THE IDEC INDEX
Here is boxing writer Keith Idec?s inside look at the sport:
FEATURED FIGHT: Curtis Stevens vs. Gabe Rosado. These middleweight contenders will square off in a Big Knockout Boxing exhibition Saturday night at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The fight won?t count on either boxer?s record, but Brooklyn?s Stevens (27-5, 20 KOs) and Philadelphia?s Rosado (21-9, 13 KOs, 1 NC) will earn six figures apiece to headline BKB?s second pay-per-view event (8 p.m., $39.95). BKB differs from traditional boxing in that its pit is significantly smaller than boxing rings and isn?t confined by ropes. Bouts also are scheduled for five or seven two-minute rounds.
LOCAL LOOK: Paterson?s Ian Green is scheduled to return to the ring April 18 at The Paramount in Huntington, N.Y. The Eastside High School graduate will meet Marlon Farr (4-8), of Zephyrhills, Fla., in a non-televised, four-round super middleweight match. Green, a two-time New Jersey Golden Gloves champion, improved to 3-0 and recorded his third knockout Saturday night in Springfield, Va., where he used a crushing right hand to drop Jess Noriega (3-13, 3 KOs), of Lynchburg, Va., in the second round and ended their scheduled four-rounder.
THE FINAL BELL: We should all be able to rest easier now that HBO/Showtime and cable/satellite providers have agreed to how they?re going to divide in excess of $300 million worth of pay-per-view revenue from the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight May 2 in Las Vegas. The fight will cost $99 in HD, $24 more than any pay-per-view event in boxing history.
Even with that preposterous price tag, Mayweather-Pacquiao is expected to exceed three million buys, which would shatter the record of 2.45 million established by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya in May 2007.
HBO and/or Showtime typically split pay-per-view revenue 50-50 with cable/satellite providers, but the premium cable channels will benefit from a 60-40 split for Mayweather-Pacquiao.
