?All bouts subject to change or cancellation without notice.?
It?s a simple disclaimer, usually found at the end of any given pre-fight press release or fight poster advertising an upcoming event. Like any disclaimer, it?s listed for legal reasons, to avoid lawsuits and accusations of false advertising.
Lately, it?s become more than a disclaimer. For the first three weekends of September (including the one upcoming), it?s become a way of life for the sport of boxing.
News of Vitali Klitschko?s undergoing immediate spine surgery this past weekend meant three straight Saturdays in which major cards to air on stateside television instead go boxing-free. Klitschko?s latest injury came hot on the heels of Juan Manuel Marquez? injury-induced withdrawal from his scheduled bout with Rocky Juarez, which was preceded by the postponement of Fernando Vargas-Ricardo Mayorga.
If the NFL followed the same rules as boxing, then NBC would?ve pulled the plug on its Game of the Week Sunday night after NY Giants quarterback Eli Manning went out with a separated shoulder late in the game.
Instead, Manning was replaced. As was running back Brandon Jacobs, who banged up his knee in the second quarter. As well as defensive end Osi Umenyiora and Cowboys? nose tackle Jason Ferguson, both suffering injuries early in the 1st quarter. Through and through, the game went on ? and turned out to be a hell of a game at that.
Who knows what would?ve happened in fights between Daniel Santos and Jose Antonio Rivera, Luis Collazo and Sharmba Mitchell, Roman Karmazin and Luca Messi this past weekend. The three bouts were thought to be good enough to serve as a supporting cast to Showtime?s intended Vargas-Mayorga PPV headliner. Hell, the event?s publicists felt Karmazin-Messi was a bout worthy of an international media conference call.
Apparently, none were worthy of airtime on their own.
Ditto for this weekend?s card, where three more intriguing, and seemingly even-matched bouts were on tap. ?The Contender? alumni Sergio Mora (Season 1 winner) and Stevie Forbes (Season 2 runner-up) took time from their training camps to speak with the media regarding respective bouts with Kassim Ouma and Francisco ?Panchito? Bojado.
Both Mora and Forbes have endured rough times in the past twelve months. Mora?s last bout came last summer (W10 vs. Eric Regan, August 2006 on ESPN2), having since watched two separate dates with Jermain Taylor fall by the wayside. Forbes dropped a heartbreaker against Grady Brewer in last season?s Contender finale, then had one blatantly taken away against Demetrius Hopkins this past March.
There?s no guarantee that either would win this weekend, but it was a chance that both were more than willing to take.
Instead, they get the same thing we get ? nothing.
Nothing either for Rocky Juarez and Robert Guerrero, who were originally slated to face one another in the co-feature battle before agreeing to face separate opponents.
So much for leaving well enough alone.
Juarez was upgraded to the main event against Juan Manuel Marquez after Jorge Barrios was scratched from the show. The move opened up a slot for gritty featherweight contender Martin Honorio, whose previous string of performances (upset win over Steve Luevano chief among them) warranted a long-awaited prime-time slot beyond the Telefutura circuit.
Golden Boy obviously felt otherwise. Despite dismal ticket sales and even less interest on the PPV circuit, the Los Angeles-based promotional outfit felt that the loss of Marquez was far too important to allow the show to go on. Apparently Guerrero, Juarez, Honorio and Mora weren?t Mexican enough to preserve the weekends? theme (September 15 being Mexican Independence Day, when Mexico was freed from Spanish rule nearly 200 years ago).
Or maybe, Golden Boy Promotions? Richard Schaefer meant what he said prior to the Floyd Mayweather-Oscar de la Hoya business convention a few months ago. It was during a media conference call that he insisted undercard bouts really don?t matter, especially for an event as big as Mayweather-de la Hoya.
In theory, he was correct. 2.15 million fans bought the bout based on the intrigue, and hard sell, of the main event, which bombed. The undercard, fought in complete anonymity, left nary an impression, though its two televised winners, Rey Bautista and Rocky Juarez, were able to parlay the wins into more lucrative future paydays.
Well, at least Bautista, though failing to make the most of his fifteen minutes of fame against Daniel Ponce de Leon last month. In fact, he didn?t even last fifteen minutes, but less than three, which is all it took for Bautista to get stretched in highlight reel fashion.
Those 150 seconds are 150 more than Juarez and the supporting cast will see this weekend, or even in the immediate future. Even if you want to forgive the main event falling through, there?s little to be said that can justify telling Guerrero, Honorio, Mora, Ouma, Forbes and Bojado that their services are no longer needed this weekend.
Not when all were willing to put it all on the line this weekend. Not when boxing fans were looking forward to something.
Instead, it?s the same as it was last weekend. And the same as it will be next weekend.
Nothing.
SOMETHING
Last weekend wasn?t completely lost. There was plenty of action on both sides of the pond last Friday, beginning with Junior Witter?s 7th round knockout over Vivian Harris in England. The battle was regarded as a junior welterweight eliminator of sorts, with Witter and Harris representing the top 140 lb. contenders to Ricky Hatton?s linear crown.
