Real recognizes real, and Georges St-Pierre (GSP) was highly impressed by Anderson Silva’s late-game sidetrack into the world of boxing.
The former middleweight king took on Julio César Chávez Jr. in an eight-round boxing match back in June. To the surprise of many and to the delight of mixed martial arts fans, “The Spider” came prepared and won by split decision. At 46-years of age, the former 185-pound UFC champion performed like his old self against Chávez Jr. Despite being known for his eight points of striking in MMA fights, Silva managed to outbox Chávez Jr. comfortably and dictate the pace of the contest.
While the official result read as a split decision, most were under the impression that Silva won the bout handily. After the performance, GSP was inspired by Silva’s willingness to go into a different realm of combat and vanquish those fears of the unknown in a thrilling fight.
“Bro, it was one of his best performances in life — I would say among the rest of his elite performances that he did in MMA,” St-Pierre said recently on The MMA Hour. “To me, the way he beat César Chávez, it was incredible. And I was under the impression before the fight that César Chávez would dominate him because of his boxing experience. Man, he took everybody by surprise. It was very inspiring to him perform that way. It was very, very inspiring.”
Inspired by Silva’s showing against Chávez Jr., GSP hopes that if “The Spider” continues to test himself in the boxing ring, he does it for his legacy instead of money. While GSP has not competed since winning the middleweight title against Michael Bisping in 2017, the former double champion had nothing but high praise for Silva.
“And what a great ending for Anderson Silva right now. I hope if he comes back into these kinds of fights, it will be something worth it. Not only about money, but in terms of legacy — something that, it will make him shine, make him look good. Because, man, if you check his last (UFC) performance against Uriah Hall, it was kind of disappointing, it was kind of sad. But what a way to come back. What a way to get back on top. Man, that was amazing.” GSP stated.
GSP and Silva are widely considered to be two of the UFC’s greatest champions ever to grace the Octagon. While GSP remains retired, Anderson Silva will be back in action this weekend boxing fellow UFC legend Tito Ortiz. The eight-round boxing match is a part of the Triller event headlined by Vitor Belfort and Evander Holyfield.
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