Caution with all the business that you conduct. Be prepared to strike but always approach with strategy rather than tactics. Tacticians retreat and change shapes while strategists plan ahead. Such is a principle of power put forward by theorists such as contemporary thinker Robert Greene and older philosophers such as Sun Tzu and Niccolo Machiavelli.
Business is war. Boxing is a business made up of selling wars. In the organized war-selling business, there are competing industries with different kinds of wars. Those different kinds of wars have different players within, such as Top Rank, Golden Boy Promotions and Main Event.
While those companies have competitive approaches toward one another, they also realize that money relies on mutually assured business. Some of the best fights have been denied to fans over the years because of tiffs between promotion companies.
Recently, the tiffs have been squashed. After a long squabble between Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, peace and fights have been made. Now the fans have gotten to see Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera II and they will soon watch a rematch between Pacquiao and rival Juan Manuel Marquez. We have also seen Miguel Cotto defeat Sugar Shane Mosley thanks to the two promotion teams.
In the last year, we have also seen two fights between Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez, Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler, Ricky Hatton and Jose Luis Castillo, Paul Williams and Antonio Margarito, Juan Diaz and Julio Diaz, Juan Diaz and Acelino Freitas, Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor, Kelly Pavlik and Edison Miranda, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera and a whole selection of smaller fights that were well worth watching. Boxing will soon offer Pacquiao-Marquez fight, Pavlik-Taylor II, Marquez-Vazquez III and great wealth of dark horse battles such as the rematch between Gerry Penalosa and Daniel Ponce De Leon.
There are several theories on why this has happened. The first is that Mixed Martial Arts has put pressure on boxing to stay sharp and provide a better product. This theory has validity in that the fluid markets of the fight game have been stolen away by UFC fights. College students and other young heartland guys have turned to MMA from boxing, and now more of their girlfriends know the name of Chuck Liddell than Shane Mosley.
However, MMA is not the back bone of the wave that has struck boxing in terms of marketability. First and foremost, the heavyweight division flat stinks. People have always liked to watch the big men in the sport and the big men just are not that good. Replace Lennox Lewis and Ray Mercer with Sam Peter and Jameel McCline and you see the problem.
Secondly, the promoters in boxing have just not been making the fights that they needed to make. That has slowly been turning around lately, but it?s important to tread carefully. Michelle Piccirillo versus Vernon Forrest is not much of a fight. Actually, the entirety of that card was lackluster.
For that matter, Jermain Taylor had a lame set bout before meeting Kelly Pavlik, scoring a ridiculously boring decision over Championship Break Dancer Cory Spinks.
In this upcoming year, the bouts are coming off like clock work. Joe Calzaghe has just signed to fight Bernard Hopkins, and it is only a matter of time before the very best matches in boxing are made. The fans want to see Edwin Valero fight Manny Pacquiao. The fans want to see the winner of the Pavlik-Taylor series take on Joe Calzaghe down the road. The fans want to see the welterweight division shake out to produce a true champion from the incredible collection of talented contenders and sanctioning body champions. The fans want to see the super fights that are to come for Juan Diaz, Michael Katsidis, Arthur Abraham and Ricky Hatton.
Boxing now has the interest of the world. After building up the commercially largest fight in the history of Boxing last year, the sport took it on the chin as potential fans watched and bad mouthed the action of the fight. They were rightfully disappointed with what was supposedly the best fight that could be offered. After months and months of advertisement for what were truly the best fights out there, the world now watches Boxing. Even if the attention is more similar to a glance than a stare, the world knows several of the biggest names around. Floyd Mayweather, JR., is now as well known as any other celebrity. The world watched him dance, then watched him lay a famous left hook on Ricky Hatton.
Business is working so smoothly that trouble is almost guaranteed on the horizon. In face, it is definitely guaranteed, in the form of a rematch of the failed super fight. When Floyd Mayweather, JR., fights Oscar De La Hoya for the second time this September, the world will watch yet another of the most highly publicized disappointments that Boxing has ever provided.
This is the moment of the truth. Without a continuation of recent successful policies, the entire industry will find it self in the same situation it faced when MMA rose to the top levels of major American sports. Boxing relies on world class fights and the action they provide to the fans.
MMA grew to its current size because Boxing got lazy and allowed part of its market to be siphoned. Like many others before them, they never believed that they would be second best in their field. After months of trash talk and argument, it is now apparent that the king can be supplanted on any field. Boxing has the momentum in the business wars between fight promoters and must defend its reputation by offering the public its best quality. This is not a system of monopolies, where sanctioning bodies can prevent Mark Cuban and the rest of billionaire America from investing its fortunes in the new kid on the fight game block. Survival requires adaptation.
To be specific, rage on. Give us John Duddy. Set up Julio Cesar Chavez, JR., to fight Alfonso Lopez. Pit the winner against Paulie Malignaggi. Bring Hatton into the picture. Show the people the brutal power and speed of David Haye. Unify the heavyweight belts. Do everything possible to offer good fights for free and make sure anything on Pay Per View is actually worth the money. Never take for granted the approach of the enemy.
