I used to have this Puerto Rican buddy.
We drank in the same saloon, the old journalists’ bar of choice named Costello’s in Manhattan.
My pal used to take his work ?breaks? at the bar and, from time to time for no apparent reason, he would bellow:
?It’s not the white man, it’s the right man!?
Dana White, the White Man, might be the guy who can cure many of boxing’s well-documented ills.
I have yet to meet the man so do not accuse me of kissing up to a Boston homeboy.
But, in the wake of Saturday night’s UFC 118 at the second incarnation of the Boston Garden, I was wondering what would happen if the White Man, first name Dana, was running the show in boxing…
If White was the baller, shotcaller in boxing you would see…
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in the ring, squaring off like pronto because the White Man would have them both under contract and it would be my way or the highway if either of both balked at a fair deal…
An end to ridiculous mandatory bouts, where the champion in a division is averse to fighting a little known top contender from faraway shores (see Andre Berto against the less than fearsome Turk, Selcuk Aydin as a current example) for financial reasons and/or because the TV entity won’t put the newcomer on its airwaves. The White Man doesn’t need HBO or Showtime, the UFC is its own network…
An end, thank you Jesus, to the horrible, crapola undercards that we are consistently fed by the major promoters. UFC does not emphasize being undefeated and does not waste precious time and money, theirs and yours, building guys up against the tomato can type, pushover foes. For this alone, it would be worth giving the White Man a shot…
I haven’t yet watched enough UFC to say this for sure but my impression so far is the judging and refereeing in their fights is better and more consistent than it is in boxing where Alphabet Groups and local commissions often insert know nothing judges and inept referees into important bouts. This is another control issue because the UFC picks its own officials, I believe…
The logical guys, for example Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams, would not be wondering if and when they will fight and neither would fans of both fighters. The UFC way is, when a Gray Maynard comes along and steamrolls a bunch of opponents, his next fight is against logical guy, Frankie Edgar, and Maynard is sitting at ringside watching Edgar whip BJ Penn a second time while Maynard munches popcorn and, in his post bout TV interview, was smart enough to plug sponsor Bud Light…
Fighters careless enough not to make their required weight would be banished as they should be. Maybe not banished forever but punished financially for being so unprofessional about something they can personally control…
How about those Fan Expos, which is a marvelous concept and could be used for all major bouts? The UFC is fan friendly on all fronts but this is a delicious example…
Three in one control as the White Man is the promoter, essentially the manager and also the High Commissioner of the UFC and, if you want to operate under his traveling tent, you play by UC rules or you don’t play at all. Sure, it’s a dictatorship but, from my limited view to date, I say it is a benevolent dictatorship that works to the benefit of all concerned.
Sticking with the Iron Ruler theme, come to think of it, the White Man is like Mussolini. The Italian despot, later to be hung by his heels, did make the trains run on time.
And the White Man makes the UFC run like a high efficiency, profit making machine which it is and long will continue to be.
Given boxing’s Balkanized condition, I say a benevolent dictatorship might not affect train schedules but it would have the logical fighters fighting each other when they are supposed to, when the fans want to see them fight.
If the White Man ran boxing, we might be getting ready for Mayweather-Pacquiao II. Or even Floyd-Manny, Chapter Three.
And–did I mention–no more crappy undercards…
Maybe, just maybe, this White Man is THE right man…
