Silva, a UFC legend, defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
A heavy underdog, Silva had not competed in boxing since 2005 and had just two pro boxing matches coming in.
against Hector Camacho Jr., the son of his biggest rival, in an exhibition boxing match.
started slow, but Silva started to gain confidence in the third round and looked like the vintage version of the MMA all-time great.
In the seventh, Silva opened up a cut near Chavez Jr.’s right eye, which started bleeding worse in the eighth round.
Afterward, Canelo Alvarez, the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer, came up to Silva and gave him a “salute,” Silva said.
Silva has been talking about doing a boxing match for a decade or so, but had been under contract with the UFC.
Chavez Jr., 35, has never quite lived up to the lofty family expectations, though he does own wins over Marco Antonio Rubio and Andy Lee.
On the undercard, Ramon Alvarez, brother of Canelo, beat Omar Chavez, son of Chavez Sr.