The Miami Herald typically does a good job covering both sweet and savage sciences (that would be boxing and MMA respectively for those of you scoring at home) and today they make what early fight journalist Jonathan Swift once called a ‘modest proposal’:

Kimbo should quit MMA and cross over to boxing

Although he looked vulnerable on the ground, Slice demonstrated a mighty punch and eventually finished Thompson in the third round.

The brief, three-punch combination, which left Thompson glassy-eyed and caused the fight to be stopped, also poses the obvious question: Could Slice be the force that revives heavyweight boxing?

Name recognition alone will create a buzz among boxing enthusiasts and casual observers alike if Slice becomes a boxer. Even a segment of the young demographic base loyal to MMA might follow Slice’s departure from cage to ring.

Slice has two redeeming qualities that have been prevalent throughout boxing history but are lacking in today’s heavyweight crop: punch and personality. For all of Wladimir Klitschko’s positive attributes, American fans are not captivated by arguably the best of the active heavyweights.

Boxing experts could argue that the 6-foot-2 Slice might have trouble cutting the reach of the 6-6 Klitschko, but Slice showed his shots can fell taller opponents, such as the 6-4 Thompson.

Two recent hints indicate Slice’s possible venture into boxing.

Slice’s MMA promoter, Gary Shaw, also has promoted notable boxers Ronald ‘’Winky'’ Wright and Antonio Tarver. Shaw also is involved in the promotion super-featherweight prospect Yuriorkis Gamboa, also a Miami resident.

Slice accompanied Gamboa into the ring for Gamboa’s fight against Darling Jimenez on May 17. Slice’s appearance could have been a way to hype his MMA fight Saturday, but showcasing him in a boxing environment was intriguing.

Last week, in a conference call before the fight against Thompson, Slice said his goals were “receiving one of the heavyweight titles — boxing or MMA — and holding on to them.'’

Interestingly, Slice mentioned boxing first. Maybe the Miami street fighter will don boots and 10-ounce gloves, after all.

Many boxing fans would welcome the move.

The sad commentary on MMA fanboys is that boxing would probably not be as derisive about Kimbo’s unusual background. For some reason MMA fans have just recently forgotten that the sport is the bastard offspring of Japanese ’shoot wrestling’ and tough man competitions and gotten all snobby about fighters’ amateur pedigrees. Not that there *is* such a thing per se in MMA.

Despite the technical complexity that embodies the sport at its highest level, boxing has a long history of welcoming fighters who come to ‘the sweet science’ with little more than some hellacious power in their fists. Current WBC heavyweight champion Samuel ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Peter is perhaps the best current example–he’s become a slicker boxer in recent years but came into the sport with little more than a couple of anvils for hands. Mike Tyson is often erroneously placed into this catagory, but “Iron Mike” essentially devolved into a ‘head hunter’. When he first started under the tutelage of Cus D’amato he was a much better rounded fighter who kept a low center of gravity and had good head movement to go along with his power.

So why not Kimbo? Obviously at this stage of the game groundfighting is his biggest liability. How good could he be if he didn’t have to worry about it and could concentrate on developing a better rounded standup game?

Slice could cross over to boxing @ Miami Herald