The question has long been asked what would happen if an elite level boxer fought a top level MMA fighter. Anderson Silva wants to box Roy Jones Jr. and Nick Diaz has made similar statements.

Ray “Merciless” Mercer used to be an elite level boxer. He won Olympic Gold in 1988 and became the WBO Heavyweight Champion in 1991. Saturday night 48-year-old Ray Mercer fought former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maniac” Sylvia in an MMA main event at “Adrenaline III” in Birmingham, Ala..

Reports state Sylvia landed a leg kick, then Mercer threw a right hand that connected, and Sylvia fell over as if in slow motion. Mercer followed it up with a couple of punches to the fallen giant.

Mercer stated prior to the bout even though it was an MMA fight he would be just be boxing. He wore his boxing shoes into the cage, “I’m not going to be kicking. I’m going to wear shoes and all that. I want him to know straight up where I’m coming from. I am a boxer, I’m not a MMA fighter.”

When the fight was changed from boxing rules to MMA rules at the last minute some people assumed the two would make a “gentleman’s agreement” just to box, but Sylvia planned to use every advantage he was given, “This is my world. He was going to pull out all the stops in boxing, all the little dirty tricks he has. He’s been doing this for 25 years. He’s going to come in and try to hurt me. Now I’m going to teach him a lesson.”

Sylvia has now lost four of his last five fights. He came into this fight weighing over 300 pounds. Most experts believed it was a bad idea for Sylvia to fight Mercer in a boxing match, but who could have imagined the former UFC Heavyweight Champion would get beat by a 48-year-old boxer in an MMA fight?

UFC veterans Jeremy Horn and Rich Clementi also fought on the card and  both walked away winners.

By:  Jack Bratcher

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