Everyone has heard the stories of how much a fighter must sacrifice to be successful. It wouldn’t be news if I told you that there’s a physical toll on the body from training almost religiously for years at a time, and you wouldn’t be shocked if I warned you that fighter’s personal lives are just as difficult. Missing a child’s birthday or an anniversary is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the mental strain competing in combat sports puts on a person.
After potentially life altering defeats, can Mark Munoz and Tim Boetsch bounce back?
The side effect we don’t talk about may ironically be the most easy to see. It’s also the most difficult to watch. Watching a fighter have their soul and will to fight ripped from their body, to the point they are the never the same human being again, is a very real thing. Those who aren’t fight fans won’t know what I’m talking about, and may not believe me. But fight fans know. They know when they’ve seen it. They know what the aftermath looks like.
The most prevalent example of the last 20 years was when former Olympic gold medalist Meldrick Taylor took on Julio Cesar Chavez. The date was September 17, 1994. Taylor took the early rounds of the bout, using his precision and power to overwhelm his opponent, but Chavez continued to fight back, landing more and more power shots as the fight went on. Entering the 12th and final round, Taylor was certainly up on the scorecards, but Chavez was in full control. In that round, Chavez was ruthless. He mercilessly beat Taylor to a pulp, forcing the referee to stop the bout with less than 10 seconds to go. Taylor argued the call, but he was clearly in a bad way.
Taylor never fought for a world championship again. He went a measly 6-4 before finally hanging up his gloves. Taylor began to stutter over his words within a few years, and his speech now is almost unrecognizable as English. He left something in the ring that night which was never recovered.
For a less obscure example, Anderson Silva did a much similar thing to Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. It was the most dominant victory of Silva’s career as he dismantled the bigger Forrest Griffin with a swiftness and ease rarely seen in a high-level prize fight. Griffin was finished in just over three minutes and was thoroughly embarrassed with his performance. He was 3-1 in his last four bouts before retirement, winning two controversial decisions over Tito Ortiz and defeating former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. Like Taylor, Griffin never proved relevant again in his career and quickly faded into obscurity.
So why am I bringing this up? Why is now the time to talk about this?
At UFC 162, middleweights Mark Munoz and Tim Boetsch will meet in one of the more intriguing bouts on the card.
In the case you need a slight refresher, let me take you back to July 11, 2012, and December 29, 2012.
On July 11, Munoz took one of the most beatdowns we have seen in some time. He was thoroughly outwrestled, outgrappled, and outstruck by the younger and less experienced Chris Weidman. Yes, Weidman had been touted as a prospect to watch, but few expected him to crush Munoz the way he did.
In similar fashion, Boetsch took a mangling of his own at the hands of Costa Phillipou on December 29, 2012. After a comfortable first round, injuries to his hands left Boetsch defenceless to the dominant attack of Phillipou.
Both fighters were vying for an opportunity to get one step closer to the world championship fight, and both failed miserably in bouts that were expected to be competitive. It was the kind of losses which change men and careers for the worse.
There’s no way of telling at this point how much each of their respective losses took from them, or whether or not they can bounce back. The kind of losses Munoz and Boetsch suffered can leave fighters scarred mentally and physically for some time.
What will become of either fighter? We’ll have a much better idea come Saturday night. One of them will be on the comeback trail. The other will have to take a good hard look in the mirror and determine whether or not this is what they want to do.
