Dear Top Rank and Golden Boy– Stop the stalling, stop the excuses, stop the plans for soft touches and media manipulation. We know we’re not getting Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather– nobody can get over themselves and move past lining their own pockets long enough to worry about the fans. We know that the Fight of the Millennium may be out of the question– at least for as long as it actually matters and can be regarded as a fight that means something.
We’ve had to rule out any number of potentially awesome fights because boxing’s two biggest promotional companies can’t (and won’t) work together.
We’ve had to deal with head to head shows, airing at the exact same time on rival networks.
And it’s all part of the same game– a test of wills between two companies that don’t have the common sense to realize that there’s more money, long-term, in cooperating than in isolating the sport’s biggest stars into two separate camps.
At the very least, just this one time, throw us loyal fans a bone and give us something we want. Put the egos aside and make a Top Rank-Golden Boy fight at the lower weights, where the really big money isn’t going to be made, anyway.
Give us Nonito Donaire vs. Abner Mares– and give it to us as soon as humanly possible.
Don’t force us to endure years of hype and speculation, only to be given a long series of inferior match-up in its place.
Donaire is 29-years-old and in the prime of a career that will no doubt produce some truly remarkable accomplishments. Quick, strong, heavy-handed, “The Filipino Flash” is a pound-for-pound talent who is finally building the type of resume that goes along with his stellar gifts. Knockouts of Vic Darchinyan and Fernando Montiel were truly impressive sights to behold. Solid victories over the likes of Toshiaki Nishioka, Jeffrey Mathebula, and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. were, arguably, just as impressive in their own way. All of this paints the picture of a fighter with nothing to fear and super-stardom to gain. A win over Mares would be legacy-defining.
The 26-year-old Mares is coming off a solid unanimous decision victory over Anselmo Moreno and is now being recognized as a fringe pound-for-pound fighter just reaching his prime. The native of Guadalajara, Mexico also has high-profile wins over Joseph Agbeko, Vic Darchinyan, and Eric Morel. But as tough and as talented as Mares is, he needs Donaire. Really, it’s the only fight to make if Mares is to grow from niche star to superstar.
At some point it just becomes ridiculous when Mares calls Donaire out after every win and Donaire plays coy whenever he’s asked about Mares if there will never be a chance of making this junior featherweight instant classic.
The money is there right now, the interest is there as well. Realistically, there won’t be much more money or media attention involved if the fight is put off for years.
On the other hand, by keeping Donaire-Mares always on the back burner, both sides run the risk of an upset coming along and completely killing the chance of, probably, the biggest money maker below lightweight. Look to the Yuriorkis Gamboa-Juan Manuel Lopez bout that everyone wanted a couple of years ago. Top Rank kept putting it off and delaying it in favor of easier, smaller fights. Then, every potential dollar that could’ve been earned with the featherweight showdown was pulled off the table when Lopez was upset by Orlando Salido.
So, Top Rank, after Donaire scrambles Jorge Arce’s brains in December, why don’t you, just this once, bite the bullet and do something for the fans?
Golden Boy, swallow your pride and cooperate with Top Rank, at least this one time.
Donaire vs. Mares needs to happen. No delays and misdirections. And, who knows? Maybe this little bit of cooperation might open up other opportunities for cooperation.
