The verbal dispute between boxers and wrestlers on the topic of who will be stronger in a face-to-face fight lasted for many centuries. In the twentieth century, "martial artists" finally moved from words to deeds and held several widely advertised fights. Unfortunately for the fans, they did not give an unambiguous answer to the main question. The famous 1976 fight between the American boxer Mohammed Ali and the Japanese karate fighter and wrestler Antonio Inoki did not put an end to the endless debate.
Not twins
Although boxing with wrestling belongs to combat sports, it is hardly possible to call them “relatives”. They are too different. Especially considering that at the official level, including the Olympic one, competitions are held in several types of wrestling at once - Greco-Roman (classical), freestyle, judo, sambo. Boxing is represented by only one - boxing itself. You can talk about the differences between these sports for a long time, because they are completely different. In general, comparing boxing athletes with their judo or sambo colleagues is ridiculous and ridiculous. After all, no one seriously compares divers and pole divers, hockey players with puck and ball.
It is enough to take at least this difference: boxers beat each other's faces and bodies without pity, using exclusively fists in heavy leather gloves for this. But the wrestlers prefer to "hug" with their bare hands, after which, again with force, they throw the opponent onto the carpet or tatami. Accordingly, the chances of winning a fight in the ring are immeasurably greater for the boxer, and on the mat, of course, for the wrestler. If, of course, athletes of approximately the same level and age participate in the fight. Well, in a banal street fight, the winner is most likely the one who hits first.
Hands and feet
However, there are several types of wrestling, where not only arms are used, but also legs. We are talking about karate, kickboxing and mixed martial arts that have recently become popular in Russia. They are also fights without rules, also called Mix fight, M-1. The M1 fighters, mostly American and Japanese wrestlers, were the first to drop the glove (even if they prefer to enter the ring with their bare hands) to professional boxers. By the way, not without success. In any case, wrestlers who have learned quite well the related sports specialty - precisely hitting an opponent with their feet and hands - clearly do not look like notorious whipping boys.
Attacks on Inoki
The legendary American Mohammed Ali has a famous phrase about a fluttering butterfly and a stinging bee. In it, he brought together two principles of conducting his battle: very quickly, as if dancing, move around the ring, and hit the opponent with sharp lightning strikes. Thanks to these principles embodied in fighting, Ali, who was originally called Cassius Clay, became the champion of the 1960 Olympic Games. And in 1964-1966 and 1974-1978 he was the official world champion among heavyweight pro.
It was Mohammed Ali who fought in Tokyo in June 1976, which was supposed to give the final answer to the question "Who is stronger: a boxer or a wrestler?" His rival in the dispute for the title of absolute world champion in martial arts and six million prize dollars, was the strongest wrestler in Japan at that time, Antonio (Kanji) Inoki. It is curious that initially the organizers intended to make a show with a predetermined result. But the athletes did not agree with this and fought honestly. That is, as best they could.
True, in the end it turned out to be something like a show. The Japanese, who perfectly understood that one missed "jab" would be enough for him to knockout and defeat, spent most of the time on his back or sitting. But at the same time, he managed to inflict so many sensitive kicks (according to experts' estimates, about 60) on the opponent who was circling in a rage that after the final gong he was sent to the hospital with extensive hematomas. Ali, despite his active movement, diligence and loud calls for Inoki to "fight like a man", all 15 rounds of a 60-minute duel jumped around a lying opponent, but managed to carry out only a few weak blows.
It is also worth noting that the participants in the battle, which gathered a record TV audience for Japan and further raised interest in the M-1, were in an unequal position. After all, Ali could freely use his entire boxing arsenal, including his trademark and usually resulting in a knockout "jab" in the head, and not invent anything. Inoki, on the other hand, was forbidden not only to use techniques from karate, but also to beat without pressing the other leg to the floor. Based on the overall balance of effective strikes, the Asian wrestler should have been declared the winner. However, the referees decided not to offend anyone, dividing the prize fund equally, and the injured Mohammed took three million with him to America. Where he soon defeated another wrestler - Buddy Wolfe.
Jack the Ripper
By the way, Ali's fight against Inoki was far from the first rivalry between boxers and wrestlers. It began in November 1913, when world boxing champion Jack Johnson, who had fled to Europe from an imprisonment of 13 months, easily coped with Andre Sproul, who decided to beat his fists. Later, the laurels of a fugitive criminal also won, proving the advantage of boxers in open combat, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Archie Moore. But another representative of the "drummers", Chuck Wepner, who played the role of kickboxer Rocky Balboa in the popular Hollywood action movie, was unlucky, he lost to his counterpart, who weighed twice as much.
Italian Primo Carnera, competing with Jimmy Londos, used a wrestling technique against him and reduced the fight to an honorable draw for the boxer. But even more interesting was the fight in April 86 between heavyweight boxer Scott LeDux and famous wrestler Larry Zbusco. Not only that a record number of fans gathered to watch their fight - more than 20 thousand, so it also ended, although it took place according to boxing rules, in a fight for the ropes of the ring and mutual disqualification.
It's about preparation
Not paying attention to the results, martial arts specialists who do not take part in such battles argue that the guarantee of victory is not a sport, but a fighter's confidence in his abilities, his best preparedness for a specific fight and a professional level. Probably, the latter concept also includes sports cunning, which allowed the same Antonio Inoki not only not to suffer from "bee stings" performed by the formidable Muhammad Ali, but also to earn three million dollars for an hour of lying in the ring.
