This week, why are only two fighters out of ten household names and thoughts on last weekend regarding Chad Dawson and Chris Arreola…
Why is it only about these two guys?
I believe anyone associated with the sport of boxing knows that 2010 has been a somewhat dismal year.
Although you cannot not talk about the elephant in the room that was the twice-over failure to have Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather meet this year, there is also one other item missing that has brought a decline to boxing this year.
Where is the mass appeal?
The same type of pull that Pacquiao and Mayweather have are in exactly zero other boxers.
Why are we not clamoring and conjuring up one-million pay per views to see the number three rated boxer in the world, Paul Williams?
Why are we not gathering in our homes with family and friends for the latest Chad Dawson fight, the number five rated boxer in the world?
The sad thing is, there are many reasons to choose from.
Bad promotion.
Ticket sales.
Fighters who fight every tax period.
Bad match making.
Mandatory challenger fights.
So who is to blame?
On the latest Yahoo! rankings, it’s a shame that the only two names on the list that are household names are the Philippine congressman and the Las Vegas resident.
In the absence of the ?richest fight in boxing history that never happened’ stand eight other boxers who fail to conjure up much more interest than say a preseason football game.
Yet instead of pointing fingers, the bottom line is this: fans don’t care.
A basketball fan doesn’t hope that the Lakers and Celtics meet in the Finals, three out of the last four years, it has actually happened.
The Yankees are on top of the baseball world again after winning the trophy in 2009.
The last few Super Bowls have been edge of you seat type games.
Fans of these mainstream sports don’t have to be run through a list of excuses.
Boxing fans shouldn’t either.
It’s terribly frustrating to explain to a casual boxing fan why Pacquiao v. Mayweather didn’t get made. It shouldn’t be.
It should have just happened.
Instead of deciding just who or which persons are responsible for non-interest in fighters not named Pac or May, from top to bottom, each person with any opportunity to bring more light into the sport should do just that.
The powers that be are forced to press on until perhaps, maybe, possibly, Don King and Bob Arum wave their magic wands and a fight is made in the Spring of 2011 between the current number one and two fighters in boxing.
What needs to be done is a garnering of mass appeal for the other eight guys on the list.
THOUGHTS ON LAST WEEKEND
Is ‘Bad’ still bad? Is bad still cool?
Chad Dawson played nice and lost decisively for the first time in his career.
And he has only one person to blame.
Himself.
The Connecticut native cannot blame his corner men, a referee or a judge, because in the end, in boxing its four gloves worn by two boxers in a squared circle for twelve rounds or less.
Jean Pascal showed determination and a will to win, Dawson didn’t as he sought to regain some breathing time after combinations. While that is one plausible tactic, it’s not when you’re the one landing the combinations.
I had thought this fight was going to be a tough one for Dawson, as I saw Pascal as an opponent who would press the action to the somewhat timid Dawson, especially in his hometown where 20,000 plus were aching for him to do so.
The cut that stopped the fight was Marco Antonio Barrera-like.
The one thing, the only thing that Dawson has going for him is a mandatory rematch clause.
Yet even in a rematch, if Dawson evens the score with Pascal and scores a victory, one must beg the question to be answered from a top rated fighter: why was there a need for a rematch in the first place?
ARREOLA
He looked a bit more fit last Friday than in this picture
While the crowd was sparse at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, it was still an eclectic crowd that took in the night’s entertainment.
Fans still are enthralled at the presence of ESPN analysts Teddy Atlas and Joe Tessitore, (I swear, I’ve seen Teddy sign more boxing gloves for fans than I have actual fighters) Pete Rose and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez were in attendance, the ring card girls still got their whistles and hollers, and yep, beer was being sold.
The majority of the fans were there to root on hometown favorite Chris Arreola, who once again came into the fight weighing over 250 pounds.
But you know what?
The tough young fighter downed his opponent three times and went all 36 minutes.
Arreola has faced harsh criticism and some of it could be justified regarding his weight, but the bottom line is any change, if it happens at all, will come from him and him alone.
And no matter what he weighed, the 2,000 or so in attendance didn’t have many complaints for lack of action or entertainment they paid for.
Overall, I don’t think Arreola’s kilograms changed what was a decent night boxing.
