The original plan from Top Rank called for former WBA lightweight titlist Brandon Rios and Yuriorkis Gamboa to co-headline an HBO televised doubleheader from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, as a possible prelude to a showdown between the two later in the year. But as Johnny Molina and his promoter, Dan Goossen, battled each other. ?Bam Bam? was left without a dance partner as March 3rd loomed. Eventually, the decision was made to focus on Rios-Gamboa next and move the date to April 14th to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
As deadlines loomed last week, Todd duBoef, President of Top Rank, was dispatched to Miami, Florida to close the deal with Gamboa?s co-promoter, Ahmet Oner. If he wasn?t successful, for the time being, Rios and Gamboa would just go their separate ways.
duBoef closed like Mariano Rivera while in South Beach.
?A lot of it is education and explaining to them the climate and the understanding of the big fight and putting a big match like this together and working closely with our co-promoter and working out the details,? explained duBoef on Friday afternoon, after he returned to Las Vegas earlier that morning. When asked if he ever considered pulling the plug on this fight, he responded, ?Well, I hate to say you had to give up but obviously, we were running up against a short window. Again, on a timeline to do effective promotion, for a fight like that one, you really wanted to pull the trigger a lot earlier.?
This is a face-off that is heavily anticipated amongst hardcore boxing aficionados. You have the hard-hitting, rugged Rios against the talented, speedy Gamboa, who is taking quite the risk in moving up to 135 pounds for this contest. But putting together fights of this nature can be difficult. While it?s one thing to play fantasy boxing, in order for bouts like this to become a reality, the needs of the promoters, the demands of the fighters and the expectations of the network (in this case, HBO) all have to intersect and come together. It helped that both boxers are under the Top Rank banner and that HBO yearned for this contest.
But why the Mandalay Bay? Perhaps it was the site fee they were dangling which would help fund this fight. However, duBoef stated, ?The bottom line is, it was where the fight kinda fit well. I could?ve done it in L.A.- which, obviously, Rios has a decent following. I could?ve gone to Miami, which is obviously where we haven?t seen what the Gamboa following would be there. So those are kinda like fertile places that are unproven. But at the end of the day, this fight kinda reminded me of [Erik] Morales-[Marco Antonio] Barrera I. It reminded me of [Johnny] Tapia-[Paulie] Ayala, where you do it in that 5,000-seat Mandalay Bay, set it up for half-a-house, have reasonable ticket prices and those avid fans are going to come in. Just like they did for those fights. A [Jose Luis] Castillo-[Diego]Corrales, that first fight. Like the Pavilion at the Caesars Palace, there were incredible fights including [Sugar Ray] Leonard-[Wilfred] Benitez. Larry Holmes had fought there all the time with 4-5,000 seats. There?s nothing wrong with that and I think that was the expectation.
?That this kinda made sense being the first kinda ?Fight of the Year,? lining up for an incredible second half of the year.?
When asked if ?Sin City? provided a neutral setting that satisfied both parties, duBoef said, ?Those conversations never came up but I can say this, I thought about ?The Theater? in New York. I thought that would?ve been a good place and I thought it?s a really good fighter?s fight. It?s got all the ingredients- no different than Mayweather and Corrales early on in their careers. The same thing and that happened at the MGM Grand, I see this having the same elements and I couldn?t get into Staples Center or do something like that and I?m sure if I really wanted to go outside at the Home Depot Center- and I think ?The Theater? was an obvious opportunity- it wasn?t available. You want to give it that big presence that it?s an important fight and I think taking it to a Mandalay Bay has aligned perfectly.?
The recent trend in Vegas though has seen promotions with Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and, to a lesser degree, Miguel Cotto do well at the gate. Everything else? Well…not so much (http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/the-year-that-was-in-vegas). And from April 14 till June 30, this city will host five major cards (?major? constituting anything broadcast on HBO, Showtime or pay-per-view).
Will there be an oversaturation in this market?
?You have to figure out your product and I believe this product really has a big California reach to it. Gamboa?s fought a lot at Stateline; he did well. There?s pockets of the Cuban community that are in Las Vegas, in Southern California, that know him very well and I think you have localized pockets that you can get here early,? said duBoef, who believes strongly this event caters to the hardcore fan who may yearn for a trip to the 702 to see a fight but realistically can?t afford to attend the events on May 5th or June 9th. ?And I think that?s what it?s all about; you?re hitting a niche business. Your niche audience is somewhere close in the proximity that they can jump in a car and be there in three, four hours and have an affordable ticket at 50 to 25 dollars. So that?s why it depends. If you have had in four months, four fights at $1,000 tops to $200, yeah [I?d be worried] because you?re dealing with a finite group of casino customers that can gamble at that level.
