Joaquin Buckley recently chirped at boxing champion Shakur Stevenson for his comments about MMA in comparison to the sweet science, and has the support of UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier.
The UFC welterweight stood up for his sport by responding to Stevenson, calling boxers “so disrespectful” to UFC fighters. Buckley ripped Stevenson for focusing on defense and protecting his record rather than being a fighter who seeks knockouts, which, in turn, could leave him open to getting caught. Cormier agreed with Buckley’s response and went on to explain why he doesn’t enjoy the current state of boxing.
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“Shakur Stevenson said the UFC could never be boxing – Joaquin Buckley was right,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “It doesn’t have to be boxing, because the reality is there’s no big fights like there were in the past. I want to be the boxing of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. If I was trying to be boxing, I would want to be boxing of that era and of that time. Boxing today isn’t necessarily what I would want to be, and what it used to be, because there just aren’t enough stars to make big fights.
“There aren’t enough big events to make us go back to the days when (Muhammad) Ali was fighting or when (Mike) Tyson was fighting, or when you had the ‘Four Kings’ and they were all fighting each other. I’m talking even the days of Lennox Lewis being the heavyweight champion. Even the Klitschko Brothers. It was different back then. Those fights brought more attention, and they felt bigger.”
The most recent marquee boxing fight was between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. It was huge event at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, but the fight itself didn’t necessarily produce fireworks, even if Crawford turned in a stellar boxing performance against a bigger fighter in Canelo.
Ultimately, Cormier believes the UFC consistently produces more exciting fights, especially at the top level, whereas boxing’s biggest fights often leave fans wanting more.
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“I understand today that when Canelo fought Terence Crawford, it felt like a big event,” Cormier said. “Honestly, when I get super excited for these boxing fights, until you get young, exciting prospects that want to go out there and try to knock people out like the guys from the past, you’re gonna get the fight that we got where Terence Crawford, who showed once again why he’s the best, he just controlled Canelo Alvarez, who’s the biggest star of this generation. And then, it’s just not that fun. Honestly. It just wasn’t that fun.
“Whereas when you get to the UFC, it’s more fun, it’s more exciting, and it’s just better – and Joaquin Buckley was right. It’s just better – and I love boxing. I’ve got great friends in boxing. Andre Ward is a great buddy of mine in boxing. I love watching him fight, but boxing today just isn’t what boxing was before, and hat’s off to Joaquin Buckley for calling that sh*t out, because he should have called it out. We aren’t boxing. The UFC is better. It’s just the God-honest truth. It is what it is.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: ‘UFC is better’: Daniel Cormier rips the current state of boxing
