The Examiner boxing hacks are getting together to vote for year end awards and I have decided to cast my nominees with full disclosure.
Last time around I argued that Manny Pacquiao deserved to receive the Giving ‘Em What They Want Award (G.E.W.T.W) for his exciting fight during 2009. Today I nominate Pacquiao’s promotional representation Top Rank for Promoter of the Year.
So many top level promoters depend on television money and exposure as the main means for making fights happen and if those two elements are void, promoters do not know what to do. In a year where Top Rank did not receive the same amount of television dates as Golden Boy Promotions from America’s main boxing broadcast outlet HBO, it still managed to thrive, provide better fights, and build bigger stars.
Bob Arum, who heads Top Rank, is a 78 year old man who has been promoting fights for several decades. His company has a knack for making great fights and building their talent into stars, with or without the help of boxing’s broadcast power base.
In 2009, Arum promoted the two biggest fights of the year: Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao; top-shelf pay per view fights, that delivered with exciting, fan pleasing action.
On Top Rank’s self-produced pay per view outlet, several cards were presented from the United States, Mexico, and the Philippines, with hardcore action that many die-hard fans enjoyed.
Even more impressive than their work in promoting fights, is their new found presence on the Internet. Any fool can tell you that the Internet is the new era of marketing, but many boxing promotions – even young ones like Golden Boy Promotions – do not know how to use the world wide web to their advantage.
In an effort to enter the digital era, Top Rank beefed up its presence with a revamped website, and active Twitter and Facebook pages. For the fight between Cotto and Pacquiao, Top Rank even hosted an official pre-fight Twitter meet-up for their Twitter followers.
A solid mix of old and new boxing promotions gives Top Rank my nomination for Promoter of the Year.
