Undefeated Boxer BJ Flores Signs with Shine Fights for MMA Debut
Undefeated WBO NABO cruiserweight champion BJ Flores is likely to become the latest boxer to make the jump to mixed martial arts, agreeing to a non-exclusive, multi-fight contract with upstart Shine Fights after fielding offers from several promotions, according to MMA Mania.
He follows heavyweight champ James Toney, who recently signed a controversial deal with the UFC, and Ricardo Mayorga, who will make his debut against Din Thomas at Shine Fights’ May 15 event, into the sport.
Flores, who improved to 24-0-1 with 15 knockouts following a fourth-round TKO of Epifanio Mendoza in August, is likely to debut in June or July and could fight at light heayweight (205-pounds) or middleweight (185-pounds) after competing in boxing’s 200-pound cruiserweight division.
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I guess its possible that some of these younger, more viable boxers are starting to see the writing on the wall, and are trying to beat the rush to make the MMA jump.
One or two might actually have the heart, the talent, and the brains to make it in our sport.
We’ll probably see a lot of this early on, thanks to Tim Sylvia’s embarrassing performance against Ray Mercer, boxing fan Dana White and new MMA eyesore James Toney, although I’m confident that most of these guys will get gNp’ed or submitted by decent opponents, which will send them back to fighting in a ring with those ridiculous gloves in short order…
Out of curiousity….whats your beef with Boxers? Do you feel the same way when one dimensional College wrestlers attempt a tansition to MMA, or one dimensional BJJ athletes, or even one dimensional Muay Thai fighters make the transition?
I actually have no “beef” with any single-skilled fighter, boxers included, except when they don’t recognize the limitations of their dicipline and pay MMA the proper respect.
Boxers in particular seem to carry themselves in a manner which communicates to me that they in some way think their sport and their skill superior to MMA, which is laughable.
These days even the most egotistical Grace JJ fighters knows he’d get killed in the cage if he stepped in with a singular skillset.
BoxING, on the other hand, should be ashamed of itself.
In the past half century it went from being the second most popular sport in the US to be little more than a sideshow of alphabet soup, weightclasses every 8 pounds or so, and crooked promoters simultaneously killing the sport and debasing the fighters.
On a personal note, my grandfather lived and died almost his entire life as an ardent boxing fan. When he passed, I was asked by my family to head down to his place and clear it out for the realtor. Therein I found literally boxes of boxing biographies, decades of old clippings, crates of old Ring Magazines and fight programs, autographed photos, a framed and signed pair of boxing trunks from former HW champion Larry Holmes, and his most prized possession, an autographed photo of him in his teens with then-HW champion Rocky Marciano.
My gf at the time looked around and said, “holy sh!t, j, your grandfather loved boxing like you love ultimate fighting”.
At the time I was too choked up to correct her to let her know that its MMA, but you get the idea.
The deal here is that boxing had its day in the sun, and instead of working hard to continue to earn the fans respect, they p!ssed it all away thru greed and ego and bad promotional decision making.
I’ll be damned if I let the same thing happen to MMA, and the last thing I want is for our sport to become a sort of catch pan for aging and/or failed boxers, the same way we’re starting to see the influx of failed or aging NFLers.
If a boxer wants to head over to ATT or AKA or Xtreme Couture or Team Quest and respectfully ask to be trained, thats fine.
When a guy tries to “James Toney” his way into MMA, thats exactly where I put my foot, and my posting hammer, down.
Let me finish by saying that if I’ve learned one thing in MMA, its that grapplers do much better than strikers when transitioning to MMA.
A former NCAA wrestling champion or ADCC tourney champion is going to do a lot better in the cage than some Golden Gloves guy who hasn’t a clue about what to do when he hits the mat.
Hope this answers your question…
And that’s why you don’t question jcohl. Sorry about your grandfather, sounds like one heckuva guy!
Yea it does. Your points are very clear, and now I can see where some of the resentment comes from. And even tho I’m a huge fan of both sports, I have to agree with you about the greedy promoters and the “lazy past their primes James Toney” contaminating MMA. Thanks for the clarity.
your obviously not a true fight fan if your so negative and uneducated about boxing. “ridiculous gloves”, yeah right. I cant see how a real fight fan wouldnt be into both sports.
personal attacks are not needed~ FR702
“Uneducated about boxing?!”
Sometimes I think this is just a set-up, its so easy, but OK, I’ll go with it.
And mods, please, this isn’t me personally attacking dps, but merely responding to his post about my alleged boxing ignorance.
