Well, it’s another pay-per-view whack to the chin against boxing. Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez are headlining a busy week of boxing that will tragically pass as uneventfully as many others do. Barrera vs Marquez is a highly watchable fight pitting two of the best pound for pound fighters in the world against one another – so we have to pay extra, but we’ll try to order the fight quietly while the wives and girlfriends aren’t paying attention to what we’re doing with the remote control since she doesn’t know either of their names and that $50 could have been spent towards yet another pair of cute brown pumps.
Let me ask you a question; what does more to hinder bringing boxing back to the mainstream as a sport worth watching?
The boorish, criminal, and anti-social behaviors of guys like Mike Tyson and Tony Ayala? Pay-Per-View
The answer is clear. We hear so much about boxing’s “black eyes”, about how bad decisions and bad behavior keep boxing from transcending the lines it has drawn for itself with the public-at-large.
That, my good friends(and pardon the bad French) is a big fat pile of steaming horse shit, and should not be bought by the people who keep boxing afloat – you. Boxing has pushed itself out of the mainstream with gleeful, self destructive greed, and it gets worse and worse with each passing pay-per-view card. Let’s talk sense for a second…
Mike Tyson is a weird dude. He does coke. He’s been to prison for very bad behavior. He bites body parts from his opponents and threatens to ingest offspring whether or not they exist. Very bad man. But he’s never been caught hiding in the trunk of his car after murdering someone like Rae Carruth. Matter of fact I don’t think he’s on record for murder at all – not even involved in such legal matters as was NFL Superstar and Poster Boy Ray Lewis. Mike’s not been caught smashing the faces of strippers after tossing 80 large at them and then shooting up the club like Pacman Jones. Hell, I don’t even remember him running over security guards like so many orange cones the way Randy Moss might.
How’s the NFL doing?
Do you honestly believe that this desensitized world that we live in cares that deeply about Floyd whipping bottles around the hotel bar, or that people stay away from boxing because of Ricardo Mayorga’s cigarettes? Try to remember that we’re talking about the same American public that actually purchases their 10 year olds video games where you score points by killing innocent people and beating up hookers.
No, the constant barrage of bad behavior that comes from our chosen sport doesn’t even match up well against a 50 Cent video. America gobbles up bad behavior and worse decisions, it’s what keeps idiots like Brittney Spears famous. We don’t hate the weird, violent, and bizarre. That stuff sells.
Let’s take a real look at the problem, since this weekend is a great example. Say, just as an example, that you weren’t a boxing fan but decided this weekend to give it a shot. People keep telling you it’s worthwhile and you’re gullible, so here’s boxing’s chance to make a brand new fan.
You tune in to the Friday Night Fights card thinking that ESPN is going to be carrying the best card of the weekend. Why? Well because it’s ESPN. They show NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, Major college sports…heck even the poker guys that are on are clearly the best in the world. You trust that if ESPN bothers to show a sport they’ll bother doing it right and showing you the best athletes available. You settle in with a diet coke and a 3 slices of sausage and pepperoni. For Eric Aiken against Cruz Carbajal. Not the stuff new fans are made of. You struggle through, thinking to yourself “I know I can’t beat Kevin Garnett one-on-one, but I think I can whoop both of these guys”.
Strike One.
A bit disenchanted about your new venture into elite level boxing you decide that you’ll give it one more try before calling your friends who like the sport to tell them that they were as dumb as you thought they were, and you scan the schedule to choose a fight. You notice that across the globe there appear to be some important fights. Jean Marc Mormeck is fighting O’Neill Bell for something called a cruiserweight, must be a fishing boat or something. Their records look good, but if these guys were worth a lick the fight would be available on television. Next. There’s an undefeated champion named Parra fighting in Japan, skip it, no TV.
Strike Two.
One fight for a belt is between two little Mexican guys, Barrera and Marquez, but they can’t be that good. Never seen ‘em on Sportscenter, matter of fact I don’t think they’ve even fought on ESPN yet. Must not be good enough. Says here that the fight is $50 extra to watch. “For guys who I’ve never seen or heard of? Can’t see that happening”. Oh, here’s one – Perfect! Evander Holyfield is on local cable against some other guy. Now we’re talking, that guy is a superstar. You settle in with a Bud Light and a Manwich Hoagie to watch some bona fide heavyweight boxing…
Strike Three.
You wake up Sunday having wasted a weekend. You gave it a shot. Really shoulda known better than to listen to those moron boxing fans anyway. Come to think of it didn’t Jimmy say that bowling is getting big again…and hey, doesn’t ESPN show the PBA guys doing their thing on Sunday morning? You settle in with a glass of orange juice and a bacon egg & cheese biscuit to watch the best bowlers in the world. And you know what? They’re pretty good…