?That?s not what I?m looking to do. Every weekend, Las Vegas is packed with tourism now. The markets are coming back and you?re getting different people in the rotation and it?s not the guy that?s a $100,000 whale coming in for that fight necessarily. He may come to the Mayweather fight in May or definitely a Pacquiao fight but you?re having a different audience come in [for Rios-Gamboa].?
The Mandalay Bay on this night will be scaled for about 6,000 seats (the same set- up they used for the initial encounter between Barrera and Morales in 2000). As the fight was announced late last week, a strong buzz could be heard throughout the Worldwide Web. But how many of those folks on Twitter will actually come out to support the event with their hard-earned dollars? ?I don?t worry about it because we?re 250 to 25 dollars. So you can?t get into a Mayweather fight for that. The Pacquiao fight, our cheapest ticket is $200 and there?s very few of them. So I think this hits a different market. It?s a different weekend. The barriers of entry are set up for a lot of fight fans that come from the Southern California area coming in from Miami to see a really good show and enjoy the night. It?s not tailored at the $1,000-plus-range crowd.?
duBoef says that half of the tickets for Rios-Gamboa will be $100 or less.
The reality is for Pacquiao and Mayweather fights, the general public has a better chance of getting Willy Wonka?s golden ticket than getting its hands on tickets for their fights at face value. If you?re not a hotel V.I.P. or willing to get gouged by brokers, you?ll be on the outside looking in. The overreliance on casinos has led to a whole generation of fight fans across the country never actually experiencing a big fight atmosphere. It?s also led to a generation of TV packagers who do nothing but stage the fights in these usually stale atmospheres. But with Top Rank, the track record is that this is just part of the process, one step in the journey to more significant things down the line for the participants.
duBoef points out that after their historic first chapter at the Mandalay Bay, Barrera and Morales, ?ended up selling out the MGM two other times.? The second and third chapters of the legendary rivalry also did strong numbers on pay-per-view. There is an endgame here from Top Rank- and it?s not the Silverdome. ?It?s all a part of it and this is the [first] step. Each one is a step to building a base, building attractions, creating awareness and obviously so that the people that do go to Las Vegas or the people from Southern California, they know these guys,? said duBoef, who announced that press conferences for this fight would be staged in both Los Angeles and Miami in the near future.
In the upcoming months, both Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions have a strong schedule of promotions taking place in casino venues and major metropolitan markets as well. Top Rank did over a million dollars at the gate a few weeks ago with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in San Antonio and will be placing his next bout on June 2nd at the Home Depot Center soccer stadium in Carson, California. But regardless of where Rios-Gamboa takes place, the real destination for them is for bigger and better things in the upcoming months and years.
?You have to balance it,? said duBoef. ?You never become sucked into one mode. You balance it. I mean, I think the winner of this fight, obviously, if it?s Gamboa, you go to Miami or New York, build on the big win. And if it?s Rios, you go to Southern California or a [Juan Manuel] Marquez in Dallas or San Antonio, whatever it is. You have to figure out a balance. There?s a place for everything.?
SHOWTIME
I don?t know what Gabriel Campillo did in a past life but, geez, he must have really angered the boxing gods because, once again, he was on the short end of a very dubious decision versus IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud this past weekend in Corpus Christi, Texas. After getting knocked down twice in the first inning, the large majority of that bout was controlled and even dominated by the Spaniard?s sharp combinations and deft boxing. Oftentimes, Cloud had a desperate, puzzled look to him as he was getting shelled by Campillo. Cloud might have won the last round or two to make it close but honestly, it didn?t seem like any question as to who won that contest.
Yet somehow, in another case of why some never want to ?mess with Texas,? judges Joel Elizondo and David Robertson had the fight scored for Cloud (by the scores of 114-112 and 116-110, respectively), overruling the card of Dennis Nelson, who seemed to be in line with everyone else who saw this bout, with 115-111 for the challenger.
And here we all thought Don King was slipping. Silly rabbits.
I guess the Campillo camp has filed an official protest with the IBF. A form of justice would be to call for an immediate rematch. Of course, real justice would have been to have gotten his hand raised on Saturday night.
On Sunday afternoon, I received this email from a Greg L:
Hey Steve,
I just watched Cloud/Campillo and I almost fell out of my seat when I heard Chuck Giampa….CHUCK GIAMPA!!! express outrage at the judges decision, saying the crew was not experienced enough to score a big title fight. I agree that the decision was highway robbery…but coming from the guy who had Chavez winning versus Meldrick Taylor, 105-104 at the time of Richard Steele?s premature stoppage, the same guy who had De La Hoya beating Whitaker 115-111, the same guy who watched Pernell Whitaker pitch a shutout in his rematch with Buddy McGirt and scored it 117-113, was beyond absurd.
