I was recently asked on who I thought would win the match, I began to answer by saying well Floyd has the best ring IQ in the world but Pac-Man?s ferocious style is hard to bet against. The face on the other end said, No, I was asking about the Lesnar/Carwin fight. Oops, my bad.
It got me thinking that the first half of boxing in 2010 was weak, too weak for my taste. I don?t really follow MMA all that much so I couldn?t sit here and tell you if they had a stronger first half than boxing did. I will say this though, so far this year I have heard more MMA talk than boxing talk.
It?s apparent that MMA means business. The way MMA is starting the second half of 2010 with a mega brawl between Lesnar and Carwin tells me that they are not slowing down either. We need to create a buzz and keep that buzz going. What Golden Boy Promotions is doing with the Marquez/Diaz card is a huge step in the right direction.
Boxing needs to keep the gun loaded at all times, keep it blazing. We need to do what professional wrestling has been doing for decades now, I mean it?s by no means luck that Wrestlemania does a killing every year, or that WWE Raw sells out every time out. Boxing must do a better job at showcasing the future forces of our sport. At the same time, our youth must break out of their shell a lot more.
Wrestling does a killing because each and every fighter is a character. Just look at our sports top 2 mega stars. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the boxer but Money Mayweather is the character he plays to get the public to tune in to hopefully get to see him humbled. Manny Pacquiao is the fighter but Pac-Man is the champion of the people, his wicked fighting style makes you watch to see him gobble up the competition.
We need to then feed of these characters and kill the game with endorsement deals. Like why don?t we have a Pacquiao video game out similar to Mike Tyson?s Punchout where you control Pacquiao as he tries to knockout other boxing greats from the past and present? Just like wrestling has wrestling action figures, we also need boxing action figures.
Other than a Pacquiao/Mayweather fight, what other big fight is out there for us? The reason why we can?t seem to follow more than 2 fighters at a time is mostly due to the fact that the product isn?t hitting us from every angle. Promoters need to place egos to the side and get along with one another for the health of our sport.
We need to start shoving future forces down the viewers throat, we need more of Marcus Johnson, Ismayl Sillakh, Demetrius Andrade, Hylon Williams Jr., Yuriorkis Gamboa, Devon Alexander, Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan, Sadam Ali, Abner Mares, Nonito Donaire, Tavoris Cloud, Omar Henry, David Lemieux, Alonso Lopez, Rodrigo Garcia, Shawn Porter, Fernando Guerrero, there are just too many talented fighters out there to name. What Top Rank is doing with young phenom Jose Benavidez Jr. and what Golden Boy is doing with Frankie Gomez is what we need more of. Tell us the story and show us the movie. William Shamar Whitt will soon go pro, the kid has a tragic story to him but the kid fights on, no crowd can rattle this kid. Let?s build and keep building. Like I said, tell us the story then show us the movie. My mind is going off right now like fireworks.
Happy 4th of July to everyone out there, stay safe and love your family. There is no better time for the future but NOW!
