Mercer Returns to MMA

A 48-year-old Ray Mercer is not exactly a perfect precedent for James Toney’s MMA aspirations, but it’s about as good as he’s going to find. That’s why Toney may find some interest in watching Mercer get a spoon-fed return to MMA on April 16 against underwhelming heavyweight Ron Sparks (5-0, with four of those wins against one-and-done fighters who had not fought before and have not fought since).

Mercer may be the one to blame for the recent boxing imports -- Toney, Ricardo Mayorga, BJ Flores, possibly Shannon Briggs -- because of that viral win over Tim Sylvia in the summer of last year. For his part, Sylvia taught his MMA peers that if you stand perfectly still in front of a professional boxer, you might find yourself able to point out weak spots in the arena’s roof.

Sparks may use more wisdom, and Mercer may not have much of a defense even against a sloppy tackle, but this is about the speed a pro boxer can expect to remain competitive in. If James Toney can learn to defend a world-class grappler’s clinch or takedown at the age of 41, it would be a miracle the Vatican would have to acknowledge.