If he?d had Chavez down 4-7 rounds or De La Hoya ahead by a point or two or if he?d have given Buddy a round or two, I would not nitpick, but Giampa and Jerry Roth are the epitome of Vegas judging that rewards aggressiveness, whether it?s effective or not. Had the fight been in Vegas and he was judging without the benefit of listening to Al and Antonio, I have no doubt he would have rewarded Cloud?s “aggressiveness” on his scorecard.
Why Showtime sullies their best in the business boxing crew (Gus Johnson exempted, of course…he?s horrible) with this ridiculous former judge annoys me to no end. Next thing you know they will hire Richard Steele to comment on officiating and he will crucify a ref for an early stoppage or they will hire Don King to scold Al Haymon and Golden Boy the importance of making competitive fights and financial fair play between promoter/manager/fighter.
I?d love to hear your take (whether you agree or not…I?m not sensitive) in your next column.
Take care!
Geez, Greg, you went all Dereck Chisora there. Yeah, I hear what you?re getting at, though. But what?s that old saying; ?Do as I say, not as I do?? In situations like this, it should be, ?Do as I say in the present, not as I?ve done in the past.? Look, my old pal Harold Lederman (who we should really appreciate for the kind of job he does on HBO because, as others have shown, this gig ain?t so easy) is a judge I have a lot of respect for. And he scored the third bout between Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton for ?The Greatest,? a decision I vehemently disagree with. It happens.
I can?t disagree. Based on Giampa?s track record, I do find it interesting that Showtime tabbed him of all people to be their ?unofficial official.? Also, it certainly shows that it?s a lot easier to be an unbiased judge calling a fight when it?s a network paying you to do so, rather than the promoter.
Suddenly, you gain a whole new perspective.
ESTRADA
Here?s the bottom line on what took place between Shawn Estrada (who somehow came much closer to the cruiserweight limit than super middleweight) and Terrance Woods, who agreed to fight a guy who was much heavier than he was. Under the rules and regulations of Texas (yeah, Texas again), this fight could proceed since there ended up ?only? being a 14-pound discrepancy between the two. You know the promoter (in this case, Goossen Tutor) will try everything in his power to get this fight off. The fighters, hey, both of them want to get paid (especially Woods, who actually trained for this fight). I understand why this fight went on.
But the question is, why did ESPN2 allow this to air?
Networks have the right- even obligation- to nix certain bouts from going on their broadcasts. While what took place with Estrada-Woods was not against the rules, it certainly violated the spirit of them. And beyond all that, wasn?t this bout a bit of a safety risk for Woods (luckily for him, Estrada isn?t all that skilled)? Last I checked, there was a reason why boxing had weight classes.
Since Estrada was the house fighter, the show had to go on. Unfortunately, the ?Worldwide Leader? was complicit in this farce. For the second week in a row, it aired a very questionable bout. I?ve never had particularly high standards for ?Friday Night Fights? given its shoestring budget (what took place consistently on ?FNF? in 2011 was a bit of an aberration). I try to be as realistic as possible about these things and I still enjoy the coverage the likes of Teddy Atlas, Joe Tessitore and others bring on that broadcast as they cover the whole realm of the sport with their news updates, commentary and interview segments. It?s still important for boxing to be on this network, given its reach.
With all that said, while they can?t be counted on to have the highest standards in terms of the prizefights they telecast, I now question just how low is ESPN2?
DEL BOY
Admittedly, my Epix stream wasn?t the best (and, guys, strike nine and you?re out. I heard a lot of complaints again about Epix) but I liked the effort put forth by Dereck Chisora versus Vitali Klitschko this past weekend. I thought that, unlike most Klitschko challengers, he wasn?t just in survival mode or looking to be a ?game loser.? Chisora actually made an honest attempt to really win the fight. Yeah, this is what it?s come to. We now praise a guy for merely trying to win- but I do think Chisora won in losing.
His spirited effort put David Haye to shame. Haye seemingly just took the money and ran (and ran and ran and ran) as he faced Wladimir Klitschko last summer.
I?m sure by now that you?ve seen this clip of the Chisora-Haye dust-up at the post-fight presser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ojAtKUunjpc). I?ll say this about ?Del Boy?; whether you like his antics or not, he has brought some much needed life into the heavyweight class.
As for Haye, I wish he was this aggressive back in July.
