UFC heavyweight exchamp is going debut on PPV boxing card.

[Blame Rasho]

Via boxingscene

It appears that former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will make his boxing debut on the undercard to Joel Casamayor vs. Juan Manuel Marquez on September 13 on HBO pay-per-view. According to Dan Rafael, the fight will be the opening bout on the Las Vegas card.

Arlovski is by no means quitting MMA. He is scheduled to fight on the Affliction pay-per-view on July 19 at the Honda Center in California, facing Ben Rothwell in the co-feature. Arlovski is being trained for his stint in boxing by world-class trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in California. Arlovski, based on some of UFC bouts, is better at giving a punch than taking one. The gloves in MMA are much smaller, but the punches will be coming from athletes who are far better punchers than the opponents who knocked him out in MMA competition.

He is prolly going to face some tomato can.

[Headliner]

he'll probably get smoked

[El Hardee]

MMA guys crack me up when they think that a good MMA striker means you'll be a good boxer. There are more things to worry about in MMA and that allows more striking opportunities. Boxing is much more technical. The distance game alone is going to throw a MMA striker off, I hope Arlovski gets his butt handed to him so MMA guys can start giving the sweet science more respect. I am a MMA guy, but I have the upmost respect for boxers. In striking, Boxing>MMA.

[Headliner]

MMA guys crack me up when they think that a good MMA striker means you'll be a good boxer. There are more things to worry about in MMA and that allows more striking opportunities. Boxing is much more technical. The distance game alone is going to throw a MMA striker off, I hope Arlovski gets his butt handed to him so MMA guys can start giving the sweet science more respect. I am a MMA guy, but I have the upmost respect for boxers. In striking, Boxing>MMA.

For sure. I'm a MMA guy as well, but AA will be destroyed.
My bet...3rd round DQ after AA throws the guy in a rare naked choke.

[cowboyronnie]

MMA guys crack me up when they think that a good MMA striker means you'll be a good boxer. There are more things to worry about in MMA and that allows more striking opportunities. Boxing is much more technical. The distance game alone is going to throw a MMA striker off, I hope Arlovski gets his butt handed to him so MMA guys can start giving the sweet science more respect. I am a MMA guy, but I have the upmost respect for boxers. In striking, Boxing>MMA.

nice!

[Cochulito]

what a **** waste of a fight slot. Id rather watch a 12 round title fight.

Terrible..

[Blame Rasho]

I still don't understand his thinking given that the Affliction PPV is from what I understand going to be a major event in MMA . Why would he is sign a contract for boxing? What is there to be gained from a 4 rounder in boxing? I can't believe that GBP would be willing to show him off to a paying PPV public and give him big $$$.

[UrbanLegendMD]

Publicity stunt.

[ansoncarter]

wonder if he'll wear those fangs

those things are teh cool

[Blame Rasho]

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/mcneil ... thispage=2

SYLVIA EYES BOXING
Arlovski isn't the only MMA heavyweight eager to step in the boxing ring. Former UFC champion Tim Sylvia, who faces Fedor Emelianenko in the "Affliction: Banned" main event Saturday night, would jump at the chance to box if an offer is made.

"If the money is right, I would love to do a boxing match," Sylvia said. "I believe I can beat any heavyweight boxer out there ... I will fight any heavyweight boxer in 12, 3-minute rounds and I will beat him. I'm confident in my standup and confident in my boxing coach."

Honestly all these MMA fighter are morons if they think they can be respectable/good/great in a boxing match.

[Susan]

They're afraid of Fedor.

[Blame Rasho]

http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/2008/10 ... roa_1.html

Roach also said that if the Affliction: Day of Reckoning show had happened, Arlovski would have made his boxing debut on the undercard of The Dream Match between Oscar De La Hoya and Pacquiao. Arlovski has signed a deal with De La Hoya's boxing promotion Golden Boy and should be making his pro boxing debut next year. Both Roach and De La Hoya showed respect for Arlovski's boxing skills by saying that he definitely has the skills to go far in pro-boxing.

[funkatron101]

It sounds like none of you guys will give him the benefit of the doubt either way. If he wins, well "He just beat a can".. if he loses, "I knew it, these MMA guys don't know a thing about boxing."

