If you haven’t heard of Luis Raul Alvarez, don’t worry – no one outside of the Miami-based Young Tigers Foundation gym had either, until he knocked out Martin Georges by slamming his face into the ground using what appears to be a botched judo throw.
After this unusual knockout, I’d wager that Alvarez’s days of toiling away in obscurity are waning. By now, this video has made its way around MMA circles (octagons) and people have taken note of this fierce 21-year-old, who trains using Judokickbox, a new, hybrid discipline that combines the ne-waza (ground technique) of judo with the technical striking found in kickboxing.
The Cuban-born fighter took only 2:48 total to win his first two fights, and with this third win and highlight reel knockout on his resume, I’m sure his phone has been getting blown up by people who want to take him to the next level. No one has more to offer than UFC; money, fame, and arm candy. Can you spot the ugly ring girl in this slideshow?
Back to Alvarez. The dude is a straight savage. He just looks like someone who beats people up.
As the world’s appetite for sanctioned, gladiator-style combat grows, the tributaries of cash that kept MMA afloat have become rivers, engorged by corporate numbers men looking to turn a profit on what is now a mainstream sport.
Delve no further than WMG-IMG’s $4 billion acquisition of UFC in 2016 for proof that combat sports are commercially viable.
With Floyd Mayweather retired and Manny Pacquiao a shell of his former self, boxing doesn’t have the broad appeal it did in decades past. Tyson Fury can’t stop failing drug tests and the Klitschko brothers are busy inside of Ukraine and Hayden Pannetierre. Adrien Broner is an asshat.
Boxing is suffering from an acute lack of sauce.
If a new Iron Mike were to storm the scene, interest would certainly return to the sport, but in its current state, boxing does not have the luster that MMA does.
Put it this way: boxing is a bar with shit beer and no chicks; a place desperately seeking new management. MMA is a party bus headed somewhere dope with all your friends on it.
Where would you rather be?
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