Tonight we saw one of the greatest fighters in MMA history enter the boxing ring. Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva took to the squared circle as he took on former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (52-6-1). The bout was Silva’s first professional boxing match since 2005.
Heading into this matchup, little to no one was really giving Silva a chance. Silva’s UFC run ended last October when he lost by TKO to Uriah Hall. The former middleweight champion is 46 years old and went 1-7, 1 NC in his last nine fights inside the octagon. While Silva was competitive in some fights, he clearly wasn’t the same guy he used to be.
Chavez is 35 years old and is a former world champion. Yes, there have been questions about his dedication and just how good he really is, but still, he was a massive favorite in this boxing matchup. I have to admit that I really didn’t give The Spider much of a shot tonight.
However, Anderson Silva proved everyone wrong. At 46 years old, Anderson Silva completely outboxed and outclassed Julio Cesar Chavez Jr tonight. Silva rocked him several times and controlled the distance with his jab. At one point, Silva started doing his classic showboating against the ropes.
Personally, I had Silva winning the boxing match seven rounds to one. However, I was concerned about how the judging would be given the fact that it’s boxing and the fight was taking place in Chavez’s home country. One judge amazingly gave the fight to Chavez, but two got it right and Anderson Silva defeated the former world champion.
https://twitter.com/FiteTV/status/1406471236750823427
Next Boxing Matchup for Silva
Anderson Silva looked tremendous tonight in the boxing ring. His technique was great and his jab was fast. I was incredibly impressed with the performance that he put on. Now the question becomes, what’s next for Silva in terms of boxing?
Well, Silva has always expressed a desire to box former world champion Roy Jones Jr. If RJJ is interested in boxing again, that’s a matchup that I could see coming together. Another one I could see is a potential matchup between Anderson Silva and Logan Paul.
Logan Paul just had a matchup with Floyd Mayweather. I can already see the angle as he boxed the boxing GOAT and now he’s going to box the MMA GOAT. We all know that Anderson Silva would be down for that fight and he would make a ton of money doing it. Anderson Silva made the MMA community proud tonight and it won’t be the last time we see him box.