Welcome to the latest edition of the Los Angeles Boxing Examiner’s mailbag. Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed me and commented about my articles at the Examiner and Boxing Confidential . I cannot post them all, so keep them coming and maybe one day, you to will be featured in the mailbag.
I recently speculated about the possibility of Golden Boy Promotions launching an Internet boxing series, of course a dinosaur came out of the wood work and started talking about price points.
“Would they charged for Internet bouts and how much? I think 5 or 10 bucks might be a saturation point like a movie?” — Irish Joey Archer
Mr. Archer, if Golden Boy or anyone else charged for an Internet fight series, they would be missing the point. Any Internet boxing series should be about marketing the sport to a younger fan base. The series should be free and its goal to expose as many new fans to boxing as possible. If Golden Boy came out of the gate charging fans for Internet boxing cards, it would be business as usual, except they would be attracting the mummies who actually know what it takes to turn on a computer this not manufactured by Commodore.
Cotto vs. Pacquiao makes perfect cents…
Moments after Miguel Cotto defeated Michael Jennings this past Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, the Boricua Bomber made it clear that a bout against Manny Pacquiao is on his mind. Many of my readers felt Cotto was picking on the “smaller” Pacquiao.
“I think Cotto should be embarrassed with himself by challenging little guys. Don’t be a bully, Cotto. Find someone your own size!” — Vince The Stupid Dog
You cannot be mad at Cotto for wanting a fat payday against the smaller pound for pound king. Manny debuted as a flyweight and Cotto a junior welterweight, but Pacquiao tipped the scales at 142 for his bout with Oscar De La Hoya this past December. If Pacquiao defeats Ricky Hatton in May, he will want another big time purse for his next outing and Cotto could help in making the money roll in.
Money makes boxing go round. Pacquiao is a super star after embarrassing De La Hoya. Just like the Filipino needed Hatton for a big payday, he will need the big names to keep the dollars rolling in. From lightweight to welterweight, no other name will garner the sort of fanfare and salary that Cotto could for Pacquiao. In the end, if Manny and Miguel go toe to toe, it is not a function of their courage, or heart, but their pocketbooks.
If you go back and read my news brief , the actual tale of the tape (age, height, and reach) between Cotto and Pacquiao looks pretty even.
Gamboa — The Boxing Television King
It still makes my head spin to think that Yuriorkis Gamboa, promoted by a German firm, has appeared on ESPN four times, HBO twice, and Showtime once all in the last year and a half. Hats off to Gamboa and Arena Boxing Promotions.
“I don’t know if Gamboa is the best promoted or not but talk about must see TV, this kid is IT. Pure excitement in the ring. This guys future is unlimited. Best thing that Ohner could do is get him out of Miami. The “good life” in Miami has ruined more great Cuban amateur fighters than anything. Plus, he’ll never learn English living there and that hurts marketability.” — PNUT
Miami has a way of destroying potential Cuban professional prospects…did anyone see Ramon Garbey on ESPN Friday Night Fights this past week? He may look like a journeyman, out of shape heavyweight now, but Garbey was the real deal as an amateur defecting out of Cuba. You can thank Garbey’s weak constitution and the temptation of the Miami night life for his demise.
So far Gamboa has seemed to take his training serious and has never disappointed in the ring, aside from the fact that he is prone to flash knockdowns. If I was in charge over at Arena Boxing, Gamboa, Oldanier Solis (their Cuban heavyweight prospect), and Erislandy Lara would be isolated somewhere in the Midwest. I agree PNUT, no need to tempt these young guns with the good life of capitalist South Florida.
