It drives me crazy as a boxing fan when promoters and networks plan dueling fight cards on the same night, but it is a reality of the fight game we have seemingly learned to accept.
Hopefully on September 18th your household has some sort of video device which can record three channels at once, and the economy in the United States has recovered to the point which you can afford HBO, Showtime, and a pay per view fee on your cable bill.
On September 18 three major world class fight cards are starting to take place:
Earlier this week Golden Boy Promotions released information that Shane Mosley would be returning to the ring on pay-per-view with fellow Southern Californian Sergio Mora being the leading candidate to be his opponent at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The card would be rounded off with the appearance of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to help sell tickets during Mexican Independence Day festivities.
Golden Boy’s number one promotional nemesis is working on a card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada featuring the latest edition in Mexico and Puerto Rico’s boxing rivalry featuring Rafael Marquez taking on young lion Juan Manuel Lopez. No word if the fight would be on HBO, since one would figure that HBO would produce Mosley’s pay per view, or on a Top Rank independent Latin Fury pay per view.
Showtime is also throwing on a boxing event featuring the Super Six super middleweight tournament bout between Arthur Abraham and Mikkel Kessler.
If all three of these cards pan out, it puts boxing fans in a difficult situation, unless you max out your cable bill for the month or watch what you can legally, and gasp, download the rest illegally on the net afterwards.
With the newly founded Boxing Promoters Association trying to break ground in the advancement of the sport, one would think that Golden Boy, Top Rank, and others could set aside their regular pissing contest of promoting big shows on the same date.
Fans suffer, and boxing suffers when multiple televised cards take place on the same night. Aside from a hardcore fans, the average fan will miss one or more meaningful cards. For example, lets say I don’t scour the Internet for boxing news, but enjoy the sport. If I watch the Super Six event, I might miss some decent action between Marquez and young gun Lopez. Seeing that Juan Manuel is supposed to be a rising star in the sport, why would I risk promoting him against the Super Six and Shane Mosley’s pay per view?
Then again, I should have learned a long time ago, nothing in boxing makes sense and it is basically run by successful boxing men who have the logic of my two year old during the midst of a temper tantrum when she does not get a juice box.
I say go download it all on the Internet for free, it is not hard to find and you’ll save yourself a few dollars, and we can send a nice message to the promoters, “We love boxing, but won’t stand for your idiotic decisions anymore.”
