This Saturday night, WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez faces Orlando Salido (Showtime, 10:30 PM ET/PT). In most jurisdictions in the United States, this fight card wouldn?t even be a blip on the radar and would be overshadowed by the beginning of the Major League Baseball season, the NBA homestretch and even the NFL lockout. However, this event, which is being staged at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, will be the main focus of this island, situated between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands.
In Puerto Rico, a U.S. Island territory, boxing is still THE national pastime.
What soccer is to Europe and what hockey is to Canada, boxing is to Puerto Rico and its populace.
“I really think it?s the culture of things,” said Lopez?s co-promoter, Peter Rivera, of PR Best Boxing Promotions. “I mean, the most famous athletes in my country are boxers like [Felix] ?Tito? Trinidad. Boxing is the only sport in Puerto Rico that can stop the country for one day. When we have big, big mega-fights like Trinidad-[Oscar] De La Hoya or [Manny] Pacquiao-[Miguel] Cotto, ?JuanMa?-?Rafa? Marquez, you don?t see any Puerto Rico any people outside. Everybody is watching these events. So it?s the only sport or activity that really controls the whole country and I believe it?s because people love boxing and because it?s a cultural thing in my country.”
Bob Arum, whose company, Top Rank, co-promotes the popular southpaw with Rivera, says, “You gotta look at where [Puerto Ricans?] sports are; they?re crazy about baseball. They have a lot of good baseball players; basketball, not so much. There?s no soccer and boxing is right up there with baseball as a major sport. It always has been. So they?re great, great, sports fans. They?re very knowledgeable and that?s what made Trinidad; that?s what makes Cotto and that is what?s making Lopez so important, that they can do really good pay-per-view numbers in Puerto Rico. Miguel with [Ricardo] Mayorga in Puerto Rico did close to 60,000 homes, which is unbelievable.”
Ask anyone that has covered a major fight on this island and they?ll tell you that its cards and fighters are a big deal. It?s seems as though it?s ingrained in the culture and it?s a large part of Puerto Rican public?s identity as people. When a boxer performs, he?s basically fighting for the honor of nearly four million of his people at home. And the fighters realize this. Lopez says, “Every time I step into the ring, I feel that I am representing my country because I know how important boxing is to my people and it is a big responsibility for me to do my best.”
The state of Texas has an almost religious fervor for the game of football and those who thrive on the gridiron are given legendary status. In Puerto Rico, the likes of Wilfredo Gomez and Trinidad are given a certain type of idolatry that doesn?t exist to most boxers, save Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines.
“I?ve often said of Puerto Rico that pound-for-pound, it?s probably the most successful boxing culture in the world,” says Larry Merchant, who has called several cards there for HBO. “They have a deep infrastructure in terms of trainers and gyms and it is still their champions that are still very important to them, in a way, defining who they are, rallying to them. There are only 8,000,000- or fewer- Puerto Ricans and yet, we often hear about their great rivalry with Mexico- which has, I don?t know, 12 times as many people? 15? I?m not sure and yet they?ve had so many outstanding champions in recent decades.”
There is no such thing it seems as a ?casual boxing fan? in Puerto Rico. If you?re Boricua, you know your boxing.
“The best way I can describe the fight culture of Puerto Rico is that you couldn?t arrive early enough at the ring. That place was already 90 or 95 percent filled,” said Merchant. “They know the up-and-coming Puerto Rican fighters. We saw Juan Manuel Lopez early in his career and they were already, after six or seven fights, they were seeing him as a potential champion that they would rally to down the road.”
There are two major exports from Puerto Rico- its rum and their prizefighters. Carlos Ortiz, Wilfredo Benitez, Esteban De Jesus, Edwin Rosario, Juan Laporte, Wilfredo Vazquez and John John Molina are just a small sampling of the standouts from this region who have starred in the squared ring at home and abroad.
Every bit as important is the Mexican market to the boxing business on America?s West Coast. Nowadays, the Puerto Rican prizefighters basically carry the Eastern Seaboard. In the past decade, Top Rank and Miguel Cotto have turned the Puerto Rican Day Parade, which is held in early June, into a fight card that routinely turns over big numbers at the Madison Square Garden over that weekend.
What?s notable is that a boxer like Ivan Calderon, who is a classic defensive stylist, is a popular figure in his homeland. His style in the States is often viewed as negative and boring but in Puerto Rico, his bouts have routinely drawn well over 10,000 patrons for his biggest battles.
