If a non-mainstream belt-holder wants to earn a paycheck, he simply defends his title(s) – But if he wants to be a superstar and must-see TV one day, he fights with regularity.
Perhaps newly-crowed WBC Champion Deontay Wilder ‘gets it?’
Wilder, who will face Eric Molina on June 13, recently told The Orange County Register he wants to be an active champion. ?I want to fight as much as possible…” ?I told everybody once I became a champion, I was going to be an active champion,? Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) said.
?Forget about that fighting once or twice a year.”
Wilder wants to be a mainstream commodity and has the right mindset, as do Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.
Why don’t other fighters and their managers and promoters share that mentality? Mike Tyson fought 13 times in 1986, won the WBC heavyweight title in November of that year and stepped in the ring four times in 1987. And even after Tyson was a mainstream celebrity and among the most popular and highest-paid athletes in the world, he was fighting at least three times per year prior to the twilight of his career.
Today, many top contenders and elite-level champions want to know why they aren’t getting more buzz and respect?
Answer: Few people know who they are and/or could care less who or when they fight because they don’t fight enough.
… Out of sight, out of mind.
Unless a fighter is a popular Olympic champion with a pre-established brand (like a Sugar Ray Leonard) or an already-established, bonified superstar a la Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao, he’ll likely have to fight more than ‘once in a blue moon’ to take his popularity to new levels and make the transformation from ‘alphabet soup’ title holder to ‘mainstream star.’
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, on his path to sports immortality, didn’t always fight big names but, early in his career, fought often, regardless of whether the bout was broadcast by a major network. And those stay-busy bouts not only kept Chavez sharp, they kept him in the news and ultimately in public conciousness.
Network dates Some promoters will insist their fighters are relegated to fighting once every 6 to 8 months because there aren’t enough network days to go around, but Golovkin & Co, like Chavez before him, refuse to make network dates a prerequisite for fighting.
For instance, Gennady’s Monte Carlo bouts against Osumanu Adama and Nobuhiro Ishida in 2014 and 2013, respectively, were not aired by a major American network.
When the major networks can’t accommodate a fighter or refuse to accept an obvious tune-up, promoters should look to smaller networks like BET to fill in the gaps.
The Minimum It seems some fighters and managers try to get away with doing the once-every-six-months minimum, and it doesn’t appear to be working.
If Deontay Wilder fights more than today’s typical champion, he will exponentially enhance his chances of becoming a mainstream star one day.
