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WBO Heavyweight Champion Sergei Liakhovich and Coach Craig

Many boxing aficionados complain that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is overtaking boxing. But the question is why?

Is MMA superior to boxing?

I have an immense respect for the practioners of MMA - particularly when it was first introduced by Rickson and Royce Gracie (two men who weighed no more than 180 pounds) who showed the world how they could beat any man of any size with their grappling art of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. But MMA has evolved since, and as the strikers of MMA (i.e. karate, boxing, savate, muay tai, kung fu etc.) have learned how to grapple - or more recently learned how to evade grapplers - we are seeing strikers now come back into dominance. Strikers, who many experts contend, would not make it in boxing.

Years ago when the PKA (Professional Karate Association) first emerged onto the sporting scene - the first thing fans wanted to see was how a boxer would fare against a black belt. The public - quite smitten with the media’s esoteric portrayal of the martial arts, Bruce Lee and the like - was certain that karate would prevail over boxing. Wrong! To everyone’s surprise, semi-pro boxers were knocking out professional World PKA Champs.  Fight analysts reasoned this consistent outcome of events due to the observation that 90 percent of a fight came down to punching, not kicking.  And despite all of the public’s fascination with Chuck Norris and board breaking, punching mastery belonged to the boxer - not the karate practioner.

Subsequently, shrewd PKA competitors started taking boxing lessons in order improve their performance against other karate adversaries in the PKA ring. In fact, punching became so prevalent over kicking in PKA competitions that the PKA had to impose a minimum of 8 kicks per round in order to keep the karate match from turning into a boxing bout!  Now 8 minimum kicks aside, would you pay to see these guys box?

The reverse scenario seems to have occurred in the MMA where Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu proved its initial dominance over boxing, karate, and the other striking arts - that is until recently as strikers have become more familiar with the art of grappling. MMA champions and strikers such as Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida know how to grapple, but prefer to evade a grappling situation if possible so that they can employ what they do best - strike! No pun intended, but “Evasion” is a trend that is taking hold. Evasion is now considered a specialty that many pure strikers are solely seeking to learn in order circumvent the time needed to become proficient in grappling, which in the past has been prerequisite for success in MMA.

If the art of evasion becomes the effective antidote to a grappler’s attack - the question becomes will strikers - or those who are most proficient in boxing - eventually dominate MMA? Will we have a similar scenario that we had in the PKA years ago where it’s participants preferred to punch than kick? Where tomorrow’s MMA participants will prefer to punch than grapple?

If so, then has grappling ultimately proven itself superior to punching, when the defense of evasion has seemingly enabled the striker to prevail?  MMA champions Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, and Lyoto Machida are formidable MMA strikers, but how would their striking ability alone fair against the striking talents of Floyd Mayweather or Mike Tyson? If grappling were not in the equation - would you pay to see the likes of a Chuck Liddell or Rashad Evans simply box?

Will MMA’s evolution be its success or undoing?

MMA has evolved immensely within the last ten years - so much so that there has been a great deal of talk that it is anyone’s guess where it will be in another ten years. But with the current trend of strikers coming back into dominance - with the advent of “evasion” as part of MMA’s evolution - I think we may be getting ahead of ourselves.

I would most enjoy hearing everyone’s comments.

Yours in strength,

Coach Craig
Trainer of Champions

A lot of people ask me why Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the ultimate martial art. “How is that someone with just a few years of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training can easily destroy someone who had 10, 15 or more years of experience in another martial art such as muay thai boxing, kung fu or karate?” The answer is simple: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu evolved out of the necessity to survive in the street. It is an art that evolved on one single premise that is acknowleged in combat: kill or be killed.

If you compete in submissions in Brazil you are fighting some of the very best fighters in the world - fighters who both fight in the street as well as the cage. Having mercy for your opponent is unheard of, so fighters here don’t come to lose. Therefore, if you come to Brazil to fight, then you better be prepared - prepared to win, get badly hurt or killed.

MMA has evolved immensely over the past 15 years. Fighters are stronger, faster and better conditioned. If you want to stay at the top of this game - you cannot afford to spare any expense when it comes to the 6 factors of strength training, diet, supplementation, conditioning, recovery and expert counseling. These 6 factors are not something that you are going to find in a can of creatine at your local health food store. But you can find it at Iron Curtain Labs. Iron Curtain Labs carries a unique Strength Building System designed specifically to meet the needs of professional athletes called the GH 1000 Professional Athletes Strength Building System. This system is no joke - it is a very, very powerful anabolic strength building system which will invoke huge gains in strength and lean body mass for anyone who earnestly follows it. Iron Curtain Labs is a company run by 4 Time World’s Strongest Man Champion Magnus ver Magnusson and Coach Craig Smith. Although both men are largely retired from competition, they are still in fantastic shape and are now totally devoted to the training and counseling of serious athletes. If you would like to know more about GH 1000 or Iron Curtain Labs visit gh1000.com or ironcurtainlabs.com. If you would like to read more about what others have to say about this program please visit www.magnusvermagnusson.com.

