Post by davemurphy on Jun 28, 2010 12:41:59 GMT -5
Disturbing Trends
By Steve Kim
Is it just me or has 2010 been a bit of a dud, as it relates to the boxing business? Quick, name the best fight of the year, thus far. Or name a bout you’re absolutely looking forward to that’s signed, sealed and delivered. You’d have to think about those questions for a little while, wouldn’t you? So far, the year has been defined by two big events in stadiums and really not much else.
The unfortunate thing is, as we turn the page on the first half of the year, the rest of 2010 may not be that much better. There are several trends that have developed that threaten to stifle the boxing business going into the future.
*Work Stoppage: Word is that after this NFL season that the 2011 football season is in great jeopardy as the players and owners work toward a new collective bargaining agreement. Well, it says here that boxing is already been hit with a lockout of its own.
If you go to Boxrec.com and check out their top-ten pound-for-pound listing, you’ll find that nobody on that list, which includes: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Wladimir Klitschko, Bernard Hopkins, Vitali Klitschko, Chad Dawson, Paul Williams, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Lucian Bute, has fought more than once. With Dawson and Marquez not having their first outings of ’10 scheduled till August 14th and July 31st, respectively.
What’s even more alarming is that young and up-and-coming performers like Tim Bradley and Nonito Donaire sat idle through the first six months of the year and, while they have upcoming bouts scheduled, they will have to scramble a bit to pick up a second assignment for 2010.
Hey, folks, remember when fighters used to, ya’ know, fight? And fight often? I’ve made this point before but could you imagine if the NFL only trotted out the Dallas Cowboys four or five times a year? Or if the Yankees played a 25-game schedule? Or if the Lakers played about 30 games a season?
That’s essentially what happens in boxing. Unless you are a young prospect like Jose Benavidez or Frankie Gomez, you simply don’t fight all that much. In fact, as you reach the highest plateaus of the sport, at best, you become a bi-annual performer. What do they say about out of sight, out of mind? Well, nothing falls into that malaise more than the sport of boxing, which perhaps does the worse job of showcasing its stars on a regular basis.
There was a time when the sports legends like Joe Louis, Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali would fight every few months, if not weeks. So what changed?
Well, they were in an era when they were not locked into HBO or Showtime contracts and they were actually handled by promoters who actually promoted and didn’t just act as television packagers. About 25 years ago, once promoters made the short-sighted decision to go for the pot of gold at the rainbow provided by these networks and took their products away from lesser paying, yet larger, platforms on the free, over-the-air networks, it began a steady decline where boxing became more and more of a niche sport that is tucked away from the mainstream.
And with these fighters tied into entities who bill themselves as “The Network of Champions,” who have exorbitant budgets but a finite amount of dates in which to trot them out, a deal was struck- make obscene amounts of money (whether you’re worth it or not) but give up the ability to stay active and build real fan-bases. It’s short-term, misguided thinking that benefits about ten fighters across the board but has severely damaged boxing as a business. No longer is it about really developing a prizefighter and cultivating an attraction. Now it’s about building up a record and hoping you catch the eyes of HBO executives who will give you a slot (and this is now done more easily be merely signing on with the incredibly influential adviser, Al Haymon).
But think about it; before the license fees of the premium cable networks (which are, in some cases, akin to welfare checks) were in existence, fighters fought much more often- because they had to, as their worth was determined by how well they drew at the gate- and promoters were forced to do their job and look for opportunities for their clients to fight. Not just go begging a network for a “date.”
When a promoter utters that, he’s really stating, "If HBO/Showtime doesn’t give me this date, well, I’ll just have to keep my fighter on the sideline and hope another date opens up later this year." Because unless you’re Bob Arum and Top Rank, who is willing to self-finance independent pay-per-view telecasts or Kathy Duva and Main Events with Tomasz Adamek, that’s invariably what happens.
The sad thing is that the genie might be out of the bottle for good. It doesn’t seem as if ABC, CBS or NBC will ever get back into boxing. It’s now a business that is locked in as being a sport that will be showcased on cable and pay-per-view. And really, just how many promoters nowadays (especially in the United States) really know how to promote anymore? Take away their license fees and casino money, they actually have no clue in how to sell tickets and run an event in the dark (i.e. without television and the money it brings to subsidize a promotion). Even fewer are willing to invest the time and sweat equity it takes to build up a fighter in the appropriate region.
The era of the HBO license fee has created a generation of lazy and inept promoters (There, I said it. And if anyone disagrees, please tell me why I’m wrong).
