On what was a brisk autumn afternoon last Saturday at the Santa Anita Park, a place best known for thoroughbred horses, a pair of prizefighters were featured as a prelude to this weekend?s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas. While the horses ran trackside, a boxing ring was set up near the far end of the bleachers. The main focus of the predominantly Mexican-American turnout was Juan Manuel Marquez, who faces Manny Pacquiao in this weekend?s big event. First to appear at this promotional junket was junior welterweight titlist Tim Bradley, who appears on the undercard in his Top Rank Promotions debut.
As Bradley worked a few token rounds on the pads with his trainer, Joel Diaz, only a smattering of fans had shown up by this juncture. The truth of the matter is most everyone who arrived would come to see Marquez, who was mobbed by the masses later on.
For the ?Desert Storm,? this is the first step in Top Rank?s plan to showcase him to the general populace and turn him into a transcendent figure, not a guy whose supposed ?big? fights take place at decrepit barns like the Pontiac Silverdome. In addition to taking care of his media duties, Bradley made a live appearance on Horse Racing TV and stayed for a few hours to sign autographs and pose for pictures with the public.
?That means a lot to me; you know why? I feel that this is a great opportunity for the fans to come out to an event like this, see the actual fighters, interact with the fighter,? said Bradley, who faces Joel Casamayor on Saturday. ?It does good as far as building interest towards the fight because when they leave here, they?re going to take those pictures and post them online. They?re going to tell their friends about it, then their friends? friends are going to tell their friends about it and it?s a train effect. It?s going to go right down the line and many people are going to know who Timothy Bradley is.?
I guess you could call it the ?Alpha-Beta? effect. In other words, tell a friend.
Before coming to Top Rank, Bradley was co-promoted by Thompson Boxing and Gary Shaw Productions, who did an admirable job of moving him up the boxing food chain and developing him as a boxer. But in terms of raising his profile? Well, let?s just say that?s where his past promoters were a tad limited. It?s hard to do that if all you?re going to invest in during an event?s build-up is the obligatory conference call with reporters and a media workout. It?s now the cookie-cutter option that is too often the template for ?promoting? fights nowadays.
