“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” – Harry S. Truman
When Top Rank, Inc. made the bold announcement that they would be staging Crawford’s first title defense in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, the promotional giant wasn’t just investing their time and energy in their newly crowned Lightweight Champion.
Bob Arum and company was also betting on the U.S. sports fan.
And although it may seem to most mainstream observers that the land of opportunity had officially given up on one of its oldest and most puristic pastimes, boxing refused to give up on America.
On Saturday, June 28th, current WBO 135 pound champ Terence Crawford successfully defended his coveted distinction against heralded puncher and elite level talent Yuriorkis Gamboa by way of a dramatic and breathtaking ninth round TKO. The reigning titlist not only passed his toughest test to date, dropping the hard punching, 2004 Olympic Gold medalist from Cuba four times in the process, but the 26 year old pugilist put on a star making performance in front of over 10,000 rabid spectators at the Century Link Center in the lesser recognized “Gateway to the West”.
But just as noteworthy, Top Rank, Inc. successfully cultivated another legitimate ticket seller within the cable network driven sport.
Although HBO and Showtime currently spend millions of dollars for premium match-ups each year, it’s imperative for the continued growth and overall health of boxing to develop mainstream attractions at the regional level who can generate the additional revenue of live ticket sales…and most importantly, create new fans of the sport.
With sports editors of major publications making a conscious effort to keep boxing at arm’s length, mainstream exposure has been limited; ultimately making it virtually impossible to produce new followers. As a result, most fight cards are solely dependent on the endorsement and promotion of the two leading subscription based networks, as well as the big site fees paid out by casinos, and customarily average a staggering three to four thousand paying ticket holders per every world class event.
While ticket sales are flourishing in most other parts of the world, the global money maker pales in comparison within the United States. In the saturated U.S. sports marketplace, boxing has taken a backseat to popular and more exclusive American leagues like the NFL, NBA, and MLB.
That’s what makes this past Saturday night’s fight card in “The Big O” so special. Not only did the main event of the evening live up to its elite level billing, but the 10,000 plus fans in attendance created an electric atmosphere that could only be summed up as spine-tingling.
Credit must be given to Top Rank, Inc. for believing in their fighter, as well as the sports fans of America’s heartland. But most importantly, a huge “thank you” must be given to the two brave combatants who took punishment for the entertainment of thousands in attendance and millions watching around the world on HBO Sports.
Styles make fights, but fans make the event…the Omaha faithful really came through on a night when boxing needed them the most.
Hopefully the trend will continue, and other promoters will choose to be as bold as Top Rank, Inc.