He’s a big boy, I’m sure, and won’t need the customary “protection” guys like this usually receive when they try and test me :)
Now, where in boxing long and glorius history would you like to begin, “friend”, maybe with the circa 1930′s interpromotional war between Jimmy Johnston of the old Madison Square Garden and Mike Jacobs 20th Century Sporting Club or the circa 1970′s/80′s interpromotional war between Bob Arum and Don King?
Or we could discuss the merits of the famed “HW championship long counts”, one of which allowed Gene Tunney to retain the HW championship against Jack Dempsey, and the other which allowed Buster Douglas to regain his feet and evetually stop Mike Tyson for the title?
Or, we could delve into the Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali saga, but that would be too easy for an “expert” like you, seeing as how they just covered this on SpikeTV a month ago.
Possibly we could kick around who is NJ’s best homegrown boxer, former MW champion Marvin Hagler or former HW champion James J Braddock?
Who was the better Lardner in terms of sportswritership, Ring Lardner, the founder of Ring Magazine, or his son John, who was amongst the first to bring less hype and more journalism to boxing, and thereby discover things like the fact that Max Schmeling was NOT in fact a Nazi, and declared a young up-and-comer named Joe Louis would be HW champion YEARS before the fact?
You tell me, dsp, in your estimable opinion, who was the greater SUSPECTED Italian Mob-backed heavyweight champion fighter, Primo Carnera or Rocky Maricano?
Are you getting my point here, friend?
I don’t attack boxing out of ignorance, I attack it out of painful familiarity, and the fear that MMA might one day slide into boxing’s current quagmire of too many orgs, too many weightclasses, too few reputable promoters, and fighters the public can’t possibly get behind?
Just to avoid future unpleasantness, maybe you should just sit for awhile and take the time to discover what the frenZy in general and myself in particular are all about before acting out swinging wildly like Max Baer after a case of Red Bulls…
;)
Flores does NOT have a good style to make the transition. He plods.
Look for opponents to easily get inside and tie him up, where they can either fight from the clinch or work for takedowns.
Flores only has one advantage: fighting from a boxer’s range. Unfortunately for him, his way of boxing will ensure that his one advantage is something that opponents can take out of play easily.
I totally agree
i agree bob i dont think its such a good transition for his style,and for the sport of boxing.were losing more and more fighters to mma,and b.j is kindda the future of the heavyweight division.we need these boxers to stay as boxers not fighters.
wow, this is interesting by the sound of it this guy will be able to knockout pretty much anyone he connects clean on. Lets take allesio sakara 8-1 pro boxing record and in mma his power and technique is world class
Bj Flores couldnt find a decent fight in boxing so I guess he’ll knock out some cans in MMA for equal money…. Strange move but we’ll see how it works out for him. Boxing still pays its elite athletes far more than MMA does, but I think that more and more mma athletes are recieving more respect and recognition than mid-level Boxers. I guess that could part of the motivation for guys like Mayorga, Flores, Toney, or whoever outside of the Boxing elite.
anybody can be an MMA fighter,check this dude out talking about boxers making it in MMA.boxers can do more damage in MMA then MMA in boxing.
boxing takes years and skill to master.MMA is as simple as a street fight.lmmafo.boxing is skill.MMA is a gay brawl.
This clearly is a troll attempt and a rather weak one at that, I posted this person’s comments becuase well it to me is hilarious, and I wanted people to view it unedited {for now}~ FR702
Thanks for the laugh, mr mike, and thanks for the peek, fr702…
:)
i seriously shat my self when reading this…
i know i shouldnt pay any attention to mr mike but ive never seen a triangle or any kind of sub in a street fight. its usually a mr mike trying to throw a haymaker or sloppily BOX the other mr mike over a spilled drink on his ed hardy shirt. a flying armbar in a streetfight. haha
I like the idea o boxer coming into mma.might open their eyes to real fighting. I do luv boxing but alas it is one deminsional. But on the otherhand mma fighters striking level is know where near boxing in ne shape or form. So if a boxer learns to sprawl and brawl he might do quite well
Good point, which gave me a good idea. Much obliged ;)
The truth is if a man like Chuck Liddell is wondering what the He11 to do with himself when his fighting days are finally done, he should SERIOUSLY consider opening his own version of Xtreme Couture or Team Quest, where they primarily take wrestlers and turn them into MMA fighters, or in XC’s case take ground-savvy MMA fighters and turn them into better MMA fighters.