There are other factors at work too. First, the boxers themselves are to blame. Many of them, once they get to that level, believe that there is no going back on what they earn. It’s a delicate balancing act for promoters and managers (the ones with a big picture view, anyway) on when to put a boxer on this stage because they know that, invariably, the headaches will follow. There is more than one fighter who has adhered to the concept that once they have reached this stage and the money that accompanies it, it would be beneath them to fight on any other platform.
Andre Berto might be the seminal example of a fighter who was taken to the HBO level too soon. With the leverage of being a part of the Haymon Boxing Organization, he was given early HBO exposure in 2007 and was a staple by 2008 (fighting three times on the network against carefully hand-picked opposition) and, last year, he fought twice on the network and it looks like he’ll do so again this year. So that’s what he’s become, a part-time fighter who, at age 25, still can’t even give away tickets in his home region of Florida. To his credit, however, Berto does earn in the seven figures (because HBO anointed him one of their future standouts). The downside is that because his overall exposure and branding have been somewhat limited, you get the sense that he’ll always be a guy whose promoter will scream for the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto- two individuals who have been built into bona fide draws and will never see the real value of facing a guy like Berto.
It’s quite the conundrum for Berto. But that’s the deal he and his handlers made. And it might be the deal he’s stuck with for quite awhile. I wonder, if you offered Berto a slot on a major pay-per-view show that would increase his profile in front of the largest audience he will have ever fought in front of but he had to take a substantial hit on his purse (let’s say, half of what he’s gotten from HBO in his last few fights), would he do it? Or would he just be satisfied with his slots on the network that pay him quite handsomely for facing the likes of Carlos Quintana and Steve Forbes?
There are other factors at play as to why fighters are so inactive nowadays. Simply put, there aren’t that many options for them to ply their trade on television. While foreign fighters seem to have more alternatives like the Klitschkos (who do big television numbers in Germany and fill soccer stadiums in Europe) and Vic Darchinyan, who has actually fought twice this year, having taken a second fight in Australia) in the States, world-class fighters no longer have a forum like USA’s dearly-departed “Tuesday Night Fights” in which to take in-between fights. What this series (which ended in 1998) could provide that ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” couldn’t was a much large licensee fee that could entice middle-of-the-road titlists and bright prospects to lace ’em up as they waited for their turn on HBO or Showtime. When those 45 slots were KO’ed by “La Femme Nikita,” a huge void was created in the industry.
But the bottom line is this, unless you’re Pacquiao and Mayweather, all of these guys need to fight more, not less. Because less is not more in this business.
OTHER FACTORS
- Hey, is it just me or is the “Cold War” between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions back on? Think about it; when was the last time the two companies got together and put on a major fight? If I’m not mistaken, I believe it was Pacquiao-Hatton back in May of last year. And as the negotiations were imploding for Pacquiao-Mayweather and incendiary comments were made and defamation lawsuits were filed, things are back to where they were in 2006 and 2007, when many of the best potential fights in boxing couldn’t even be discussed because fighters were with the rival companies.
No doubt about it, these two sides will be boxing’s version of the Hatfields and McCoys or Bad Boy and Death Row Records for years to come. Nobody is asking them to be friendly and cordial with each other but it hurts the overall business when the two most influential and powerful promotional entities in America refuse to do business with each other at all. At the end of the day, if this continues, it will be the fighters and fans who will be stuck in the middle as they are deprived of the best bouts that can be made.
Believe it or not, I was watching the Strikeforce telecast this past Saturday night as I was with a group of people who had gathered to watch the latest “Latin Fury” featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. After his fight with John Duddy, we switched over to watch Fedor Emelianenko, who according to those much more knowledgeable about MMA, is the best combatant in the world. But because he’s with a rival outfit of the UFC, he would never get a shot to really prove it (Now, I know Fedor was upset as he was put into the “camel clutch” or something but that’s beside the point).
If you look at what’s taking place between Top Rank and Golden Boy, it does seem like something similar along those lines is taking place (and you can decide which one is the UFC and which one is Strikeforce). Top Rank has a deal in place with Fox Sports Net/Espanol to deliver a regular series of fights. Golden Boy has deals with ESPN2 and Telefutura. Each has their relationships with HBO (where Golden Boy enjoys an exclusive output deal) and each stages their own pay-per-view events.
What you don’t see, for the time being, is fights involving any Top Rank boxers versus those who are represented by Golden Boy.
