They'll do it Every Time

Boxing writers can't seem to get enough of talking in circles about mixed martial arts.

Couched in a lengthy article disparaging boxing prospect Victor Ortiz's decision to quit mid-fight, boxing writer Ron Borges ridiculed mixed martial artists for their being "allowed to quit without recrimination by using a more sanitized phrase...in MMA they say he tapped out." Borges asserted that this fact "is what separates real fighters from those guys in MMA...."

This is a strange thing to write for a couple of reasons.

First, of course, is the fact that the biggest argument against MMA (deeply flawed as it may be) has been that the sport is too dangerous. Critics feel that, compared to the large gloves and limited offensive arsenal available in boxing, the cut-inducing elbow strikes, small gloves, and myriad offensive positions in MMA are likely to end in some fatality or horrific injury. This historically and statistically unfounded opinion has been repeated often by boxing-only supporters (I won't say supports of boxing, since I myself am for boxing as well as for mixed martial arts). Critics of MMA scoff and shake a finger at what they perceive to be inhuman, unsportsmanlike brutality. It's not hard to see, then, why some might be confused when reading of Borges' indignation at Ortiz's unwillingness "to go out on his shield," which is itself, ironically, a "sanitized phrase" for dying.

Borges' unsatisfied bloodlust is all the more surprising when he goes on to admit that one of Ortiz's eyes had been "badly sliced" and the other was developing "a huge contusion." Later, after dismissing Ortiz as a simply a quitter, he attempts to sympathize with the up-and-coming fighter. "The sad fact is [he] had bee beaten on since he was a little boy...by his father...by his mother [...] You try that and see how many more beatings you want to take..." It would be one thing if Borges were railing against Ortiz in a state of sheer ignorance, but that he was able to even begin to envision the psychological and physical turmoil Ortiz must have been in before he quit, and at the same time lambaste him as he did, is disgusting.

Aside from being this week's biggest keyboard warrior, Borges also manages to demonstrate that he's not very good at thinking things through during his brief, but potently idiotic criticism of MMA.

It's obvious, of course, that he doesn't know much about the sport and its surrounding culture, or he would be aware of the fans harsh criticism of anyone who appears to tap or fold too early. Kalib Starnes was cut from the UFC for a reason, and Dana White and company were hesitant to offer the evasive Lyoto Machida any marquee fights until he began to show a greater willingness to engage (which reminds me, I wonder why Borges, in his desire for relentless bloodshed, didn't take a moment to wag a finger at the defensively-minded Floyd Mayweather, Jr.).

And of course, in so adamantly asserting the superiority of a boxer's fighting spirit, he failed to consider the most obvious counter argument. A mixed martial arts writer (were one to be as apparently dense as he) could argue that boxers aren't "real fighters" because they are allowed a chance to stand up and recompose themselves following a knockdown, or because they are permitted a limited arsenal that has been far abstracted from actual fighting.

Borges may be a excellent sports writer on the whole (his profile on thesweetscience.com certainly says so) but his inability to more comprehensively conceive of the issue in this instance is a little embarrassing, and only serves to illustrate that boxing-only critics of MMA are a confused bunch, who can't consistently articulate why they don't like MMA probably because they don't want to admit the real reason: boxing, archaic as it may be, is a fine sport, but is giving up popularity, money, and cultural significance to mixed martial arts.