So at least Omar Narvaez inspired SOMETHING.
The flyweight and super flyweight champion, who infamously affected a do-nothing performance against Nonito Donaire on the biggest stage of his career, has brought about action by a high-ranking boxing executive. Or so we think.
Todd duBoef, the president of Top Rank, working right under stepfather Bob Arum, is going to offer a $100,000 winner-take-all bonus for the next fight Donaire is involved in. I assume this is to ensure the next opponent for the Filipino is going to put forth an effort.
It?s nice ?positioning? for Donaire, for sure, creating the impression that he is so formidable that he scares opponents out of even trying. But this is the kind of thing that shouldn?t be limited to his fights.
If that?s the case, and it?s sincere, then I applaud duBoef.
I?ve always been a fan of this kind of thing, and would point out that the UFC seems to be ahead of boxing in thinking along these lines. In fact, I?m relatively certain that duBoef is borrowing a page out of the UFC?s book when he brings up the possibility.
Naturally, it?s not a practice that can be implemented in every fight. In boxing, a lot of fights are designed by matchmakers so that ?opponents? will come in and hopefully give a good account of themselves on the way to losing to a ?house fighter.? Opponent-types are not there for ?winner-take-all? contests. They are there to get paid and move on, or else they won?t show. I?m not sure such a thing would fit under those circumstances.
But for a world championship bout, which you are peddling to the public as something highly-competitive, it?s altogether appropriate. It?s a selling point, because you are simply putting more at stake. People like to see money as a subtext that enhances the overall storyline, and with a lot of additional money going to the winner, it becomes a factor that might make the fight even more meaningful.
By the same token, if you need to offer a guy bonus money as an incentive in a fight for a world title, then perhaps some reconsideration of that opponent is in order. You know what I mean?
And in the case of really bad jusdges? decision, this would add a whole new dimension to the controversy, but hey, you gotta live a little, right?
I am assuming that promoters like Top Rank wouldn?t be looking to do a ?Santa Claus? imitation, ands that the guarantees for each fighter won?t be as high if there was a ?bonus? factor involved. A fighter like Narvaez might be scared off if some of the money that would otherwise constitute his guaranteed purse was shifted toward a bonus pool. That would be okay, I suppose, because there is no part of boxing that is made better by a championship contestant who comes in with no intention whatsoever of winning a fight. That?s why God created sparring sessions.
Above all, it?s a bit of refreshing talk from duBoef. In all the years I was in boxing, I didn?t hear a whole lot about winner-take-all elements to fights. It just wasn?t part of the culture. I know I tired to do it once in Florida, but the commission didn?t want to approve it. That was years ago, and things have probably changed. But I think the same mentality that precludes fighters from rolling the dice with a back-end deal on, say, a pay-per-view was probably at work. Guys train and train, and they want to get paid at the going rate, regardless of whether they win or lose.
We?ve seen a radical shifting of the pendulum since the days when I was making matches. Boxing finds itself competing with MMA, among other things, for the public?s attention, and they have to act with a lot more sensitivity toward the actual customer.
Maybe this could be a step in that direction.
