Action
09-13-2007, 11:46 AM
OSCAR-FLOYD: WAS IT BOXING’S BIGGEST MISTAKE IN DECADES?
BOXING'S “BITTER” REALITY CHECK!
San Francisco, CA- If you think about it, even when boxing tries to do something right, it usually fails. You know, like the Tower of Power tune, “You can’t fall up, you just fall down.” The reason I bring this up is that the Boxing Gods decided to throw the dice with the Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya May 5 match. Here is the $64,000 question: Why would you gamble the family jewels on a fight that on paper looked like a gloved dance contest?
UFC HAS BOXING IN REAR VIEW MIRROR!
The answer is the reason why boxing is no longer looking at the UFC in the rear view mirror. Boxing, because of the cut throat system that has existed since day one, as a business it could care no less about any future. In the current state of boxing, promoters live only for their moment. There is “no future” in the vernacular of boxing’s money brokers. Thus, they operate with flagrant disregard for the health of the sport/business.
UFC PPV CARD WAS ON FREE SPIKE TV!
Give credit where it’s due, and Dana White of the UFC deserves a ton. This past Saturday, he put the man that knocked out his biggest star Chuck Liddell out, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on Spike TV Saturday night in a delayed broadcast from the UK. Actions like this are why Dana White was promoter of the year for 2006, and probably 2007 as well. Spike gave the show a major push, and to showcase Liddell’s conqueror as they build for an early 2008 rematch, this was pure genius!
NOBODY CARES ABOUT BOXING’S FUTURE!
When was the last time anybody in boxing took a financial hit in order to do something positive? OK, that didn’t take too long to figure out, never! Look HBO, and to a lesser extent Showtime, these are the real promoters of boxing in the US today. And neither entity will allow their product to be “re-showcased” on Network TV. If HBO wanted to do it right, they’d buy airtime on the networks and replay their “special” fights.
YOUNG ONES SAY GAME IS “OLD-FASHIONED”
This would be a great way to cultivate new fans, as the sport is considered by young people, get this, as either “old-fashioned” or worse, “fixed.” It’d be pretty tough to get somebody of that mindset to throw down $50 bucks on a PPV. So, how do we change the course? We follow the UFC blueprint to the letter, by putting on shows that the masses have an opportunity to see without shelling out rubles.
ESPN: “THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN”
Boxing needs to say goodbye to ESPN, as they are nothing but a posse of pimps emanating from Bristol, CT. Their pay schedule in the 1980’s was four times what it is today. I’ll repeat that in case ya’ missed it. ESPN is paying 25% of what they were in the 1980’s. And I’m not taking into consideration the value of a 1988 dollar in comparison to 2007. They just decided a few years ago that they were going to strong arm promoters sans impunity. And even though ESPN is paying 25% of what they used to, they have no problems getting rid of dates.
BAD FIGHTS MAKE BRIAN & TEDDY STARS!
You cannot get good guys to fight each other on ESPN because of the lack of money. That’s why keeping score of ESPN boxing can be done with a piece of “chalk.” In other words, the promoter’s guy wins 99% of the time. That’s why Teddy Atlas and Brian Kenny are the stars of Friday Night Fights, because the fights are usually one-sided. Hey, they tried making oft-loser Emanuel Augustus an ESPN poster boy, even though he had lost a dozen times or more. Need I say anymore?
BOXING'S “BITTER” REALITY CHECK!
San Francisco, CA- If you think about it, even when boxing tries to do something right, it usually fails. You know, like the Tower of Power tune, “You can’t fall up, you just fall down.” The reason I bring this up is that the Boxing Gods decided to throw the dice with the Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya May 5 match. Here is the $64,000 question: Why would you gamble the family jewels on a fight that on paper looked like a gloved dance contest?
UFC HAS BOXING IN REAR VIEW MIRROR!
The answer is the reason why boxing is no longer looking at the UFC in the rear view mirror. Boxing, because of the cut throat system that has existed since day one, as a business it could care no less about any future. In the current state of boxing, promoters live only for their moment. There is “no future” in the vernacular of boxing’s money brokers. Thus, they operate with flagrant disregard for the health of the sport/business.
UFC PPV CARD WAS ON FREE SPIKE TV!
Give credit where it’s due, and Dana White of the UFC deserves a ton. This past Saturday, he put the man that knocked out his biggest star Chuck Liddell out, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on Spike TV Saturday night in a delayed broadcast from the UK. Actions like this are why Dana White was promoter of the year for 2006, and probably 2007 as well. Spike gave the show a major push, and to showcase Liddell’s conqueror as they build for an early 2008 rematch, this was pure genius!
NOBODY CARES ABOUT BOXING’S FUTURE!
When was the last time anybody in boxing took a financial hit in order to do something positive? OK, that didn’t take too long to figure out, never! Look HBO, and to a lesser extent Showtime, these are the real promoters of boxing in the US today. And neither entity will allow their product to be “re-showcased” on Network TV. If HBO wanted to do it right, they’d buy airtime on the networks and replay their “special” fights.
YOUNG ONES SAY GAME IS “OLD-FASHIONED”
This would be a great way to cultivate new fans, as the sport is considered by young people, get this, as either “old-fashioned” or worse, “fixed.” It’d be pretty tough to get somebody of that mindset to throw down $50 bucks on a PPV. So, how do we change the course? We follow the UFC blueprint to the letter, by putting on shows that the masses have an opportunity to see without shelling out rubles.
ESPN: “THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN”
Boxing needs to say goodbye to ESPN, as they are nothing but a posse of pimps emanating from Bristol, CT. Their pay schedule in the 1980’s was four times what it is today. I’ll repeat that in case ya’ missed it. ESPN is paying 25% of what they were in the 1980’s. And I’m not taking into consideration the value of a 1988 dollar in comparison to 2007. They just decided a few years ago that they were going to strong arm promoters sans impunity. And even though ESPN is paying 25% of what they used to, they have no problems getting rid of dates.
BAD FIGHTS MAKE BRIAN & TEDDY STARS!
You cannot get good guys to fight each other on ESPN because of the lack of money. That’s why keeping score of ESPN boxing can be done with a piece of “chalk.” In other words, the promoter’s guy wins 99% of the time. That’s why Teddy Atlas and Brian Kenny are the stars of Friday Night Fights, because the fights are usually one-sided. Hey, they tried making oft-loser Emanuel Augustus an ESPN poster boy, even though he had lost a dozen times or more. Need I say anymore?