Royce Gracie suffocated the God of boxing in the early 90’s.
They can return to the superstition that boxers are the strongest men on the planet.
Silva is a prostitute. For money he wants to go on his knees and kiss the rotten flesh. But the corpse may return to life.
I like Anderson Silva, but he does not make it past the first round agains even a faded Roy Jones. This is a mismatch in whatever rules apply. MMA guys simply do not punch with the authority that a top pro boxer does. If Silva tries to go in for his muay thai clinch, he gets caught by a Jones hook or uppercut and the fight is history!