Aside from ?making it free,? PBC?s most enduring legacy may be the stubborn, money-grubbing temperament it imparts to its fighters. Few have been more forthright about this mentality than Angel Garcia, who not long ago wondered aloud why two elite fighters should ever get in the ring together ?when they can fight a Salka.? Robert Guerrero is no Salka, but you can bet that the only reason he will be across the ring from Danny Garcia at the Staples Center in Los Angles, California, tomorrow night is because he is inching ever closer to that ignominious distinction.
A year ago it seemed nearly impossible to envision a scenario in which woeful heavyweights could generate more excitement than this era?s richest division, welterweight. And yet, with the growing reticence from supposedly A-list superstars-in-the-making like Keith Thurman, Adrien Broner and Amir Khan the unthinkable is here. That the PBC is closing in on the first year of its operations without having promoted a topnotch welterweight scrap (Thurman-Guerrero notwithstanding) despite its vast resources and stable of fighters, is, put simply, embarrassing. This is enough evidence to suggest that entitling fighters is a surefire way to create a breeding ground for unbridled contempt.
After handing Paulie Malignaggi a low-key drubbing last August in his first legitimate fight at 147 pounds, Garcia, 31-0 (18), looks to regain the sterling status he earned in 2013 when he upstaged and out-gritted Lucas Matthysse over 12 rounds. But if his father?s recent words are any indication, Garcia won?t reach that critical height anytime soon. ?It?s about the bank being loaded,? Angel explained to reporters from his Kensington gym earlier this month. ?It?s not about the glory. That?s why Oscar [De La Hoya] is that way?Sometimes it?s not about the glory, brother. It?s about the paper.? Alas, even the most fervent, fanatical defenders of the PBC would be hard-pressed to stick-up for these comments, which make a total mockery out of prizefighting and its paying customers. If the Rod Salka Affair raised a public uproar (or what amounts to such in boxing), the Garcia camp could not have cared less. This then is the reality of the PBC?s regressive and anti-competitive nature: signing a throng of elite fighters only to have them avoid each other as they pick up exorbitant paychecks fighting journeymen. If Garcia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, truly does not have any plans to tussle with the likes of Thurman anytime soon, and thereby lend some integrity to the PBC, then this business really is just a den for the myriad of two-timing hucksters.
Saturday night?s fight will be televised on no less a national platform than Fox, but it is a far cry from being newsworthy. The casual observer tuning into the fight may recognize Guerrero, 33-3-1-2 (18), as a former Mayweather sweepstakes contestant and deem that sufficient reason to view the bout as a solid scrap. But the truth is that Guerrero has been a declining fighter for some time now. While he earned his moniker, ?The Ghost,? as a deft, hard-to-hit featherweight, Guerrero, has made a name for himself at 147 pounds as an unvarnished slugger, too eager to test his chin. Eventually, after enough pounding, even granite becomes dust.
Lacking firepower, the Gilroy, California, native has left as much flesh on the canvas in his most recent wins (Selcuk Aydin, Andre Berto, Yoshihiro Kamegai) as in his losses (Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Keith Thurman). Indeed, in his last fight, Guerrero went to hell and back with little-known Aron Martinez, who out-muscled Guerrero and dropped him in the fourth round. One shudders at what Garcia?and his left hook?might do to Guerrero, who has neither the speed nor dexterity that he once possessed at lighter weights to steer clear of a KO blow.
Guerrero, however, has plenty of steely resolve. Unfortunately, all this means is that Guerrero will prolong the bloody spectacle, one intended to help Garcia regain his devastating form. No doubt, the fight will have its brief exchanges. But with the window closed for any surprises, we would be na?ve to hope that true competition might emerge from the ring, that deep chasm of duplicity.