See you in the cage,

Yury Rodrigues

coachyury@ironcurtainlabs.net

“Ya never got me down Ray!” – Jake LaMotta’s last words to Sugar Ray Robinson

Drama – the essence of life itself. Drama is what made legends out of such names as Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano, Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Iron Mike Tyson.

Many boxing aficionados complain that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is overtaking boxing – but the question is why? Is it because MMA is more exciting? Or is it because boxing lacks the drama that it possessed in the past?  Don’t get me wrong, I have an immense respect for the practioners of MMA - particularly when it was first introduced by Rickson and Royce Gracie (two men who weighed no more than 180 pounds) who showed the world how they could beat any man of any size with their grappling art of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. But MMA has evolved since, and as the strikers of MMA (i.e. karate, boxing, savate, muay tai, kung fu etc.) have learned how to grapple - or more recently learned how to evade grapplers – we are seeing strikers now come back into dominance. Strikers who would not make it in boxing.

C’mon guys, what sells tickets to the movies? Is it not the same formula that sells tickets to a fight? If history is any lesson, take a look at what happened to boxing when it lost its heroes. Boxing plunged when Ali was forced to take a three-year hiatus, after his license was revoked for his refusal to serve in the armed forces. Ali was replaced by the likes of Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis – where was the drama? Could you blame fans? Could you blame the reporters who wrote for the fans? Or their publishers who were under the gun to sell newspapers? How many people did Tyson turn on to boxing?   I am willing to wager the very same people who stopped watching boxing when Tyson’s myth made its exodus.

Think about it – do any of the current stars of the MMA have the charisma of a Muhammad Ali or even a Sugar Ray Leonard? Does current heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko, who was knocked cold due to his glass jaw in the prime of his career by several unknowns have the charm, fan and media draw of Mike Tyson?

Drama – or quite frankly the lack of drama is what is hurting boxing today. But boxing may soon be due for an encore. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are at the moment the biggest headliners in boxing and both have star appeal reminiscent of legends past.   Both are in the same weight class and both have exchanged the title of Pound for Pound the Greatest with Mayweather’s abdication of the welterweight throne.

Such a match up has all the makings of a story only Hollywood’s best screenwriters could dream of. The characters: the mythical Manny Pacquiao, and his trainer the legendary Freddie Roach; the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his eccentric father Floyd Mayweather Sr. who will reunite for what will be perhaps Mayweather Jr’s last fight and chance to save their troubled father-son relationship.   Both camps have drama, color, depth, story and the very best of tools from all players to make this an historic and much needed proverbial punch in the arm for boxing.

But after the fight, or series of fights, when Manny and Floyd inevitably lay their gloves to rest – what new story will boxing have to serve to its fans?

New York fans need to look no further than middleweight contender Danny Jacobs (17-0, 15 KO’s) and rising star Marcus Bianconi (4-0, 4 knockouts).   Like their amateur bouts, such a matchup in the pros will be a war.   Styles make fights and a fight between Jacobs and Bianconi would be no exception. Danny Jacobs has been compared to the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Bianconi, whose style is relentless and has never been knocked down inside the ring or out has been likened to the raging bull Jake La Motta!

Danny is one of the hottest prospects in the middleweight division today and is expected by many to go on to win the middleweight championship of the world. “That is if he does not run into me first..”, remarks a confident Bianconi.

When asked why he feels he has the tools to beat Jacobs in the pros, Marcus Bianconi had this to say:

“Danny was a very talented amateur - no question. The rules of the amateurs suited Danny to a T. But let’s face it - amateur national champs are a dime a dozen in the pros - and their achievements in amateur boxing are not a guaranteed indication that they are going to go on to win a world title.

