Ray Mercer proved that boxers can win in MMA 15 years ago.
‘Merciless’ suffered a humiliating submission loss when he squared off against backyard brawler Kimbo Slice in his amateur MMA debut in 2007.
It appeared to be a massive fall from grace for the former WBO heavyweight world champion, who had previously shared the ring with Larry Holmes, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, and Wladimir Klitschko during his 36-7-1 boxing career.
However, he lived up to his nickname when he returned to MMA to fight a much tougher opponent in the pro ranks two years later.
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Ray Mercer KO’d ex-UFC champion in 9 seconds
Ray Mercer squared off against Tim Sylvia at Adrenaline MMA 3: Bragging Rights in June 2009.
At the height of his career, Syliva was the UFC heavyweight champion. ‘The Maine-iac’ beat Andrei Arlovski to realize his world title dream before defending it twice.
Sylvia also shared the cage with Frank Mir, Randy Couture, ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, Brandon Vera, and Fedor Emelianenko before agreeing to face Mercer.
On paper, it seemed like a mismatch as Sylvia was just two fights removed from his career in MMA’s premier promotion, and Mercer had already lost against a lot less-credible opponent in Kimbo Slice.
Still, the retired boxer managed to pull off a huge, one-punch upset victory.
Syliva began the bout by tapping his opponent with a low leg kick. Soon after, he was made to pay as Mercer launched a monstrous right hand at his jaw.
It connected clean and instantly knocked out the former UFC champion, who collapsed statuesque to the floor as Mercer shot at his legs for a takedown.
After realizing that Sylvia was motionless on the canvas, Mercer managed to land two unnecessary follow-up punches before the referee pulled him off and made an all-time great MMA upset official.
Nine seconds was all it took for Mercer to win what proved to be his only professional MMA fight.
Ray Mercer reflects on Tim Sylvia win
Ray Mercer’s win over Tim Sylvia is still recalled fondly by boxing fans, who saw James Toney get destroyed when he crossed over to MMA to fight Randy Couture in 2010.
Since then, there’s been a distinct lack of boxers trying their luck in MMA.
In 2017, Mercer reflected on his big win, which he suggested may have been partially due to the mind games he implemented pre-fight.
“I didn’t know anything about him, my manager, he hooked that fight up,” Mercer said.
“We trained for about two or three months, and I just watched him fight a couple of times. I knew he was a tough dude. Real tough. I mean, he sat there and got his arm broke [against Frank Mir]. You know, he wouldn’t tap out and his arm broke.
“When we had the press conference, we took him out to eat and I was getting drunk in front of him and everything. I told him I smoked weed. I told him I don’t run.
“We sort of like punked him out, man. He was walking around the hotel saying, ‘What’s up old man?’ He thought I was old because I told him I don’t run, [and] I don’t train. I’m too old. I’m just doing it for the money.
“That’s why he kicked me to see what I was going to do and that was it.”
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