If You Like Biting, Try MMA, Says Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins spent the days prior to his recent win bashing MMA. He spent the minutes after calling his 12 round decision over Winky Wright "the fight that saved boxing." Is he right about either?

Before the fight, Hopkins had this to say about MMA and the UFC, more specifically:

"You want to watch UFC? Go down to your local bar on a Friday night. After a few drinks, a couple of drunks will start throwing punches at one another. There's your UFC for you. UFC is street fighting in a cage. Boxing is a controlled, skilled talent. There's no comparison. Boxing's not going anywhere. It's hundreds of years old, man. You want to see biting, kicking, and kneeing? Go to your nearest bar. You want to see fighting, go to Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on July 21."

I love "The Executioner," but he couldn't more dead wrong in his comparison of the sports. For someone who knows the sport, there's a big difference between "someone throwing punches," and Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell. Perhaps he's just see Frye-Takayama? In another quizzical moment, he alludes to the fact that biting is allowed in the UFC. I believe that biting was outlawed almost a decade ago, making Hopkins, similar to his career, a little outdated.

After the fight, he dropped the topic of MMA and said something just as shocking:

"Winky is tough, and he kept coming," Hopkins said. "He knows that I respect him a lot. I had no ill intent. It was all good for both gentlemen, and boxing is back."

Boxing is back? Is he nuts? Frazier-Ali IV couldn't bring boxing back, let alone the 12 round snoozefest that Hopkins won. He must know better than this statement. Wright and Hopkins are two of the most defensive boxers of this era, and he thinks that their styles colliding won back the fans? Not a chance.

I consider this just another piece in the continuing set of delusions that boxers and boxing fans alike have been telling themselves for the last ten years. The UFC is comparable to bar fights? Laughable. Boxing is back? Even funnier.