In 2009 so far, TV has been the thing.
After ?not enough paid?-per-view bombs like Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins-Kelly Pavlik in the second half of 2008, premium cable giant HBO got back to basics in a big way over the first half of this year. Three of the first half?s best and most anticipated matches (Shane Mosley-Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz, and Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey) were free to subscribers.
The trend towards serious quality for subscribers, something which used to be a given, truly began in the second half of 2007 with the live airing of notables like Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor I. This was the first time three fights which could have been bona fide pay-per-view shows aired in such close succession for years and the ratings have grown accordingly.
The broadcast playing board has seen plenty of strong moves from HBO?s competitors. Showtime continued to provide quality looks at the future in its ShoBox airings while maximizing its Championship Boxing series with worthy battles like unification clash at Jr. Welterweight (Timothy Bradely-Kendall Holt) and a Super Middleweight war between Carl Froch and Jermain Taylor. Though limited in approach, the Versus network stepped up by offering the fourth season of the Contender and June?s brutal Light Heavyweight showcase between Jean Pascal and Adrian Diaconu.
And all along, ESPN has shown fans hot prospects like Erislandy Lara while also providing veteran entertainment featuring old hands like Randall Bailey and picking up two Heavyweight title bouts for Saturday afternoons.
It is not to say every show on every channel has been good. There have still been some dreadful nights which initially looked fine on paper and some dreadful nights which didn?t and lived down to expectation. However, it?s feeling safer than it has in some time to trust the viewing experience in what remains media?s most important medium, television, will deliver the goods. The matchmaking is less erratic and the results show it.
The second half of the year may fizzle out, betraying elevated expectations. If it does not, then the stabilization of broadcast quality is likely to be a major reason why. Here are some thoughts on the leader board for year-end honors with six full months ahead.
Fighter of the Half-Year: Manny Pacquiao
So much has been written and said about Pacquiao on the internet, television, and radio, it almost make further analysis redundant. At this point last year, coming off claiming the vacant World Jr. Lightweight title and a Lightweight belt in two fights, Manny Pacquiao was the leader for Fight of the Year at the halfway point. He finished on top of the stacks.
This year he has only one fight under his belt, but it?s a doozy. In two rounds, he annihilated Ricky Hatton to win the World Jr. Welterweight championship. Hatton had previously been defeated only by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a challenge for the Welterweight crown and performed respectably. This was, in contrast, a steamrolling. The May victory granted Pacquiao claim to:
1. Being the first fighter in history to lay claim to the lineal world title in four weight classes after previous reigns at 112, 126, and 130; and
2. Become only the second fighter to make title claims in six weight division including two additional alphabelt title reigns at 122 and 135.
Pacquiao?s audacity is made even more compelling when one realizes that, despite reminders from some that he turned pro at 106 lbs. while only sixteen years of age, he was the Flyweight champion at age 20. In ten years, he has managed to add close to thirty pounds to his adult frame while bringing his speed and power up the scale. It appears he will close the year at Welterweight, probably against WBO Welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto. Win and the firsts of his career will continue to grow.
There can be detractors of course. His moves up the scale are well timed, as most such moves are. Hatton was not a prime Julio Cesar Chavez or Aaron Pryor and Cotto would not be Emile Griffith or Ray Leonard. Opportunity for accomplishment has lined up well for Pacquiao. He still closes the deals available to him and will attempt more before he is done.
He was the story of the first half both in and out of the ring. Six month remain to see if he can stake out a third Fighter of the Year honor in the last four years. He enters the stretch the clear leader.
Other Notables?37-year old Shane Mosley set himself up to make a run at Fighter of the Year and more with his brilliant undressing of WBA titlist Antonio Margarito in January to claim gold at Welterweight for the first time since 2002. Will he get a significant opponent against whom he can make a case?…Juan Manuel Marquez firmed up his hold on the Lightweight division after a career at featherweight. If he can beat the unretired Floyd Mayweather in September, he?ll do more than that in terms of career esteem?WBC titlist Timothy Bradley came off the floor in April against WBO titlist Kendall Holt to win his second major title at Jr. Welterweight, one of the few fighters to compete in a unification bout so far this year?Brian Viloria posted a career saving win in April by knocking out one of the Jr. Flyweight classes hottest fighters in then-IBF titlist Ulises Solis?Finally, IBF and WBO titlist Wladimir Klitschko made almost irrefutable his claim to the Heavyweight crown in June with a stoppage of WBA titlist Ruslan Chagaev.
Fight of the Half-Year: Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz
If Marquez isn?t quite the top fighter of 2009 half way through, he?s not far off. Coming off a loss to Pacquiao in the first half of 2008, he became the first man to ever stop Joel Casamayor, earning the lineal Lightweight championship of the world.
