There’s no better man to ask about what an MMA fighter can bring to the boxing ring than Joseph Duffy.
Been there, done that, the Donegal fighter has no interest in returning to the ring. In his own words, it just wasn’t for him. It’s a somewhat surprising statement from a man who went undefeated in seven professional bouts after trading in his 4 oz gloves for 10 oz ones.
MMA is the sport that he loves, although he admitted he would be interested in competing in grappling. With the rise of promotions such as Submission Underground, it has become increasingly fashionable for MMA stars to forgo the strikes and test their skills in submission grappling.
The enthusiasm in Duffy’s voice when he spoke to SportsJOE suggests he wouldn’t be too difficult to convince to sign him up for a grappling match.
“Yeah, definitely is something I’ve thought about. When I was younger I used to compete all the time whether it be grappling, kickboxing fights, I’d be competing pretty much every week. So I definitely feel that it helps you improve and it keeps you sharp.”
“It’s something that I’m definitely interested in. Anything that I think is going to improve my game is going to be interesting.”
“McGregor isn't a creature that abides by the laws of logic” https://t.co/wddmThi7LN
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 10, 2017
Duffy went straight from professional MMA to professional boxing, opting against trying his hand at amateur pugilism first. Coming from a prize fighting background on the European MMA scene, he noticed some similarities, but transitioning to a whole new sport took time.
“Obviously there were some things that were similar. I was used to fighting in Cage Warriors at that stage. That seemed like a bigger show – more lights, more coverage, that type of thing, so that was easy enough to deal with, but it was a different sport altogether. It took at least six months to a year before I could really get up to par. Boxing is a different game.”
The skill-set he amassed by living the life of a student of martial arts certainly helped him on his endeavour. He found that a lot of the techniques transitioned from the cage to the ring.
“Oh without a doubt (training in MMA helps in the clinch). Even in the striking skills, if you’ve got a decent level of striking it does cross over. I think MMA fighters are very good on the nutrition and the weight cut and that type of thing. I think there’s a lot of stuff that crosses over.”
How quickly people forget https://t.co/0xakx7ZVsB
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 5, 2017
Having experience in both the worlds of MMA and boxing, there is no better man to give a take on Conor McGregor’s ambitious boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather than Duffy.
Although he believes there are too many variables in play to predict how the bout will go down, Duffy has no doubt over who would win. He expects it to be very one-sided in favour of the man competing in his own realm.
“I just think Mayweather will win pretty convincingly. Whether he stops him or not, is another story. I definitely feel it’s a landslide to Mayweather.”
“I’m not sure (if Mayweather finishes McGregor). We’ve never seen Conor box. There’s definitely things to look at there. It’s hard to gauge. Obviously Conor’s never fought someone of that level in a boxing match. I suppose until it happens, none of us have a clue how it’s going to go down.”
None of us have a clue… truer words were never spoken.
