To narrow the most notable boxing and MMA crossover fights to just a few is hard. And what one person thinks is the best fight will be completely different from the rest. Was it ratings? The history between the duo or the comeback kid that you thought was down and out? 

Regardless of who’s on your list and why, these are arguably some of the best fights we have had to date. 

McGregor vs. Mayweather 

Dubbed “The Money Fight” and “The Biggest Fight In Combat Sports History” saw Mayweather winning the boxing match against Conor McGregor in the 10th round by TKO. Keep in mind that McGregor is predominantly known for his MMA fighting while Mayweather was skilled in boxing. This alone was the reason why the referee looked Macgregor in the eye pre-match and told him to stick to the rules. 

The Las Vegas ring saw Floyd Mayweather Jr, an undefeated 11-time, five-division boxing world champion extend his career to 50 victories and 0 defeats, passing Hall of Famer Rocky Marciano. Mayweather, 40 at the time, was facing MMA star, Conor McGregor. McGregor, a UFC star, started rumors of wanting to fight Mayweather as UFC president Dana White quickly dismissed them.

That fight would be the most lucrative year for all three men. 

Sean of Brawl Bros. had this to say: “This fight really captured the fans imagination. It was two brash young trash talkers and mega stars from different combat sports coming to a head on collision. It’s no wonder its the second biggest fight in history, and best of all, it lived up to the hype. It was actually a great fight.”

Ali vs. Antonio Inoki

“A War of the Worlds” was the famous fight between American professional boxer Muhammad Ali and Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki. June 26, 1976, in Tokyo, Japan had ended in a draw. Something that has long been argued over by fans. The fight itself had a special set of rules put in place just shortly before the start of the fight. It is the closest fight we have to today’s MMA. 

However, this fight would have normally disqualified Inoki who spent most of the time on his back. Specifically sending 107 kicks to Ali on the ground. Due to these special rules implemented he was in fact not disqualified. 

At the time, Ali was confident coming off a big win over the then WBC/WBA  heavyweight champion, Richard Dunn. Inoki on the other hand was constantly fighting in MMA situations to demonstrate his wrestling tactics, in the end, was superior. 

Today, the fight is still debated. 

James Toney vs. Randy Couture

Nearly two decades ago in the TD Garden, James Toney was given a lesson in MMA. Randy Couture, a previous UFC heavyweight/lightweight world champion, put Toney, a professional boxer, on his back in less than a minute. 

And he never got up from there. 

There’s not much to say other than Toney’s inexperience led to him squirming which led Couture to apply an arm triangle. After 3 minutes and 19 seconds, 15,575 fans saw Toney submit and tap out. 

Mayweather vs. Tenshin

While we are on the subject of total smackdowns then we must talk about Mayweather vs Tenshin. Mayweather, who was now 41, completely destroyed Tenshin, 20, in hardly more than two minutes. 

Tenshin was a kickboxing champion and was flat on his back after one left hook, a right uppercut, and a right hand to the head. While Mayweather expressed how much fun he had, Tenshin looked like he was ready to cry. Probably because Mayweather was essentially untouched by the end of the fight. 

Ray Mercer vs. Tim Silvia

We will keep this one as short as the fight was. Sylvia was a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion that got knocked out in one of the quickest MMA fights in history. The fight was called “Bragging Rights” and saw Sylvia battling a 48-year-old former boxing champion. 

Originally to air on ABC, the boxing match was canceled due to age and fight history evidently. However, the rules quickly changed to MMA and it was rescheduled. However, the fight only lasted 12-seconds before he laid unconscious. 

Upcoming: Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren

Set for April 17th is the highly anticipated pay-per-view showdown between Jake Paul and Ben Askren. On one hand, you have Askren,  an experienced but retired MMA fighter who competed in Bellator and UFC. Note that he was a Bellator Champion and One Welterweight Champion. 

Then we have Jake Paul, a youtube personality and now professional boxer. Despite only having two fights on his resume Paul is still favored to win. However, only marginally. This is because his career revolved largely around youtube and Askren’s has been that of a fighter and a world class wrestler. Where the fight gets even is that Askren’s fighting career was largely him taking opponents down and submitting them, and his striking was always frowned upon. 

Upcoming: Anderson Silva vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

Possibly one of the most surprising events of summer, June 19th will feature a 10-round boxing match between Anderson Silva and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Guadalajara, Mexico. This is the main event in the “Tribute to the Kings” pay-per-view. 

Anderson is a former UFC middleweight champion set to take on Chavez who is the ex-WBC middleweight title holder Anderson is set at +275 as the underdog while Chavez is -350 and the favorite. 

With Silva winning just one bout in the last eight years, it’s no surprise why the predictions are the way they are. It may have been smarter for Silva to take a payout against Roy Jones Jr. Rather than losing to a less than stellar Chavez Jr. 

It Will Happen Again 

One thing is for sure, is that the recent success of these fights can ensure that it will continue to happen. Canelo vs Masvidal was being talked about, as well as Ryan Garcia vs a ton of different MMA fighters. He’s actually discussed retiring from boxing at 26 in order to pursue a career in MMA full time. If that happens that will be the first time a high profile male boxer jumps over to MMA in his prime. There are a lot of exciting fights to be made and tons of activity happening between both the MMA and boxing world and you can rest assured that more of these events will be made because everytime fans gather together and let their curiosity take over. 

As long as fans watch, the fights will get made, are you watching?