No one knows why Tim Sylvia is boxing in a cage
While UFC 99 takes place this Saturday night in Cologne, Germany at Lanxess Arena, North American MMA fans will likely be watching that event in PPV.
However, if you live in Birmingham, Alabama, you may be heading to the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex to watch former UFC champion Tim Sylvia face boxer Ray Mercer (who’s been having to fight in Sweden lately). The fight will be taking place inside of an MMA cage… but it will be a boxing contest instead of MMA.
Is anyone interested in seeing this? One party that wasn’t interesting in seeing the fight happen was the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, which put the ixnay on the fight. Now the fight is taking place in Alabama, a state whose athletic commission jurisdiction is controlled by Mississippi. In other words, don’t expect strict regulation.
Sylvia, who is coming off a 36-second loss to Fedor at Affliction, is now basically known as “that guy who made $800,000 and lost in under a minute.” I’d take that deal in a heartbeat, myself. Nevertheless, Sylvia has a fight coming up on August 1st for Affliction 3 against super-tough Paul Buentello. So, you would think Big Tim’s focus would be on a real legitimate heavyweight and repairing his MMA reputation. Instead, Tim’s going to be facing a 48-year old boxer who could still seriously hurt him in a fight.
So why is Tim Sylvia taking a fight against Ray Mercer? Sylvia told Fighters Only magazine in a recent interview his motives for taking the booking.
“Its something I’ve always wanted to pursue and if it works out like I’d like for it too, I can switch over. I don’t want to be done with MMA, but the money is a lot better in boxing. Plus its a lot easier on your body and its a lot easier to train for a boxing match than it is an MMA match.”
“Yeah, absolutely ,I would love to fight some of the heavyweight champs, you know? I mean the paydays are ridiculous!”
Brent Brookhouse, a writer in the fight game, pours cold water over Big Tim’s business plan.
“The insane payscale of boxing is a myth beyond the absolute top guys in the sport. Tim Sylvia is not cracking the top 20 of boxing anytime soon, I’d say the safer money for him is in MMA where he is already considered top 10 and can get his regular purse in addition to sponsorship bonuses.”
Don’t get me wrong — I support MMA fighters trying to make as much money as possible. However, Tim Sylvia has already made a lot of money in the MMA business. He, unlike many other fighters, doesn’t need to be clowning around to make an extra buck (even in these tough economic times).
Take a look at the text of the ad read for the TV promo pushing this fight in Birmingham:
“June 13th at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama… Saturday, June 13th at the BJCC! Watch as former 5-time MMA champion Tim Sylvia takes on former WBO World Heavyweight Champion and Olympic Gold medalist Ray Mercer! Two champions, two different sports, who’s coming out on top?!
Mercer – “I’ve been boxing all of my life and this martial arts guy thinks he can come in and beat me at my own sport? It’s not going to happen!”
Sylvia – “I’m not boxing just for myself, but for all the MMA community. When this fight’s over with, I’m going to get the respect we deserve!”
Watch Saturday, June 13th at the BJCC as two legends of fighting face each other in a fierce battle for the ages!”
You’re not alone if you’re question what the hell Monte Cox has Tim Sylvia up to, either. In a recent interview with Superstar Steve Cofield, Jens Pulver had this to say about Sylvia’s upcoming boxing match with Ray Mercer:
“I don’t know what the goal is. I do know that I don’t care how old Ray Mercer is, you don’t win a world title unless you can thump, especially in boxing. He just knocked out like the number four guy or something, one of the ranked guy. He’s still… he’s not to be messed with. And, uh, we’ll have to see what Tim can do with that because having had five pro bouts in boxing, it’s a whole different world. People talk about it and I tell them, ‘Do not confuse the two. Boxing and MMA are two different worlds, and I mean two different worlds. You look at someone like a Mayweather or a Pacquiao that can do that with just hands, they’re incredible. And, no, you’re not going to find a trainer partner in MMA that can do that to you. If you want to go pro in boxing, go pro in boxing and find out. They can do some amazing things. So, Tim’s going to find out real quick. But as for my relationship with Tim, I love him. I think Tim’s a great guy. He’s also the Godfather to my son. I love him on a personal scale. Professionally, sometimes you have to step back and go, ‘Damn, Tim, what are you doing?”
Sylvia does have a significant reach advantage, is the younger man, and probably thinks this will not be that difficult of a fight to take. Right? Pulver says Tim should be very careful here.
“Well, it’s one of things again, I think they’re taking boxing as sparring. I think they’re taking this fight with Mercer as a sparring bout. And they’re going to find out real fast, Mercer’s probably not taking this as a sparring bout. He’s definitely not going to swing like its a sparring bout. So, you know, I mean, two bumps like that in the road, especially when you went in there and fought Fedor, who is the best guy at the heavyweight division, and he stomps you in 32 seconds. I’m not going to say that was a fluke or that didn’t happen, he stomped you in 32 seconds. And, so you know, he’s got to definitely look at that and see that this could be two big bumps in the road if he’s not careful.”
Sylvia is not the only MMA fighter with delusions of grandeur either. Andrei Arlovski was Fedor’s next victim in Affliction, right after Sylvia lost to the Russian at Affliction 1. At Affliction 2, Arlovski’s chin was exposed as being the equivalent of Glass Joe’s when Fedor caught him with a shot and dropped him down. Despite losing to Fedor in such a highlight-reel fashion, Arlovski decided to continue his boxing career with trainer Freddie Roach and get a booking at the Staples Center in late June. Meanwhile, Arlovski took an early June MMA booking against hard-hitting Brett Rogers in St. Louis for Strikeforce. That turned out to be a disaster for Arlovski, as Rogers pummeled him within seconds and made short work of the former UFC star. Arlovski’s boxing dreams were all but crushed by the loss.
Sylvia may or may not win against Mercer in this ridiculous “boxing match in a cage” match. However, there does seem to be a trend of heavyweight fighters who are not in UFC who are desperately trying to figure out ways to make big paydays and are choosing boxing as the avenue to try to make it happen. A word of advice: They should start listening to Jens Pulver’s words more carefully, first, before considering any career in the sport of boxing. It’s a whole different ballgame than the MMA world.
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