The guy has a passion for boxing and wants to try his hand in the sport. Why all the beef? It's not like he will be headlining or be promoted as a future champion.

Arlovski has been very respectful to the sport, just as Anderson Silva has. Don't lump them in with arrogant guys like Tim Sylvia who got embarassed by Fedor.

[Blame Rasho]

It sounds like none of you guys will give him the benefit of the doubt either way. If he wins, well "He just beat a can".. if he loses, "I knew it, these MMA guys don't know a thing about boxing."

The guy has a passion for boxing and wants to try his hand in the sport. Why all the beef? It's not like he will be headlining or be promoted as a future champion.

Arlovski has been very respectful to the sport, just as Anderson Silva has. Don't lump them in with arrogant guys like Tim Sylvia who got embarassed by Fedor.

I honestly doubt that there will ever be a crossover fighter in both boxing and MMA. They are entirely different sports. Even the most gifted MMA striker is a novice compared to half decent boxer and more likely than not the boxer will be more heavy handed than him with a 10 ounce glove. His actual boxing fundamentals are so bad it makes Sam Peter look like Floyd Mayweather. The thing is that he will face a can... There is no way a sanitation body will give him a fight vs a guy who has years of experience on him.Hey, it is cool that he wants to try out boxing but not on a boxing undercard of a PPV slot where the min pay is like $150,000 like it has been mentioned before. There are only four slots for 8 fighters.

[stick]

Is this part of Affliction and GoldenBoy's deal?

Also, I may be wrong, but doesn't Arlovski have a pretty small reach for his height?

[CPT]

Is this part of Affliction and GoldenBoy's deal?

Also, I may be wrong, but doesn't Arlovski have a pretty small reach for his height?

He's 6'4 (76 inches) and his reach is 77 inches. So he's about average for his height, and probably above average overall because he's fairly tall.

I'm far from a boxing expert, but I think he'll do well against guys at his level. He seems pretty dedicated to it, and he's training with Freddie Roach, so he must be learning something. I don't expect him to step in and beat legitimate contenders in his weight class in a boxing match, but at the same time, I don't think it's fair to say his boxing fundamentals are bad from watching him in an MMA fight. He's got a lot more to worry about than punches when he's in there.

[Blame Rasho]

The reach isn't a real big factor unless you make out to be. Most fighters with big reaches don't even utilize it. One guy(Bowe) had a 86 inch reach and he would bang inside as if he was t-rex and was just as effective inside and he was outside.

What do you mean at his level? You mean club fighters who get paid every two weeks for a fights on a undercards? I am sure he would get some significant W's but with a guy with a decent amateur pedigree even without KO power would really present problems for him. I would give Deontay Wilder( a very green and recent bronze mentalist) recent professional a significant favorite compared to him.

[CPT]

The reach isn't a real big factor unless you make out to be. Most fighters with big reaches don't even utilize it. One guy(Bowe) had a 86 inch reach and he would bang inside as if he was t-rex and was just as effective inside and he was outside.

What do you mean at his level? You mean club fighters who get paid every two weeks for a fights on a undercards? I am sure he would get some significant W's but with a guy with a decent amateur pedigree even without KO power would really present problems for him. I would give Deontay Wilder( a very green and recent bronze mentalist) recent professional a significant favorite compared to him.

Well I guess what I said was kind of obvious and didn't really need to be said, I just mean that if he fights guys that aren't clearly better than him, he should do reasonably well. I would think a recent Olympic medalist would fit in the group of guys who are clearly better than him, but if that only leaves cans, then I don't know what to tell you.

[RutgersBJJ]

Freddie has recently said that when Arlovski makes his boxing debut they are going to start him off at a lot higher level than normal, because of his skill level. I think that is a terrible mistake, but not really my place to disagree with him.

all of this is pointless anyway as it will be officially announced this upcoming week that Arlovski is fighting Fedor on January 24th at the Honda Center. So either his boxing debut will have to come in the spring, or by some grace of god he defeats Fedor, at which case I doubt he ever fights in a boxing match. He would be worth too much to be embarrassed in that way because he will lose in a boxing match against any real opponent.

[Blame Rasho]

His fight with Fedor deserves a 100% dedication towards his training in MMA.