MICHAEL VENOM PAGE, an MMA star two contests into a nascent boxing career, is not going to adapt his herky-jerky, madcap style. He believes his methods are going to change boxing.
“I feel a lot of the boxing community are so based on the traditional elements, which are massively effective. But I just think you can do that bit more. You can be way more creative. Look at the likes of [Vasyl] Lomachenko and the stuff that he’s doing. The movement elements make him that much more dangerous. It’s nothing to do with how powerful he is. He frustrates the hell out of people because, similar to myself, you can’t land shots and he’s constantly hitting you. It’s the volume and how accurate he is. It’s a very frustrating game. I’m surprised that more people aren’t adopting that kind of style. I understand the general fundamentals of boxing are absolutely amazing and you’ll never get a harder puncher in any combat than a boxer. But I think you can just develop a little bit more,” Page told Boxing News.
“I’m doing everything wrong but, like I said, I’m playing on a different guitar. It’s more about the speed and the movement. A lot of people are saying when you get in harder competition you know you’re going to have to put your hands up. I say actually it makes it easier. When I say easier, obviously they’re way more developed, they probably won’t go down as easy. But it makes it easier in the sense that because they’re so well drilled, their movements tend to be that much more predictable. Anyone that’s a bit more wild and scrappy tends to be a harder fighter to work out initially and you’ve got to be that much more cautious. But any time I’ve sparred the more senior competitors in boxing, I actually find it a lot more easier to handle, to have my style deal with them.”
Michael Venom Page [pictured] is bringing his own methods into boxing
In his most recent outing Michael Venom Page, as he’s known in the MMA world, swayed like a ‘drunken’ kung fu master, showboated, switched his footing and totally bamboozled journeyman Michal Ciach at York Hall last Friday. “Fighting for me is the most relaxing thing. I love dancing, fighting, both of those things I like to combine when I’m in there. It just adds to how relaxed I’m going to be in there,” he said. “I’m an experienced fighter in the sense of combat, even before I did the MMA stuff. Just because I’ve been fighting since I was five years old, my first competition in kickboxing. So I’m not new to combat. There’s no pressure from being in front of people and doing combat. It makes it that much easier to relax.”
Describing his style, he said, “That is a little bit Drunken Master. I like to add different elements. I’m inspired by just random stuff. It could be Drunken Master, it could be basketball. I’m inspired by movement and they’re so many different ways to move your body.
“Power has zero meaning if you can’t find your target and this is what I am. I’m a person that moves a lot so you are not able to land your shots. But then I’m able to cover a lot of ground and find my shot like a sniper every single time.”
