The fight between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales in Las Vegas last weekend has set a high standard for what happens in the ring at least for the remainder of the year. Pacquiao put on a dazzling display of speed and power and scored a devastating third-round KO over Morales, an aging Mexican warrior and a once-dominant force in the junior lightweight division. It was strictly a boxing fan’s affair because it involved two boxers who aren’t known outside of the sport. And it occurred during a busy sports weekend, which included the Ohio State-Michigan game. But it demonstrated exactly why boxing has dwindled in popularity over the years. Sports fans have tuned into boxing matches that involve big names and typically they have been disappointed because the fight never matches the hype or has been worth what they’ve had to spend for the Pay-Per-View.
There are no free fights on TV anymore. Network television has abandoned the sport. The Olympic television programmers have moved it out of prime time. Even the medal-round matches involving U.S. boxers are relegated to cable. There is no broad viewing platform on the amateur or professional level, because boxing is available only on cable or satellite. The odd thing is that more boxing is being broadcast on television than ever before, but it is less popular than ever.
That says more about the quality of what is being presented than the quantity. When you get a quality match such as Pacquiao-Morales, you’re going to have to pay a premium for it. The match was broadcast on Pay-Per-View and will be rebroadcast on HBO on Saturday night at 10:15 p.m. It would never have reached a mass audience and it never will.
And the shame of it is that it was the kind of match that would build the sport. It featured two highly skilled, championship caliber boxers dueling. Pacquiao-Morales was pure action, and that is something that those involved in the industry – promoters, managers, cable television networks – need to pay keen attention to if they want to save the sport and grow it.
Measured against Pacquiao-Morales, the next three weeks in the sport will have a lot to live up to. The promise is there as Miguel Cotto moves up to welterweight to take on fellow undefeated Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Dec. 2. WBO welterweight champ Antonio Margarito, who has been hounding Floyd MayweatherJr. for a match, will fight Joshua Clottey on the same card on Showtime.
On the same night Winky Wright will meet Ike Quartey in a middleweight match from Tampa, Fla., on HBO.
Wright was ringside for Pacquiao-Morales and was inspired. But not enough to try to match the action in his own match against Quartey.
“I don’t fight like Pacquiao, and Ike Quartey doesn’t fight like Morales, so we’re not going to be able to have that kind of fight,” Wright said.
But he vowed to dominate in his own fashion. Will that be good enough for those who crave the action of Pacquiao-Morales?
ENDURING QUALITIES: Former 140-pound champ Cotto believes he will be stronger and have more stamina in his welterweight match against Carlos Quintana next week because he didn’t have to struggle to lose seven additional pounds this time. He believes that in the past he has had to hold back in fights so that he didn’t run out of gas due to the weight loss.
“That’s probably true,” he said during a telephone conference call yesterday. “Sometimes when you work so hard to make the weight you don’t feel you have too much left to fight for the fight. You have to fight in spurts so you can save something for the rest of the fight.”
Cotto said he hasn’t felt as good as he feels now heading into a match since he fought Kelson Pinto for the WBO 140-pound title in 2004.
HONOR ROLL: HBO Sports President Ross Greenberg will be honored for his work with the March of Dimes at its 23rd Annual Sports Luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria on Wednesday, Nov.29. Andre Agassi, Danica Patrick and WNBA president Donna Orender will also be honored.