Calderon, like Lopez (and at one time, Cotto), is promoted by PR Best Boxing, which was formed in 1996 by Rivera and his brother, who originally managed fighters. The first champion they worked with was Daniel Santos. By 2001, they were on the promotional side of things and they teamed up with Top Rank, as they built Cotto into a major attraction. At one time, this commonwealth?s boxing industry was ruled by the likes of the late Yamil Chade and Don King. Now it?s Rivera and Arum who rule the roost.
“Our company really works a lot to promote boxing on the island, to do the best shows possible, the quality of the fight and when you produce something like that to the boxing fans and they like it, they?re going to continue to support you,” said Rivera, who added that, as it relates to the ?Iron Boy? and his popularity, “They support the quality of human that is Calderon. It?s a compliment of many things. So we really put a lot of pressure on fighters to be great guys, to be clean-cut. You see our fighters, they?re really dressed well and that way, you continue to grow as a product in the market in the boxing business.”
PR Best Boxing has also had a hand in developing Eric Morel, Nelson Dieppa, Alex Sanchez, Jose ?Carita? Lopez and Roman Martinez, who have all tasted world-class success.
When asked about his next generation of boxers, he says, “These twin guys, McJoe and McWilliams Arroyo, former amateur world champions, great guys. We have Carlos Negron; he?s maybe our next heavyweight contender from our country. We?ve had John Ruiz and Fres Oquendo; they came from the United States but not one that was born in Puerto Rico and then we have Jose ?Chelo? Gonzalez. Not many people know him but he?s a great fighter. So we have around four or five products that are in the process of developing and we hope from that group, at least two or three can be our next superstars.”
However, there is a new faction that has recently formed in hopes of breaking up what has been a fistic monopoly on the island held by Rivera and Arum. That faction is a consortium of Lou DiBella, Gary Shaw and local promoter Javier Bustillo of Universal Promotions.
“I think actually between Gary Shaw and I, independently and together, we locked in most of the top talent on the island,” said DiBella, referring to the signings of Jose Pedraza, Thomas Dulorme and, most recently, Kenny Galarza. “I think it?s a huge market for a particularly Latin market but it?s a natural market if you?re an East Coast promoter and for too long, frankly, Arum and with the Riveras have pretty much controlled it but the island?s wide open and I think we have the two best prospects on the island.
“But I also think the island is chockfull of boxing talent. The boxing gyms in Puerto Rico are what the boxing gyms used to be in New York.”
DiBella echoes the thoughts of Merchant, when he states, “I think per-capita, it?s certainly one of the most fertile grounds for young fighters. There?s better sparring in Puerto Rico; there?s better sparring. It?s easier to make matches in Puerto Rico; there are wars in the gyms. I?d say it?s a tremendous hotbed for talent and it?s got a great fan base.”
What also helps is that basically anything that is televised in the States can be viewed in Puerto Rico. “We have the same cable and satellite systems on the island,” said Rivera, who along with Arum, strategically placed the likes of Cotto, Calderon and Lopez on major pay-per-view cards as young prospects. They knew that their presence on these shows would drive pay-per-view purchases back home.
There used to be time when major fights featuring the likes of George Foreman were placed on the island. Foreman, lost a 12-round decision to Jimmy Young in 1977 in San Juan and then famously retired for a decade. Also, the great Alexis Arguello fought here more than once during his heyday. Rivera would like for Puerto Rico to be a big fight destination once again.
“What?s happening is that we are continuing to work to convince the government in Puerto Rico to invest more money on the fights,? he said. ?Right now, Las Vegas, they already have that situation; they understand the business. They know that it is a good business, so they don?t really have any problems in putting money to do these shows. You have many places around the world- including my country- they haven?t really learned that yet. That this business model works and makes sense. But we are working on that and we?re going to continue to convince the system to invest money on the boxing industry.”
It would sure be an upgrade from Atlantic City, wouldn?t it?
Of his homecoming, ?JuanMa? says, “I love fighting at home and having all the fans there cheering for me.”
And over here, Lopez-Salido is a big fight.
ACTION HERO
I gotta hand it to Erik Morales and Golden Boy Promotions. Like just about everybody else, I thought ?El Terrible? would be horribly overmatched by the heavy-hitting Marcos Maidana. Instead, with his veteran guile and trademark grit and toughness, Morales didn?t just put up a respectable fight; to many, he did enough to win it. However, even in defeat, Morales showed once again why he is among the most beloved and respected fighters of this past generation.