It seems like these days most of the first and second generation MMA stars are operating their own MMA gyms [Punishment Athletics, Wand Fight Gym, High Altitude Martial Arts, etc], so why not Liddell, who served as the face of the UFC for years?
Liddell has a residence in the Vegas area, and I’m sure any number of gyms [including the UFC gyms] would be delighted to partner up with him in creating an MMA training center that works with Western boxer/Thai boxer/Dutch kickboxer-types and generally introduces them to MMA and particularly clues them into the tactis and strategy of sprawl and brawl, which Liddell himself used to such great championship effect for several years.
Or, he could simply announce that he’s going to be a co-head trainer at John Hackleman’s Pit, with emphasis on attracting guys like Flores, or maybe some K-1 guys, or even some promising Thai boxer like from The Contender series on Versus, and turning them into a real MMA fighter.
With the right backing and promotion, such as his friend Dana White could easily supply, Liddell could immediately establish himself as a top MMA trainer. Plus, as we saw on TUF, Liddell has both the aptitide and attitude to work with young fighters.
As an MMA fan I would much rather see Liddell working with guys like Cung Le and BJ Flores, even James Toney, rather than Dancing With The Stars or being a character on The Simpsons…
real fighting?. Yeah cos a BBJ master like Royce Gracie is so much more of a real fighter than someone like Mike Tyson. I know who id like on my side in an all in bar room brawl. Some boxers have styles that made for the real world, some dont. Some mma fighters have styles are made for the real world , some dont. MMA is all about one on one fighting without the variables of the real world. No point being on the ground working to break a limb when a guys mate is there ready to run in and steel cap boot ya in the face.
Boxing nor MMA is a “Bar Fight” so treating either sport as such is ridiculous and irresponsible, imo
Of course, if you hurry up and break that arm instead of just trying to tap the guy (like in most MMA fights) then you can move on to the next guy.
mma guys can’t do a thing in boxing, they would never last 12rounds
I bet Anderson Silva/Randy Couture would do way better in boxing than Flores or Tony will do in MMA.. Or if we want to say top teir boxers, i bet Anderson/Randy will do better in Boxing than Mayweather or Pacio (i couldn’t tell you any other top teir boxers)would do in MMA.
pac would do much better in mma than randy would do in boxing.
and unlike your lack off knowledge in boxing , i follow both boxing and mma. Randy would be a heavyweight and wouldnt win a round against even the **** crop of heavyweights going around. Pac is fast , powerfull, explosive , all the striking traits you want in mma. After a year of full MMA training and a year of Boxing training for Randy , the Pacman would be far far more successfull than randy in boxing and if you think otherwise you have no understanding of either sport. Anderson silva and Bj penn would be the mma fighters that would make good boxers.
Anderson Silva a good boxer? Please, he has already tried his hand at pro boxing and is 1-1 and got ktfo! Keep on rambling! MMA is tough but the two are far apart in reality. Where do the fights start? Oh yeah, standing up. If a boxer can knock someone out with a boxing glove, what are they going to do with a 4oz. mma gloves? I enjoy MMA but it needs more structure. It needs on national body to oversee their amateurs like USA Boxing.
mayweathers boxing style is more skill based and wouldnt necessarily be great for mma but he is also a great athlete so who knows. Just look at GSP and BJ. Bj won the world championships for BJJ after three years of training and GSP is the best wrestler going around even though he didnt grow up with a background in wrestling. He has become so great with his natural athletism and hard work in a relatively short time.
And what the He11 is up with these boxing fans?
Did boxingisstillaliveandwelljustnotnearlyasgoodasitwasdecadesago.com shut down or something?
Guys, please, this isn’t just an MMA website, but the Internet’s premiere website for MMA discussion. If you want to talk MMA, awesome, just bring your “A” game. If not, put it on mute for awhile and learn the landscape before posting so ridiculously here at the frenZy.
If you want to troll, then maybe you should slide on over to some Floyd Mayweather or Don King superfan site and have a go over there.
All your going to get here is laughed at, modded, and eventually ignored.
Also, the level of intelligent discourse is [usually] so high here that our trolls know more about whats the what in MMA than most casual fans from other sports, so maybe you should consider going back to the shallow end of the pool before calling posters like me “uneducated” or somehow otherwise embarrassing yourselves.
Or, you could stick around, lurk for a bit, and learn something rom some of the smartest MMA fans on the planet about a sport thats superior to boxing in every conceivable athletic measure…
I don’t know why do you guys argue what is better and etc.
Boxing is only one discipline of MA and they working on they hands technique and foot work entire life.
