Karl James Noons (AKA: KJ Noons): From MMA to Boxing
By Gina L. Caliboso
The eventual cross over for an athlete – to master one sport and become master of another. Bo Jackson did it (as I recall sort of). Michael Jordan tried to do it. But combat sports are a completely different arena. As much as boxing is called the sweet science and coupled with the mixed martial arts explosion that has taken hold the last decade, it begs to question if whether an athlete, notably a boxer, can win in the MMA cage. Earlier this month, James “Lights Out” Toney a former IBF Middleweight, Super Middleweight, and Cruiserweight titleholder, went up against UFC Hall of Famer and veteran, Randy Couture, 18-10. We should all remember the fight – it ended 3:19 in the first round with a Couture submission of Toney. Now, there is a current Strikeforce MMA fighter that could possibly make another crossover – from MMA to boxing. Karl James “K.J.” Noons may stand to become THE combat sports warrior. From MMA to boxing, Noons has great standup ability and should he decide to do both sports, he can do so successfully.
Noon’s has a trained fighter bio. According to Strikeforce, his father, a professional kickboxer, had his son in karate classes starting at age 5. Noons eventually moved into both muay thai and boxing. The Strikeforce bio officially reads, “Noons is one of the few athletes in MMA that balances two professional sports. When he’s not fighting MMA, KJ tests himself in boxing.” According to boxrec, Noons’ professional boxing record stands at 11-2, 5 KO’s in the middleweight division.
I had the pleasure of seeing Noons fight at the Strikeforce event held in Los Angeles back in June. Noons defeated Conor “The Hurricane” Huen in a split decision and in the middle of the brawling in the closing round, Noons did take quite a few hits. Noons instinctively stays in the stand up, but can shoot in if he has the opportunity. He has excellent defensive skill against a fighter that may always go for the double leg tackle, but Noons’ standup will keep the fighter at bay. It surprises me that a fighter with more of a wrestling and jiu-jitsu background would try to prove his stand up against Noons because he will beat that fighter every time.
Fighting out of San Diego, CA, the Hawaiian born Noons’ last MMA fight with Strikeforce took place in Houston against Jorge Gurgel, 13-7-0 at lightweight (155 lbs). To date, Noons’ biggest MMA victory occurred last year in November in the EliteXC cage for the lightweight title. Noons emerged as the victor with the TKO due to cuts against the talented and hyped Diaz.
In his recent bout against Gurgel, yours truly had finally sat down and watched the DVR’d event. When I had seen Noons back in June, I didn’t really think much of him as an MMA fighter. I thought he relied on stand up too much and didn’t want to take risks with his ground game. But as I finally tuned in nearly two weeks later, I detected something very fierce and instinctive about Noons’ boxing ability. Against Gurgel, he maintained his stand up game, taking a few kicks to the leg that had me reeling. I’ve taken a couple of kicks and I heard the shin on shin – nonetheless, as the opening round ended and both fighters were in the exchange, Noons let loose on a beautifully executed hook to the head as the round ended right as the bell sounded. Earlier in the round, Noons had taken a look at the clock. But as he executed the hook, it was perfectly timed and it nailed Gurgel that sent him to the mat (or canvas). I really saw a boxer swagger in Noons as he turned to go to his corner. It may have been an MMA cage, but it had this one combat sports reporter think I was looking at a boxing titleholder in the making.
It is in that swagger that I believe Noons has a chance to easily transition into boxing with more success than Toney. He had established a rhythm against Gurgel – a boxer’s rhythm – and he defeated Gurgel with his standup. He stuck to his game – as good fighters – even boxers do, without any effort. While MMA does have ‘punches in bunches’ – standup strikes to be correct, Noons found the boxing angles again in the opening of the 2nd round. In the 2nd round, Noons pulled off an overhand right followed by a hook and Gurgel went down. Noons wins by KO at 19 seconds in Round Two.
As one announcer stated, the MMA versus boxing comparisons need to end – it’s like baseball and golf – or football and golf. Either way, combat sports, regardless of MMA or boxing, each have their own rhythm – their own style. It not only boils down to technique – it boils down to the effectiveness of technique.
For KJ Noons, his effectiveness lies in his boxing technique – should he fight an MMA guy with little to know stand up ability, Noons will win. Should he come up against a fighter with a strong ground game and with his intent to be only ground game, Noons may get into some trouble and may possibly win. But there is where I think it gets interesting. If properly focused and trained, KJ Noons, can box a 10 round bout and win. I’m not thinking title fight just yet, since he has the MMA Diaz rematch on October 9th, but as a boxing contender, he has the boxing ability and it just needs to be fine tuned. With this October bout, his boxing career may have to wait, but he does have that skill, the special ability, and confidence to transition well into boxing.
Even as Noons fights MMA at lightweight, his boxing weight division is listed at middleweight. His last boxing match took place in October 2009 that resulted in a 6 round unanimous decision. But impressively, one month later, he defeated Nick Diaz.
As the MMA fight ended against Gurgel, Noons made it clear that he would love to be the first MMA fighter to go into professional boxing. Earlier in the bout, it was mentioned that he could contend against Miguel Cotto or Floyd Mayweather, JR.
As I just did an article on the bout between Cotto and JC Chavez, JR., Floyd Mayweather, JR., just may have heard a “slight” calling out by Noons. But not just yet, Noons has Diaz to consider, and Mayweather, JR? Mayweather just might be listening. After all, he doesn’t appear to be doing much fighting or talking these days. But I won’t go there – yet.
So there it is, KJ Noons, Strikeforce MMA fighter turned boxer. It has some appeal, but more importantly, Noons is a combat sports contender in whatever arena – ring or cage – he should choose to fight.