There’s plenty of boxing available on the tube this weekend, particularly for those unaffected by the crumbling economy. On Friday night, Showtime presents “ShoBox: The New Generation” to get things started at 11 p.m. ET. On Saturday, HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” presents an intriguing tripleheader starting at 10:05 ET/PT, available in high definition. And lastly, there are no less than two pay per view cards available on Saturday for those who just can’t get enough.
Like most boxing fans I virtually recoil at the prospect of spending my Christmas money on all of these PPV cards that are coming our way this fall. But somehow many fans still believe that the very term pay per view indicates that you are purchasing a special attraction. Actually, the reality is that more times than not just the opposite is the case.
You can put lipstick on a pig, and well, you get it. $9.95 or $49.95, garbage is garbage.
The problem is that there are only so many dates available on HBO and Showtime. Certain promoters, mentioning no names, have the advantage there so if a promoter who isn’t in the loop wants to keep his/her fighters busy and get them on TV he/she might well resort to producing their own pay per view shows. They take all the financial risks and end up with an even cut with the cable and satellite provider.
This is all understandable. It’s not greed; it’s survival.
But here’s the concern– in a time when hard working families are struggling to avoid foreclosure, meet rising food costs, pay exorbitant health care costs, pay out outrageous fuel prices, and worry about how they will be able to heat their homes, along with clothing, education and other sundry family expenses– how do you justify paying pay per view prices for sports entertainment?
Which necessity should you ask your family to sacrifice first?
For most families today, just having two premium cable channels, Showtime and HBO, is a luxury. And the recent declines in box office attendance in high profile venues indicate that even the more affluent fans have become more discriminating in their choices as well.
As mentioned previously, it’s not as if pay per view boxing necessarily equates to a quality product. The undercards on these shows in particular are simply dreadful. The main events even on high profile shows are not always worth the investment either. The upcoming Pavlik-Hopkins fight is a perfect example of this.
Since the smaller pay per view shows are staged primarily to make a couple of bucks and feature their fighters, it goes without saying that they come without the bells and whistles, and often that means that the main event fighters aren’t so great either. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has headlined numerous pay per view shows but as far as I can see he’s borderline on his best day as far as talent goes.
So let’s briefly review the PPV events scheduled for this week:
First up Saturday, live at 3 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. PT with a taped replay at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT from the Jako Arena in Bayern, Germany, is “King” Arthur Abraham vs. Raul Marquez for the IBF middleweight title. Abraham lives in Berlin so as they say you have to knock him out to get a draw.
Abraham, 27-0 (22), is unlikely to need such help however. He’s been a titlist for three years with eight defenses. He’ll be facing a major underdog in the 37 year old Marquez, 41-3-1 (29), who upset undefeated and over rated Giovanni Lorenzo last June in a title eliminator.
Marquez is prone to cuts and is an open book for right hands, but he is a former 154 pound belt holder whose only losses have been to Yori Boy Campus, Fernando Vargas, and Jermain Taylor, so at least he won’t fold up like a tent.
The only bout on the televised undercard is one we could have lived without. Yugoslavian born Enad Licina, 14-1 (8), now residing in Germany faces former reality show winner Otis “Triple OG” Griffin, 19-3-2 (7) for the IBF intercontinental cruiserweight title.
Not only was it a reality show, but it was “The Next Great Champ,” a show given the hook by Fox before its conclusion and vanquished to cable. As for Licina, he’s ranked #13 by the European Boxing Union. Hold your noses.
The event has a suggested retail price of $24.95, plus those dreaded fees, taxes and surcharges that inflate your cable bill. For less you can buy a whole month of 24 hour a day entertainment on HBO and Showtime, but in fairness the price is actually fairly reasonable by today’s inflated standards.
The main event is decent, although hardly worthy of a pay per view charge. I don’t have a four year old who needs new shoes so I just might buy it anyway. My heirs are just going to blow it anyway. I like the 3 p.m. start time with the evening entertainment still to come, plus I hate to discourage the airing of noteworthy European fights in the U.S.
The other PPV card features Puerto Rican star in the making Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, 22-0 (20), defending his WBO super bantamweight strap at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico against designated cannon fodder Cesar Figueroa, 30-6-2 (23). They actually have the nerve to ask $34.95 for this one despite a supporting card of two fights that are so bad that we’ll skip the details altogether except to say that one of the participants has lost three straight.
That’s either delusional or just plain greedy.
I like Lopez. But geez, it was just last June that he went from hot prospect to titlist when he crushed the hard hitting Daniel Ponce de Leon, who was making his seventh defense, in one round. He’s got speed and boxing ability to go with that power, and he has the potential to be a big star.
But– for him to headline a pay per view card already is just ludicrous. I’ll be shocked if they get 5,000 buys. The only people who can buy this in good conscience are the folks who ran out of room to stick their money in the mattress and are forced to walk around carrying large wads of cash in their pockets. Former CEO’s also have a great deal of disposable income from what I hear.
So waste your money on the PPV cards if you like, but the best deal of the weekend is the HBO BAD tripleheader.
The opener features Sergio Martinez, 43-1 (23), facing Alex Bunema, 30-5-2 (16), for the interim WBC super welterweight title. This might be the best of the weekend fights. Martinez’ lone loss was in 2000 to Antonio Margarito. And Bunema has already chalked up knockout wins over Walter Matthysse and Roman Karmazin this year.
The second fight features undefeated blue chipper Alfredo Angulo, 13-0 (10), against Andrey Tsurkan, 26-3 (17) in a 10 round junior middleweight bout. “Perro,” from Mexicali, Mexico is swiftly climbing the ladder and has nine straight wins inside the distance.
In the main event, sensational undefeated featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, 11-0 (9), a Gold Medal winning Olympian for Cuba in 2004, is pitted against Marcos Ramirez, 25-0 (16), from Kansas City, Kansas. Ramirez has fought throughout his career in the Mid West, thus the inflated record. Look for him to go early.
Bottom line, aside from friends and family, I can’t imagine anyone picking either PPV event over the HBO BAD tripleheader. They have better fights and you can see then in HD.
These smaller PPV shows might have a better chance on a week without HBO or Showtime competition, or at least on another night than Saturday. The product won’t be any better, but at least it won’t be going head to head against far better entertainment.