After successfully beating cancer, the 50-year-old former boxer and mixed martial arts promoter, Tom Crowther, now wants to try his luck in the cage against a fighter half his age. As a result he will make his professional MMA debut in the co-main event at RFC 23: Breaking Point at the A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa, Fla. March 18.
While the odds are clearly not in Crowther's favor he remains confident that his opponent, Jared Crawford, will not pose much of a challenge for him. Crawford, on the other hand, plans on using his wrestling skills to take Crowther out of his element and submit him on the ground before the former boxer has the chance to land a fateful blow.
Although Crowther has received much support from the local MMA community and will also have former UFC fighter, Dan Savern, in his corner it remains to be seen if he can indeed dominate a significantly younger opponent in the cage.
Aside from the age factor, most professional boxers have not successfully transitioned to MMA. One famous example is boxing champ, James Toney's submission loss to UFC legend, Randy Couture at UFC 118 last August. Toney's pre-fight claim of knocking out Couture while being pinned to the ground literally blew up in Toney's face when Couture forced him to tap out at 3:19 of round one.