*Which brings me to my next point, while I have dubbed Top Rank, “Top Incest” for their proclivity of having the “Pac-Man” face only those who are repped by Arum’s company like Joshua Clottey and Cotto, recently, guess what? If you look at the recent track record of Mayweather, unless you were a “partner” of Golden Boy, you weren’t getting a crack at “Money.” It’s not that I necessarily mind these match-ups all the time; in fact, sometimes they are the best fight that can be made, such as Pacquiao-Cotto and Mayweather-Mosley.
I remember when Don King used to be castigated for having both sides of the equation. Well, it says here it’s never been more rampant than it is today with Top Rank and Golden Boy. Just look at the most recent and upcoming shows on HBO, Showtime or pay-per-view and see how many bouts are made that have match-ups where both sides are under the same promotional umbrella.
Just looking at some examples from this year, on January 23rd, there was a “Boxing After Dark” telecast that featured Juan Manuel Lopez-Steven Luevano and Yuriorkis Gamboa-Rogers Mtagwa. On this card, three of the four boxers were promoted by Top Rank. On May 15th, another edition of “B.A.D.” had a twin bill of Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi and Victor Ortiz-Nate Campbell. Three of the four fighters involved were under the Golden Boy banner. On June 5th, HBO had a “Championship Boxing” telecast that had Miguel Cotto facing Yuri Foreman (both Top Rank fighters) and Vanes Martirosyan (who is handled by Top Rank also) taking on Joe Greene.
Can you name a compelling fight that came out of that batch for me?
Looking ahead, the July 10th telecast on Showtime from Puerto Rico has “JuanMa” facing Bernabe Concepcion and Nonito Donaire against Hernan “Tyson” Marquez. All four boxers have an association with Top Rank. The July 31st pay-per-view show that has the rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz is basically a card that has one Golden Boy boxer facing another one from Jorge Linares-Rocky Juarez to Joel Casamayor-Robert Guerrero.
I’m sure it’s a trend that will continue. Again, I’m not completely opposed to these fights; I think the hook-up between Top Rank lightweights Anthony Peterson and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (which is scheduled to open up the July 24th “Boxing After Dark” broadcast that features Yuriorkis Gamboa-Orlando Salido) has a chance to be a very good scrap. But the question is, while fights such as these are the best that Top Rank and Golden Boy can make within their own vast stable of fighters, are they the best fights that can be shown to the general audience?
It’s up to the networks to force the hands of the promoters that they are doling out dates to and force them to make the best possible fights. If not, we’ll continue to get more and more “house fights.”
Courtesy: maxboxing.com
By Steve Kim
Is it just me or has 2010 been a bit of a dud, as it relates to the boxing business? Quick, name the best fight of the year, thus far. Or name a bout you’re absolutely looking forward to that’s signed, sealed and delivered. You’d have to think about those questions for a little while, wouldn’t you? So far, the year has been defined by two big events in stadiums and really not much else.
The unfortunate thing is, as we turn the page on the first half of the year, the rest of 2010 may not be that much better. There are several trends that have developed that threaten to stifle the boxing business going into the future.
*Work Stoppage: Word is that after this NFL season that the 2011 football season is in great jeopardy as the players and owners work toward a new collective bargaining agreement. Well, it says here that boxing is already been hit with a lockout of its own.
If you go to Boxrec.com and check out their top-ten pound-for-pound listing, you’ll find that nobody on that list, which includes: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Wladimir Klitschko, Bernard Hopkins, Vitali Klitschko, Chad Dawson, Paul Williams, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Lucian Bute, has fought more than once. With Dawson and Marquez not having their first outings of ’10 scheduled till August 14th and July 31st, respectively.
What’s even more alarming is that young and up-and-coming performers like Tim Bradley and Nonito Donaire sat idle through the first six months of the year and, while they have upcoming bouts scheduled, they will have to scramble a bit to pick up a second assignment for 2010.
Hey, folks, remember when fighters used to, ya’ know, fight? And fight often? I’ve made this point before but could you imagine if the NFL only trotted out the Dallas Cowboys four or five times a year? Or if the Yankees played a 25-game schedule? Or if the Lakers played about 30 games a season?
That’s essentially what happens in boxing. Unless you are a young prospect like Jose Benavidez or Frankie Gomez, you simply don’t fight all that much. In fact, as you reach the highest plateaus of the sport, at best, you become a bi-annual performer. What do they say about out of sight, out of mind? Well, nothing falls into that malaise more than the sport of boxing, which perhaps does the worse job of showcasing its stars on a regular basis.
There was a time when the sports legends like Joe Louis, Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali would fight every few months, if not weeks. So what changed?
