Thursday, September 20, 2012

Jon "Bones" Jones, Another Reason (for Boxing) to be jealous of MMA



 
Envy is toxic and destructive, it can build over time and result in treacherous acts that hurt the inflicter and the inflicted. As a personal rule it's important that we should all check ourselves when we get that little green monster creeping around up there-but if we ignore him it wont be pretty. Now i prefer "jealousy" the easygoing cousin of envy, it's instructive, purposeful, out and the open and yes it can be fun. Jealousy is putting your envy out there immediately and plugging it into ihome speakers, this kind of healthy projecting is a form of manifestation that can actually lead you to doing something about "it". A couple of days ago i witnessed yet another great interview of  UFC #1 Pound For Pound Mixed Martial Artist Jon "Bones" Jones and i have to say as a fan of Boxing the little green man surfaced on my shoulder. This Blog is the lifesaver, a portal where i can plea bargain the envy down to respectful jealousy on behalf of the Sweet Science. Stephen A. Smith made a point to couch the interview with the not so subtle viewpoint that Boxing fails to give consumers what they want (yeah you got us) and like the soon to be Nike "face" Jones is he didn't press the matter- leaving the propaganda to Dana White. And speaking of Dana White we over here in the "never see the fight we want " world of Boxing love to give him a pass for his bluster because he gets the job done- and Diplomatically so does Jones. White blew a gasket when Jones refused to take on Chael Sonnen on short notice thus blowing up a UFC 151 card, an act we over here can admire. If top fighters in Boxing simply ignored blowhards like Ricardo Mayorga he would have been culled from the PPV Ranks long ago. Jones wouldn't lower himself to giving a payday to a guy who embarrassed himself only months ago at a lower weight division-Sonnen didn't deserve to come back on that platform, "gamer" or not. The unusual thing about it is UFC fans hate him like fans in Boxing hate Mayweather; they have no idea how good they have it and reading their complaints they have no idea how little they "have". Phil Knight is no fool, and I'm sure one talk with Jones was a transformational moment, the kid understands how to perform at an elite level while marketing his brand- a lot like the modern NBA player. But maybe for UFC fans that's the problem; he's long, and athletic, from a family of pro athletes and he tends to make the shorter MMA guys look ordinary by (dare i say it) standing up and striking. He can wrestle, but elite athleticism isn't dependant on getting your guy on the mat , it's a last resort, something he can do if he "happens" to get caught down there. Maybe being brought up with no cellphones, no frills and with strong values makes him a Tebow like target, i mean lets face it fight fans aren't exactly boy scouts. We have a guy like him in our sport, his name is Andre Ward but unfortunately he's overshadowed by a man who is 50/50 to retire 50-0 or go to jail. I'm jealous because We don't get to see Ward or even Sergio Martinez sitting on ESPN showing off their great personalities accented by Stephen A's "He's a Baaaaad Maaaan!". No, we get Pacquiao and Marquez on ESPN First Take, and although both men were great (JMM's English is really good now) you got the feeling they were only brought in to ultimately talk about Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. UFC, not so much- because they received exposure this week through a 25 yr. old, American born star on the rise who will be the inspiration for 3,400 Nike products this fall. It must be nice, and I'll be rooting for @Jonnybones this Saturday when he faces lighting fast striker Betor Belfort..but i will be "hating" a little-for the sake of Boxing.

If you ever get tired of the unfair scrutiny across the aisle come on over Jon, you'll find us (Boxing) a little more accepting over here. We know you'll probably be facing Anderson Silva soon because that is what your sport is set up to do, so think about it-you'll only be 27 by then-WE COULD USE THE EXPOSURE.

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