Witter became a force of one in delivering the best performance of his career. Harris still has time and upside to make one more run; the bout far exceeded expectations of a snoozer, instead developing into a high-contact affair. The one remaining question is how long his 5?10? frame can handle making the junior welterweight limit.
Perhaps he can move up to welterweight, where more lucrative paydays await. He would be reunited with his former stablemate Zab Judah, who managed to achieve something he failed to do in the past 28 months ? win a fight. It was hardly impressive, delivering a lethargic performance against mediocre Edwin Vazquez in the year?s final installment of ESPN2?s Friday Night Fights. But in the end, it was certainly better than remaining ?0-for.?
While Judah managed to rediscover his winning ways on the Deuce, once-promising junior welterweight prospect Nick Casal continues his downward spiral. The Niagara Falls knockout artist hoped to rebound from the first loss of his career, a lopsided points loss at the hands of unheralded Jose Izquierdo.
A split decision win over faded Priest ?Tiger? Smalls was hardly what the doctor ordered, but enough for promoter Gary Shaw to secure one more ShoBox date. Once again, Casal failed to make the most of a gift-wrapped opportunity, instead getting beat at his own game against unheralded Antonio DeMarco (not THAT Tony DeMarco, old-schoolers) en route to his second unanimous decision loss of the year.
Alfred Angulo went in the opposite direction, leaving a lasting impression with a dominant second round stoppage of Emmanuel Gonzalez in a co-feature battle of unbeaten junior middleweights. With the recent mass exodus of many of the division?s top players, Angulo gives boxing fans, the junior middleweight division and promoter Gary Shaw plenty to look forward to in the future.
Ditto for Abner Mares and the bantamweight division. The 2004 Olympian scored the biggest win of his young career, dominating Isidro Garcia en route to a 7th round stoppage on Telefutura. The night also served as a confidence booster for Antonio Escalante, who continues to rebuild following a KO loss to faded Mauricio Pastrana earlier this year. Escalante has since won two straight, including a 5th round knockout over Feider Viloria, a Colombian punching bag whose glossy record far exceeds his talent.
It?s not much, but it?s something, which is better than the nothing being offered last, this and next Saturday.
SOMETHING ELSE ? THAT ?OTHER? SPORT
Ah, the comparisons will never end, even though boxing and MMA are nothing alike. But so long as the two remain intertwined among casual fans who can?t seem to differentiate, boxing doesn?t do itself any favors by canceling major cards on weekends when ?that other sport? has something to offer.
Such was the case last weekend, when many a boxing fan strayed to Spike TV, which carried UFC 74, a rare five-card bout that didn?t cost Joe Customer a single penny. The show was aired via tape-delay from the O2 Arena (which was completely sold out) in London, England, and headlined by the unification match between UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton ?Rampage? Jackson and Pride champ Dan Henderson. Jackson emerged victorious via unanimous decision in a hard-fought, though not completely aesthetically pleasing, bout.
That?s not to say it was a stinker, not in the least. At worst, it was more intriguing than entertaining, but still enough to maintain viewer interest throughout. On the upside, most of the undercard picked up the slack, save for a dispassionate non-effort turned in by Mirko Cro Crop Filipovic in his decision loss to Cheick Kongo.
With no boxing action this Saturday, those in need of a fighting fix can once again peek around the corner, as Showtime presents an Elite XC event live from Honolulu, Hawaii. And then again the following weekend, as Chuck Liddell squares off against Keith Jardine in the main event of UFC76, which airs live on PPV from Anaheim, CA,
GOLDEN BOY ROBS FORBES? AGAIN
2007 has gone from bad to worse for former titlist and Season 2 Contender finalist Stevie ?2 Pound? Forbes, and he has Golden Boy Promotions to thank for it.
It began six months ago, when Forbes dropped a highly controversial decision to undefeated Demetrius Hopkins, nephew of Bernard Hopkins, a major GBP stakeholder. The scoring was so suspect, you figured a post-fight press release would also include the announcement of Robert Hoyle, Glenn Trowbridge and Dalby Shirley as the newest members of Golden Boy Promotions.
The most recent letdown comes with the aforementioned fallout of Marquez-Juarez. Forbes received the bad news while in the finishing stages of training camp for his anticipated crossroads bout with Francisco ?Panchito? Bojado.
The good news is, Forbes doesn?t have to wait much longer for redemption. BoxingScene.com received word Monday evening that Forbes-Bojado has been rescheduled for October 6, on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera II in Las Vegas.
Hopefully for Forbes, the good fortunes don?t end there. Though he?ll know something?s up if masked versions of Oscar de la Hoya and Richard Schaefer are spotted at ringside.
Jake Donovan?s column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.com. In addition to his contributions as a writer, Jake is also licensed as a manager, promoter and judge (ABC certified), and is a member of the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. He may be reached for questions and comments at [email protected].