Lineage or not, the division was in strong dispute at the start of the year. Casamayor was aged and only slightly removed from an appalling 2007 decision which saved his crown. In the meantime, veteran Nate Campbell had marred the undefeated record of Juan Diaz and laid claim to almost every major belt in class. Marquez still had proving to do at 135 lbs.
So too did his opponent in February. Diaz had come back from the Campbell loss with an impressive performance against rugged Michael Katsidis to close 2008 but he wanted the sort of redemption a future Hall of Famer can provide. When Campbell lost his belts on the scales two weeks before Marquez-Diaz, it left the combatants as the two top dogs in the Lightweight yard.
They fought like there was only one bone to go around.
As reported by BoxingScene?s Jake Donovan: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=18709
A Fight of the Year contender was promised going in, and both fighters did their damnest to live up to the hype from the opening bell. As expected, Diaz took the fight to Marquez, who remained calm under pressure in gladly accepting the role of counter puncher. What Marquez was forced to accept, however, was a frenetic pace. Both fighters combined for nearly 200 punches thrown in the opening round.
The action didn?t slow one bit in the second, much to the delight of the capacity crowd on hand. Even more to their pleasure was Diaz pinning Marquez to the ropes, landing a left hook in the corner and going on the attack. Marquez was momentarily shook but eventually did what he always does best ? regroup, readjust and take the fight to center ring towards the end of the round.
Things threatened to slow down in the third, but Diaz went into perpetual motion mode late in the round, forcing yet another shootout. Marquez fought well moving backwards, outlanding his younger foe for the first time in the fight.
The violent two-way action spilled over into the fourth, drawing plenty of ooh?s and ahh?s as both fighters continued to let their hands go at an incredible rate. Marquez managed to throw more in the round and land the more telling blows.
Diaz came back with a vengeance in the fifth, targeting Marquez? midsection. Marquez spent much of the round with his back touching the ropes, as Diaz never stopped throwing. By round?s end, Marquez was cut around the right eye, though it didn?t prevent him from digging deep and outworking Diaz by a considerable margin in the sixth.
The instructions from Diaz? corner heading into the second half of the fight were to not allow the older fighter to ever again outwork him. The younger fighter didn?t quite follow orders in the seventh, but was competitive enough to force Marquez to fight at a much busier than desired pace, with his mouth agape as the round wore on.
Whatever transpired in the minute between rounds seemed to work wonders for Marquez, who came out rejuvenated in the eighth. Repeated left hooks landed to the body, as Diaz struggled to get his offense going while contending with a cut over his right eye. Marquez set traps along the ropes, inviting Diaz in then unloading with combinations. A left hook stunned Diaz late in the round, but Marquez remained poised, landing to the body then sliding backwards to avoid any potential incoming.
Two-way action returned in the ninth, with Diaz resuming his role of the aggressor. It worked well for him at fight?s start, but would ultimately prove to be his downfall. Diaz repeatedly charged forward, but it was Marquez? combination punching that proved to be the overwhelming difference.
The beginning of the end came when an uppercut froze Diaz in his tracks with about 45 seconds left in the round. Marquez hesitated on a left hook, and instead threw a 1-2 upstairs, followed by another uppercut that led to the bout?s first knockdown.
Diaz took an eight count from referee Rafael Ramos, whose presence was hardly noticed for much of the fight. He would be needed moments later, when Diaz was overwhelmed by a body attack and the mother of all right uppercuts to flatten him. No count was needed, as the fight was waved off the moment his head slammed against the canvas.
The official time was 2:40 of round nine.
Other Notables?In January, Andre Berto barely got by veteran Luis Collazo at Welterweight in the toughest fight of his young career?March was highlighted by a savage Jr. Featherweight war which saw Bernard Dunne and Ricardo Cordoba come off the floor only for Dunne to send his man down for count late…April?s war between Froch and Taylor could well be called Chavez-Taylor-lite. Taylor?s quicker hands and greater experience meant a score card lead and a massive knockdown scored but they couldn?t save him from the will of Froch in a desperate final round barrage?Finally Pascal-Diaconu goes last among runners up but only because of chronology. It was no one?s bridesmaid.
And a Few Others? Knockout: Pacquiao KO2 Hatton (Jr. Welterweight) Upset: Ola Afolabi-Enzo Maccarinelli (Cruiserweight)
Will 2009 get better or worse down the stretch? With bouts like Mayweather- Marquez and Pacquiao-Cotto in the offing, along with scheduled and anticipated potentials wars like Vic Darchinyan-Joseph Agbeko and Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson II, letdown seems unlikely. Boxing is reminding the world that when it is done right, it is still the greatest sports spectacle of them all. As the reminders continue, the buzz of life around the sport will spread and things could be healthier than they have been in a long time. The second half of 2009 could be a pivotal for the game?s growth and a time we can all look forward to looking forward to.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected]