I have been outpointed over four rounds per se in the amateurs but have never been outfought or knocked down anywhere in the pros, amateurs or in sparring. I don’t believe Jacobs or many other top prospects can say the same thing. But this is what the pros are about - no amateur rules, smaller gloves, more rounds to inflict damage, no headgear, and the ref is not going to step in unless someone is getting seriously hurt - where the winner is more often than not determined by the fighter who has the greater tolerance for pain.  If you have any doubts, then ask yourself what would have been the outcome of the first Chavez-Taylor bout if it was governed by amateur rules as opposed to professional. Taylor was winning on all cards all the way into 12th round, and then in the final seconds he dropped from Chavez’ cumulative and relentless attack. Yet the outcome would have been in Taylor’s favor had they met under amateur rules.

I am a throw back to the old days when guys like Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano, and Tony Zale dominated the ring – a warrior who is not afraid to get his hands dirty – you know what I mean? I would like to fight Jacobs, but I don’t think his people will want to see it happen any time soon.   Such a matchup is going to be a war – like Frazier and Ali – exciting yes – but also the kind that shortens careers. Why would Jacobs’ people want to take that kind of fight when they could take three or four easier fights and make the same money?

Today, boxing is more about money than it is about who is the best. That was basically Teddy Atlas’ gripe with Jacobs.   It wasn’t about Jacobs’ ability, but rather the softness of the competition that was being put in front of him. Take last night’s fight with George Walton for example.   Jacobs was quoted as saying that boxing was a young man’s game, yet he and his people picked poor old George Walton who is 35 years old and took a hiatus from boxing for several years to boot.

Years ago, guys from the neighborhood fought every week.   Nobody avoided anybody. Everyone had a code about honor, courage, and pride. A burning desire to be the best. You had to respect that. I think that is one of the reasons MMA is growing in popularity.”

“Ya never got me down Ray!” Honor, courage, pride, and burning desire – the building blocks of a great drama. If you are in the mood for some drama - a sampling of what you could expect from a future war between Danny Jacobs and Marcus Bianconi, then be sure to check out their classic amateur bout when they met at the Metro Finals in 2003.

Yours in strength,

Coach Craig Smith

Marcus Bianconi vs. Danny Jacobs

Jake LaMotta vs. Sugar Ray Robinson

My Day with MMA Legend Dan Severn!

My experience with Dan Severn was awesome. His training facilities are top notch and the man they call the “Beast” is one classy and polite guy. In the ring he is an animal - a beast…out of the ring he is a warm, gentle man who goes out of his way to make you feel at home.  In his gym, Dan Severn gave me the workout of my life and also helped me win several amateur cage matches in Chicago.

If anyone out there wants a true down and dirty training experience I highly recommend, MR DAN “THE BEAST” SEVERN! GO TO WWW.DANSEVERN.COM AND TALK TO THE MAN AND ASK HIM TO TRAIN YOU…AND BOY, WILL HE TRAIN YOU.  GOD BLESS THE BEAST!

- Bob Rogers

Danny Jacobs and Marcus Bianconi are now undefeated in the pros. Inevitably, there will be a showdown. Still the question remains: which fighter will ultimately prevail in an arena where there are no amateur rules, smaller gloves, no headgear, and more rounds to inflict greater bodily harm - where the winner may ultimately be decided upon who has the greater tolerance for pain?

Such a match up promises to be a war!

Who do you think is better suited for the pros and who will be the victor in their future professional bout?

At the sound of the bell in round one, Bianconi bolted out of his corner like a man possessed - ferociously clubbing both the face and body of Emanuel Brugan. Brugan tried to fight back, but it was of no use. Without any regard for Brugan’s prowess, Bianconi blasted though his opponent’s defense - barreled Brugan into the ropes and dropped him in the corner with a short, hard left. When Brugan rose to beat the count, - Bianconi commenced with horrifying bone crunching combinations that could be heard throughout the arena. Brugan desparately pawed and groped out of defense, while Bianconi continued to smash. Within seconds, Brugan’s face was covered with disfiguring welts - signaling no other alternative to the referee but to mercifully stop the bout at 1:44 of the first round.

Marcus Bianconi’s professional record now stands at 4-0 with 4 knockouts. Marcus credits his success to the tutelage he has received from his trainer Coach Craig Smith and the strength training program designed for him by Iron Curtain Labs.

In what was nothing short of being called a war, Iron Curtain Labs’ Marcus Bianconi stopped Philadelphia’s John Turner in round 2! In round one, John Turner stunned Bianconi with an electrifying right hand to Bianconi’s temple. The punch which induced a huge hematoma on the side of Bianconi’s head, also resulted in Turner breaking his hand in three different places. Undeterred, Bianconi roared back with a right hand of his own - dropping Turner in the second round. With Turner unable to continue, referee Vic de Wysocki halted the bout at 3:00 of the second round.

Click to See the fight!!!