Well, they were in an era when they were not locked into HBO or Showtime contracts and they were actually handled by promoters who actually promoted and didn’t just act as television packagers. About 25 years ago, once promoters made the short-sighted decision to go for the pot of gold at the rainbow provided by these networks and took their products away from lesser paying, yet larger, platforms on the free, over-the-air networks, it began a steady decline where boxing became more and more of a niche sport that is tucked away from the mainstream.
And with these fighters tied into entities who bill themselves as “The Network of Champions,” who have exorbitant budgets but a finite amount of dates in which to trot them out, a deal was struck- make obscene amounts of money (whether you’re worth it or not) but give up the ability to stay active and build real fan-bases. It’s short-term, misguided thinking that benefits about ten fighters across the board but has severely damaged boxing as a business. No longer is it about really developing a prizefighter and cultivating an attraction. Now it’s about building up a record and hoping you catch the eyes of HBO executives who will give you a slot (and this is now done more easily be merely signing on with the incredibly influential adviser, Al Haymon).
But think about it; before the license fees of the premium cable networks (which are, in some cases, akin to welfare checks) were in existence, fighters fought much more often- because they had to, as their worth was determined by how well they drew at the gate- and promoters were forced to do their job and look for opportunities for their clients to fight. Not just go begging a network for a “date.”
When a promoter utters that, he’s really stating, "If HBO/Showtime doesn’t give me this date, well, I’ll just have to keep my fighter on the sideline and hope another date opens up later this year." Because unless you’re Bob Arum and Top Rank, who is willing to self-finance independent pay-per-view telecasts or Kathy Duva and Main Events with Tomasz Adamek, that’s invariably what happens.
The sad thing is that the genie might be out of the bottle for good. It doesn’t seem as if ABC, CBS or NBC will ever get back into boxing. It’s now a business that is locked in as being a sport that will be showcased on cable and pay-per-view. And really, just how many promoters nowadays (especially in the United States) really know how to promote anymore? Take away their license fees and casino money, they actually have no clue in how to sell tickets and run an event in the dark (i.e. without television and the money it brings to subsidize a promotion). Even fewer are willing to invest the time and sweat equity it takes to build up a fighter in the appropriate region.
The era of the HBO license fee has created a generation of lazy and inept promoters (There, I said it. And if anyone disagrees, please tell me why I’m wrong).
There are other factors at work too. First, the boxers themselves are to blame. Many of them, once they get to that level, believe that there is no going back on what they earn. It’s a delicate balancing act for promoters and managers (the ones with a big picture view, anyway) on when to put a boxer on this stage because they know that, invariably, the headaches will follow. There is more than one fighter who has adhered to the concept that once they have reached this stage and the money that accompanies it, it would be beneath them to fight on any other platform.
Andre Berto might be the seminal example of a fighter who was taken to the HBO level too soon. With the leverage of being a part of the Haymon Boxing Organization, he was given early HBO exposure in 2007 and was a staple by 2008 (fighting three times on the network against carefully hand-picked opposition) and, last year, he fought twice on the network and it looks like he’ll do so again this year. So that’s what he’s become, a part-time fighter who, at age 25, still can’t even give away tickets in his home region of Florida. To his credit, however, Berto does earn in the seven figures (because HBO anointed him one of their future standouts). The downside is that because his overall exposure and branding have been somewhat limited, you get the sense that he’ll always be a guy whose promoter will scream for the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto- two individuals who have been built into bona fide draws and will never see the real value of facing a guy like Berto.
It’s quite the conundrum for Berto. But that’s the deal he and his handlers made. And it might be the deal he’s stuck with for quite awhile. I wonder, if you offered Berto a slot on a major pay-per-view show that would increase his profile in front of the largest audience he will have ever fought in front of but he had to take a substantial hit on his purse (let’s say, half of what he’s gotten from HBO in his last few fights), would he do it? Or would he just be satisfied with his slots on the network that pay him quite handsomely for facing the likes of Carlos Quintana and Steve Forbes?
There are other factors at play as to why fighters are so inactive nowadays. Simply put, there aren’t that many options for them to ply their trade on television. While foreign fighters seem to have more alternatives like the Klitschkos (who do big television numbers in Germany and fill soccer stadiums in Europe) and Vic Darchinyan, who has actually fought twice this year, having taken a second fight in Australia) in the States, world-class fighters no longer have a forum like USA’s dearly-departed “Tuesday Night Fights” in which to take in-between fights. What this series (which ended in 1998) could provide that ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” couldn’t was a much large licensee fee that could entice middle-of-the-road titlists and bright prospects to lace ’em up as they waited for their turn on HBO or Showtime. When those 45 slots were KO’ed by “La Femme Nikita,” a huge void was created in the industry.
