Boxing VS MMA

There has been a lot of talk about MMA fighters and boxers. Some boxers recently have talked about converting over to MMA, like Floyd Mayweather jr. for example, and some MMA fighters like Anderson Silva have talked about coming over to boxing (he is reported to be wanting a fight with Roy Jones Jr.).

What are my thoughts on MMA vs Boxing

In my opinion, MMA and boxing are 2 completely different sports. When you're talking about the pinnacle of each sport, I don't believe a top MMA fighter is going to compete with a top boxer, and I don't think a top boxer would compete with a top MMA fighter.

Why do I think this?

I think a good way to explain this would be to use an analogy.

A MMA fighter is like a decathlete and a boxer is like a sprinter or long distance runner. To be a good at MMA or a decathlon requires you to be good at many things including boxing skill for the MMA artist or sprinting/running for the decathlete.

Just because a decathlete has exceptional running ability, like sprinting for example, does not mean that he is going to be able to compete against a professional Olympic sprinter any day of the week. Same thing for a MMA fighter who may be a better striker or has better punching ability than other MMA fighters having a chance at beating a professional boxer.

The same thing goes for a boxer trying to convert to MMA. If a Olympic sprinter were to try to compete in a decathlon, he is not going to win against a professional decathlete.

But, that's just my opinion. What do you think?