From a Fan’s Perspective

Whoever says “If boxing’s a stock, then I’d sell it short”, should no longer show any presence in this game.

Boxing might be a shady business, but the sport itself is everlasting within its fans.

From a business standpoint, the corruption surrounds us all. And not just in boxing.

Hey, it’s nothing new. We’re used to it.

Being the young writer/reporter that I am, I show little to no respect for some of these old timers who do nothing but belittle the sport.

You hear them everywhere from newspapers to websites to television. It’s like a long marriage gone sour . They are just so sick of boxing and jubilance is a term no longer present in their dictionary.

Yet, why do they stick around? If it’s that bad, then stop pissing on fire and take a hike.

Perhaps time will tell, but as of now, the only bitching and moaning you’ll ever hear from me is when I get my cable bill.

I love this sport. But that’s where it ends.

BOXING AIN’T DEAD

If it ain’t broke, why fix it? If it’s broke, but it somehow works, then let it be.

I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have the same passion I’ve had since the age of five.

Over the course of years, anyone could guess that the sport has changed. Like all sports or business, there’s an upside and a downside to a change.

From an optimistic point of view, I think boxing is just fine the way it is now.

Has it ever been more corrupted? Yes.

Weren’t Arum and King the same guys who brought us the likes of Ali, Tyson, Foreman, Chavez, Leonard, Hearns, Duran, De La Hoya and Trinidad?

Much to their criticism, they are truly underappreciated. Now in their 70s, they might be slipping a bit, yet they still stand above all.

Perhaps we might even miss them one day.

LACK OF APPEAL? WHO’S THE BLAME?

It must be revealed that the most powerful promoter in boxing today is none other than HBO, the network itself.

It’s like the movie “I Robot” when Will Smith’s character goes on a search to find the bad guy, only it turns out the backbone computer system was secretly controlling all the robots.

Well, King and Arum can put on their shows all they want, but if it’s not on HBO, chances are, no one will hear too much about it.

There’s slogan does make sense. It’s not just TV. It’s HBO.

Many like to clamor on the lack of glamour in the heavyweight division.

Well, I point partial blame on HBO, for their lack of effort on putting on there once prominent series, Boxing After Dark.

The days of Ibeabuchi-Tua are long gone.

Since the departing of Lou Dibella as the network’s matchmaker in the late 90s, current execs Kery Davis and Ross Greenburg carried its series primarily as a showcase for champions or upcoming prospects.

Key to this telecast was to produce QUALITY match-ups, but instead, they fed us one-sided blow outs.

Could the blame possibly rest on Larry Merchant? Merchant, so called ‘The Godfather’ of HBO, bitches more than any other commentators I’ve seen, yet he made no effort to do anything about it.

But with the amount of influence he could have on the audience, don’t you think Larry has the power to influence the match-makers?

I recall on the night of a double header featuring Rafael Marquez and Antonio Margarito, Larry summed up the event as ‘garbage’.

At times, the former Philadelphia Daily News scribe could be depicted as a guy who stands his own ground. But in many instances, he’s also a man of pride who’s doesn’t shy away from pomposity and pontification.

Time and time, Merchant has downed and belittled fighters who ever stood up in his presence.

Merchant, in some ways, could be portrayed as a corporate bully.

But be that as it may, I still admit that Larry is the most colorful commentator I’ve ever seen. His success, at least in boxing, may well surpass that of the late Howard Cosell’s.

And his blunt, no-nonsense style of calling it like it is, without a doubt is a crucial element to the telecast.

Oh, and speaking of Cosell, there’s a guy who really loved his job. Well at least we know he did for a certain time being. Before his controversial departure from boxing, it was obvious that Cosell was a true boxing fan.

Which brings me to my next question: How many of us writers/journalists/reporters/columnists are really fans?

If I could pick between being a cynical writer or a pure fan of pugilism, well let me just say, I’m a fan first, and a writer second.

ABSOLUT CINTRON

Like I’ve said before, ESPN2′s running a hell of job this year with quality match-ups.

This week’s edition of ESPN’s Wednesday Night Fights featured Kermit Cintron taking on the durable David Estrada in a 12-round IBF Welterweight eliminator.

In a tough seesaw battle between two young contenders, Cintron stopped Estrada with a devastating right hand in the tenth.

It was hard not to root for the brave Estrada, who tried his best to take his bigger opponent to the deep water. But in the end, it was Estrada who drowned in the process.

Cintron, who in past April did his best impression of the Lion from Wizard of Oz, showed that he had some heart after surviving the heavy onslaught in the middle rounds.

As a fighter, he’s sure fun to watch, but you wonder about character and personality, which he seems to lack. And I thought it was wrong for him to publicly discredit his former trainer Marshall Kaufman, the man who flat out made into a boxer.

The quote of the week goes to my friend and colleague who chose to remain anonymous.

In regards to his impression of the new Kermit Cintron, this is what he had to say:

“Tried to buy a heart in Detroit, but left my Brain in Reading PA.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

This Saturday’s heavyweight title bout between Chris Byrd and Wladimir Klitschko is a sleeper.

I expect Byrd to surprise many by boldly taking the fight to Klitschko from the onset. In a minor upset, I take Byrd to win a close decision.

There have been some disputes to who’s actually seen the controversial featherweight title match between Chris John and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Well, I’ve still have not seen the fight, which I’m promising myself to do this weekend.

It’s a bit late, but stay tuned for next week’s column for insight on John-Marquez debacle.