Now, some might disagree (and I?ll probably get some heat for this) but I thought this bout was every bit as much about how ordinary Maidana is- poor footwork, balance and lack of speed- than just how extraordinary Morales was. Let?s not forget; a faded DeMarcus Corley went life-and-death with Maidana last summer in Argentina. He is who he is, a hard-hitting but largely one-dimensional plodder. After last night, depending on your perspective, this could be a further indictment of Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan, who had great difficulties with him recently.
Regardless, the story of the night was Morales, who, as Jim Lampley stated, won the event, if not the prizefight. That?s why Morales is so admired; because with guys like him, it?s not always about winning or losing but about evoking a passion with the fans and providing lasting memories. Too many boxers today like Adrian ?Bore-ner?, Chad Dawson and Andre Berto lose in winning.
Morales, more than once, has won in losing.
SUSPECTS
This was not a good weekend for prospects, who fell like dominoes on Friday and Saturday night. ?ShoBox? had all three B-sides pull upsets but it was super middleweight Marcus Johnson who was considered the most promising fighter on this card which was held in Laredo, Texas. With deft lateral movement and a steady jab, he was conclusively outboxed by Dyah Davis. Johnson, in other sports, is what they call a ?coach killer,? a guy who will always live down to his promise and potential. He fought in such an uninspired way, you hoped he?d light up another doobie and get suspended again for another six months.
Montreal middleweight David Lemieux, targeted to be the next box-office star in that fertile region, sank like the Titanic, as Marco Antonio Rubio just stayed steady and never lost his composure. This shouldn?t have been all that surprising, given that he did go some rounds with Kelly Pavlik. Lemieux became a one-trick pony, who found out that you need more layers than just punching power to succeed at the world-class level. Lemieux will always be hurt by the fact that he?s a bit stiff and very squared up in his stance. These deficiencies weren?t exploited by the likes of Elvin Ayala and Hector Camacho Jr. but they were the first time he faced a fighter whose sole purpose wasn?t to just provide cannon fodder.
Then there was the shocker that was Nobu Ishida?s first round stoppage of James Kirkland. Folks, I have to be honest; I didn?t give Ishida even the slightest of slight chances. I saw him spar at the Wild Card Boxing Club about a week-and-a-half before his fight with Peter Quillin and let?s just say he was the second best guy in the ring at that time by a huge margin. But here he was, flooring Kirkland as if he were ?Fighting Harada? (Now, honestly, I would?ve let the fight continue even after the third knockdown, Kirkland still seemed like he could continue and I wanted to see if he could battle back ala Juan Manuel Marquez against Pacquiao in their first encounter). But Kirkland, for two fights now, has run into right hands and gotten wobbled. Not a good sign and certainly a disturbing trend.
Maybe he has a bad set of whiskers but it?s clear that Kirkland?s bull-in-a-China-shop strategy will only get him gored over the long haul.
CHANGE UP
Brian Viloria and his manager, Gary Gittelsohn, believed that they had a deal in place to fight WBO flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Miranda in Manila on June 11th. Now, it looks like Miranda will face Giovani Segura, who will be moving up from 108 pounds after his second thrashing of Calderon. So Gittelsohn is in the process of negotiating a bout against Jean Piero Perez on that same date for possibly the WBA interim flyweight title.
Speaking of Calderon, Rivera says that the former champion has no plans on retiring and that he will resume his career as a strawweight, moving forward.
FINAL FLURRIES
I know some hated it before but who wants to see Juan Manuel Marquez-Morales now?…This series on the Puerto Rican boxing culture is a three-parter. Part two will focus on the newspaper coverage on the island and in part three, I talk to a fan and get his thoughts…Vivian Harris should never be allowed in the ring again. He is a smaller version of Antwun Echols (who, amazingly enough, is still fighting). When Golden Boy inked Harris back in 2009, I called it ?Cash for Clunkers? and in four fights under their banner, he had three losses and one ?no-contest,? never getting past the fourth frame…Bastie Samir was held to a draw by Lester Gonzalez. Bastie is strong as a bull but he?s gone backward, technically, like Michael Jackson moonwalking at the ?84 Motown Awards. He also needs to get down to 154 because he?s way too short to be an effective middleweight…I thought Robert Guerrero put on the best all-around technical performance since he stopped Jason Litzau a few years back. He kept things in the center of the ring and controlled distance nicely…So glad Tiger Woods didn?t win the Masters. Sorry, I didn?t need to hear his story of redemption and how he?s back or how he regained his place as the world best athlete (C?mon, he?s a golfer, not an athlete, for Pete?s sake)…Is it just me or do you have the Heat now over the Celtics in a seven-game set?…Wake me when the Lakers start to care (again)…Dave Rice is the new hoops coach at UNLV. What, did H Waldman not want the gig?…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
