Most boxers are actually better at blocking and parrying than Wing Chun guys though it's not necessarily the first thing people think of when thinking of a boxer.
I take it you mean if they are training 'boxing' extensively in MMA gloves. Then yes, it's quite possible based on the amount of live sparring they do that they will get better timing and reflexes than a WC guy who doesn't. But then we are talking about the sparring not the system itself. WC has way more emphasis on hand and forearm parrying than boxing. I agree that it doesn't matter how you get there, but it does validate the principles of Wing Chun nonetheless even if their lack of sparring means they don't generally get to such a high level of proficiency at it. This will surely encourage more of them to do it though.
Straight punching/the centreline is also something preached in many martial arts although some take it more literally.
Yes it's about the emphasis. Stricklands disciplined emphasis on centreline straight punches from a square stance is very very characteristic of WC. The truth is WC has an uppercut and a hook also but its the centerline punch that the style is famous for so seeing it applied like that so effectively was poetry in motion for any WC man.
The biggest problem with modern Wing Chun is most guys take the punching like a bodybuilding tricep isolation exercise and consequently are noticeably under powered against amateur level combat sports competitors. I don't know enough about Wing Chun to know if this is a bastardised modern interpretation or if it's been like that from jump.
Bad hobbyist Wing Chun with no sparring, which is the norm, is what has made it laughing stock. The real thing should be using tendon power developed over time, and also shoulder and stance turning when needed to add big additional power as well as engagement of the legs. Its whole body power if done properly with the weight behind it.
I do agree with the philosophy that getting good at blocking/parrying should be a higher priority for MMA striking than getting good head movement though it's still worth practising to an extent.
Frankly you have been one of the only sensible ones on this thread other than the OP, because you can analyse what you see clearly and objectively without a fragile ego to defend, which I appreciate.
As you rightly point out,
parry and deflection is more important in MMA than head movement.
This is
Wing Chun 101 ("the hands move faster than the head") and
is anathema to boxing, and had been widely mocked and criticised on here by most in the MMA community and these same people now who have gone into hypercope mode on here.
Yet Strickland has just given a masterclass on it against one of the world's best strikers.
I believe you are more likely to develop good blocks and parries doing some kind of combination of boxing/kickboxing/muay thai or MMA striking than you are training at a Wing Chun school.
If they spar alot live with an uncommon emphasis on it then maybe. If the Wing Chun school spars then maybe not.
It's mostly a semantic argument that I don't really care for, you could call crouching dog style for all I care. I'd rather discuss individual techniques than argue which style first copyrighted the jab.
Yes I agree with you on this which is why I have said Stickland and his trainers have made their own hybrid "Philly Wing Chun" system here by taking Philly shell and adapting it to MMA gloves and ruleset with this square stance, parry deflect, centreline punch, straight thrust kick system.
I've known it can work for 20 years just waited for someone to do it. In fact I have made a few threads over the years specifically talking about Wing Chun and the Philly Shell and Cross block being the one style of boxing that is most similar and how both would be most effective in Bareknuckle fighting. What Strickland has shown is just the tip of the iceberg of what possible in BK rules or with no rules.
And you are in good company to analyse in this way,
@Tim Witherspoon has done the same, it takes someone to really see and analyse at a process level of what works, not be a blind follower of the trends of the day. MMA is not fixed, its evolving and this is the next evolution.