MMA is multiple discipline and you have to work for hands technique, kicks, wrestling, submissions and etc ,
then obviously you don’t have enough time or what ever to be best in every aspect, but you try to be good in each of them and this is what MMA about.
Yes I agree if you compare guy who for all his life changing oil vs. the guy who fixing entire car then in oil change the first guy will be the best, but over all in car fixing he has no chance vs second guy.
Nice analogy at the end there, IMO.
this is such a stupid argument and i agree with you vasya but to say a boxer training a year would be a stud in mma i doubt it. give james tony a year to train and see how he does rolling around with big nog or frank mir i also bet he would be able to out wrestle brock lesnar. haha
Boxing is changing mma thats what none of you understand
All the top fighters see that they need boxing to become great.
look at cain and dos santos or even anderson silva all work boxing and thats y they dominate.
but none of these guys would last in boxing a ring.
boxer that learns some ground is a dangerous person
a wrestler with a little boxing still aint ****
most you guys are just number men and have never ever actually done a fighting sport like boxing
Actually, if you’d take the time to learn a bit about the frenZy and its regular posters, you’d discover that several of us, myself included, have stepped onto the mat, or into the ring and/or cage, to compete in several different combat sports, including, but not limited to, wrestling, SAMBO, BJJ/submission grappling, Thai boxing, karate, and of course MMA.
Next time, friend, I would suggest you RESPECTFULLY ASK if a poster has had any actual combat sport experience before posting in ignorance and embarrassing yourself.
Think about it…
The guy just upset and think we do not give enough respect for the boxing, let it be. Obviously boxing technique is part of MMA training and most of us here do understand it. The problem is: try to compare MMA and boxing it’s like to say what is better one finger or two and another problem is when boxers think that based only on one aspect of MMA discipline they can be best ever in sport of MMA and this what make MMA fans to be upset
Its also like compairing horse races to Nascar. One is older, slower, out dated and traditional. The other is Modern, fast pased, more exciting and has a larger fan base. They are both a race, just have different ways of racing
@ vasya – I have a lot of respect for you both here and your real-life martial arts pursuits, so if you’re asking me to let it go, I’ll be more than happy to oblige, my friend…
@jcohl
The best way to win the war is not to be in the war :-)
Hey, jcohl…since you seem be “the expert” on what all boxers are capable of doing in a street fight and in a cage….How many world champion boxers have you’ve seen get beat up in a street fight or in a cage? And yes, you might have competed but have you ever competed against “real boxers” that were good enough to make it Nationals, at the Olympic Training Center? The tournament of champions? I’m not talking about some chump that had a 8 win and 5 loss record, like Dana White did…if Dana really did fight at all…Have you ever been to a “real” training camp? Not something like that joke on spike TV called the Ultimate Fighter. :p Yeah, get drunk and stay up late at night during training camp…Real smart, guys…
And you do know that most boxers, who have been in the game for at least over 10 years, have done their share of sparring against kick boxers, of all sorts, don’t you? And who are you to say that there are no boxers who can grapple or no boxers that has great take down defense?? It’s not like if someone starts throwing kicks at a boxers, that he’s not gonna know what to do. :p Your complete ignorance of boxing tells me that you have no clue. You are probably the same type as those mma folks who would think that BJ Penn would win in a street fight against Bruce Lee. :p
And I don’t think you have any choice on what happens to mma. It could end up being turned into a circus. That is nothing you have any control over. Maybe you guys wouldn’t have brought out all these boxers if you guys wouldn’t have made it a point to disrespect sweet science. Well, you guys called out the lightning and now you’re gonna get thunder. You guys “better pray” that “all” of these guys do bad in mma…Cause, if just one dominates….You will see boxers coming down to mma from here to Christmas. Personally, I think there would be a lot of Boxers (champions and up and comers) who would excel in mma. But I also think there would be a lot (champions and up and comers) who wouldn’t, ether. It’s all in the genes, I think. ;)
By the way….A veteran boxer can use many fighting stances…Who ever said that a big weakness of a boxer is their fighting stance…is a complete idiot. All “good” boxers are capable of fighting the same stance that BJ Penn uses….In fact, boxers were using that stance way before BJ Penn’s father was born. ;)
And just because you can grapple, that doesn’t always mean that you will win in a street fight by taking someone to the ground…I’ve seen too many grapplers (black belts, wrestlers) get torn up by boxers\street fighters who was just more mean and more nasty on the ground than they were…
Edit: While all opinions are valued, in the future, please refrain from personal attacks. -BSBiz