But the bottom line is this, unless you’re Pacquiao and Mayweather, all of these guys need to fight more, not less. Because less is not more in this business.
OTHER FACTORS
- Hey, is it just me or is the “Cold War” between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions back on? Think about it; when was the last time the two companies got together and put on a major fight? If I’m not mistaken, I believe it was Pacquiao-Hatton back in May of last year. And as the negotiations were imploding for Pacquiao-Mayweather and incendiary comments were made and defamation lawsuits were filed, things are back to where they were in 2006 and 2007, when many of the best potential fights in boxing couldn’t even be discussed because fighters were with the rival companies.
No doubt about it, these two sides will be boxing’s version of the Hatfields and McCoys or Bad Boy and Death Row Records for years to come. Nobody is asking them to be friendly and cordial with each other but it hurts the overall business when the two most influential and powerful promotional entities in America refuse to do business with each other at all. At the end of the day, if this continues, it will be the fighters and fans who will be stuck in the middle as they are deprived of the best bouts that can be made.
Believe it or not, I was watching the Strikeforce telecast this past Saturday night as I was with a group of people who had gathered to watch the latest “Latin Fury” featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. After his fight with John Duddy, we switched over to watch Fedor Emelianenko, who according to those much more knowledgeable about MMA, is the best combatant in the world. But because he’s with a rival outfit of the UFC, he would never get a shot to really prove it (Now, I know Fedor was upset as he was put into the “camel clutch” or something but that’s beside the point).
If you look at what’s taking place between Top Rank and Golden Boy, it does seem like something similar along those lines is taking place (and you can decide which one is the UFC and which one is Strikeforce). Top Rank has a deal in place with Fox Sports Net/Espanol to deliver a regular series of fights. Golden Boy has deals with ESPN2 and Telefutura. Each has their relationships with HBO (where Golden Boy enjoys an exclusive output deal) and each stages their own pay-per-view events.
What you don’t see, for the time being, is fights involving any Top Rank boxers versus those who are represented by Golden Boy.
*Which brings me to my next point, while I have dubbed Top Rank, “Top Incest” for their proclivity of having the “Pac-Man” face only those who are repped by Arum’s company like Joshua Clottey and Cotto, recently, guess what? If you look at the recent track record of Mayweather, unless you were a “partner” of Golden Boy, you weren’t getting a crack at “Money.” It’s not that I necessarily mind these match-ups all the time; in fact, sometimes they are the best fight that can be made, such as Pacquiao-Cotto and Mayweather-Mosley.
I remember when Don King used to be castigated for having both sides of the equation. Well, it says here it’s never been more rampant than it is today with Top Rank and Golden Boy. Just look at the most recent and upcoming shows on HBO, Showtime or pay-per-view and see how many bouts are made that have match-ups where both sides are under the same promotional umbrella.
Just looking at some examples from this year, on January 23rd, there was a “Boxing After Dark” telecast that featured Juan Manuel Lopez-Steven Luevano and Yuriorkis Gamboa-Rogers Mtagwa. On this card, three of the four boxers were promoted by Top Rank. On May 15th, another edition of “B.A.D.” had a twin bill of Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi and Victor Ortiz-Nate Campbell. Three of the four fighters involved were under the Golden Boy banner. On June 5th, HBO had a “Championship Boxing” telecast that had Miguel Cotto facing Yuri Foreman (both Top Rank fighters) and Vanes Martirosyan (who is handled by Top Rank also) taking on Joe Greene.
Can you name a compelling fight that came out of that batch for me?
Looking ahead, the July 10th telecast on Showtime from Puerto Rico has “JuanMa” facing Bernabe Concepcion and Nonito Donaire against Hernan “Tyson” Marquez. All four boxers have an association with Top Rank. The July 31st pay-per-view show that has the rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz is basically a card that has one Golden Boy boxer facing another one from Jorge Linares-Rocky Juarez to Joel Casamayor-Robert Guerrero.
I’m sure it’s a trend that will continue. Again, I’m not completely opposed to these fights; I think the hook-up between Top Rank lightweights Anthony Peterson and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (which is scheduled to open up the July 24th “Boxing After Dark” broadcast that features Yuriorkis Gamboa-Orlando Salido) has a chance to be a very good scrap. But the question is, while fights such as these are the best that Top Rank and Golden Boy can make within their own vast stable of fighters, are they the best fights that can be shown to the general audience?
It’s up to the networks to force the hands of the promoters that they are doling out dates to and force them to make the best possible fights. If not, we’ll continue to get more and more “house fights.”
Courtesy: maxboxing.com
