By Jake Donovan
This is normally the time of the year when boxing fans reflect on the season that was, compiling “best of” lists and deciding how the past dozen months collectively measure up against its predecessors.
There was no shortage of highs and lows in 2008, though for the second time in three years, the lows managed to overshadow the highs. Two years ago, little among the best that the sport had to offer could be found within America’s borders, which of course was followed up with promises from the sport’s super powers that sweeping change was on its way.
It took a while to deliver, but 2007 ended on a very high note, overcoming a series of injuries in late summer and early fall to put together a terrific three month stretch to close out the year. The momentum threatened to carry over into 2008, including the month of March ranking among the very best in boxing history.
What followed in the remaining nine months had fans and network executives chanting, “Wait ‘til Next Year” far more than “did you see that?!”
Make no mistake, there were plenty of moments that had boxing fans chanting the latter. Hopefully not lost in the shuffle last week was the best televised card, which came last Thursday on VERSUS.
Fans barely had a chance to take in the terrific bantamweight scrap between Joseph Agbeko and William Gonzalez (won by Agbeko via majority decision) before being swept away by the evening’s main event, a cruiserweight war for the ages. Tomasz Adamek parlayed three knockdowns into a well-earned split decision nod over Steve Cunningham to claim the division’s lineal crown in an instant classic as well as the latest Fight of the Year entry.
High stakes between a given division’s best two fighters, classic brawler versus boxer matchup, and both fighters earning their paychecks and then some. It’s when the sport is able to follow that formula that it ranks among the very best sources of entertainment.
The same formula was applied to the stretch run in 2007, but nowhere nearly enough throughout this year, at least once you look past boxing’s version of March Madness.
Four consecutive weekends of boxing were fought at the highest level, with entries for Fight and Knockout of the Year produced in matches determining divisional supremacy at super bantamweight (Israel Vazquez SD12 Rafael Marquez), cruiserweight (David Haye KO2 Enzo Macarrinelli), super featherweight (Manny Pacquiao SD12 Juan Manuel Marquez) and lightweight (Joel Casamayor KO10 Michael Katsidis).
More of the year’s best moments came when the stakes were at its highest.
A November 1 junior bantamweight scrap began with Cristian Mijares a win away from contending for 2008’s Fighter of the Year, and ended with Vic Darchinyan taking his place in line, as well as a third alphabet belt.
Antonio Margarito also became an instant candidate for the year’s best fighter following his 11th round stoppage of Miguel Cotto in a career defining moment, and perhaps the last fight of ’08 that saw boxing at the highest level prove to be wildly entertaining as well as a commercial success (over 400,000 pay-per-view buys).
Manny Pacquiao made the transformation from Filipino icon to mainstream superstar thanks to his one-sided beatdown of Oscar de la Hoya in the year’s most watched bout. It was a rare occasion where the result simultaneously served as one that was better for the sport and a detriment to the network by which the event was funded.
The $50 million or so HBO spent on Oscar de la Hoya’s 2008 campaign was in its greatest efforts to prolong his career. Many have been less than subtle in gleefully predicting the sport’s permanent demise the moment the greatest financial draw in boxing history quit on his stool after eight rounds.
The night was a time capsule moment for Pacquiao, but for Oscar and Golden Boy Promotions an end to an evening preceded by one of the worst undercards in the history of high profile pay-per-view events.
The pain was soothed once the final receipts were tallied – upwards of $70 million in PPV revenue on the strength of 1.25 million buys. It was far and away the year’s biggest event, but numbers-wise paled in comparison to de la Hoya’s last big PPV event, which just so happened to be the most lucrative in boxing history when his May ’07 waltz with Floyd Mayweather Jr drew more than 2.4 million full-priced viewers.
Such a drop off truly accentuated what 2008 ultimately represented – American boxing fans deciding that enough was enough.
The sport’s power brokers wasted no time banging out press releases at the end of last year, patting themselves on the back over record-breaking pay-per-view totals. It’s safe to say that this year won’t be met in the same congratulatory fashion.
If the final dollar amount was comparable to other years, it came about due to quantity over quality. Industry leader HBO distributed nine on their own, second most for a year-end tally only to the 10 price-tagged events that carried their name in 2006. It’s no small coincidence that both years fell way short of expectations from the average stateside fan, with its lone remaining proof of a sport with a future is its reluctantly acknowledging that boxing continues to thrive beyond America’s borders.
The knee-jerk reaction in 2007 was to offer fewer premium events, at least in the first half of the year. Of course, the plan didn’t come without ulterior motives – HBO and the sport was saving up for “The World Awaits,” an event that was accompanied by a historic promotional push as well as the launching of its award-winning 24/7 series.
Once the May ’07 event was out of the way, it was business as usual. HBO had at least one pay-per-view event scheduled for every remaining month. From May to December, the only month that didn’t feature a PPV telecast was September – and that was only because Juan Manuel Marquez’ planned junior lightweight defense against Rocky Juarez (himself a replacement for Jorge Barrios) was postponed due to injury, eventually resurfacing seven weeks later on Showtime.
But for the moment, the first quarter of 2009 suggests that the sport’s powerbrokers have finally learned their lesson. HBO’s year begins with back-to-back weekends of boxing in mid-January – Andre Berto facing Luis Collazo in a welterweight scrap one week before Antonio Margarito squares off against Shane Mosley.
Also being discussed is a lineal lightweight title fight between champion Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz. HBO and Golden Boy are presently working feverishly to get the money right to land the bout on its World Championship Boxing series in late February or early March.
Alfredo Angulo, one of the sport’s more exciting rising young stars, is slated for a Valentine’s Day dance with Ricardo Mayorga on the same night that Nate Campbell makes a dangerous mandatory defense (yes, there is still such a thing) against Ali Funeka.
February also marks the 2009 debut of Showtime Championship Boxing, headlined by a long-awaited showdown between junior bantamweight rivals Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce. Hopefully somewhere down the road will be a super bantamweight showdown between multiple titlist Celestino Caballero and former lineal champion Rafael Marquez.
Telefutura may be closing its door to boxing, but it doesn’t mean the sport ceases to exist on Friday nights. Quite the contrary, as ESPN2 has raised the bar on what will pass for plausible main events. Hot featherweight prospect Yuriorkis Gamboa kicks off the 2009 season with a 12-round bout against Roger Gonzalez.
One week later, Carlos Quintana faces Eromosele Albert in an intriguing crossroads bout. January on the Deuce ends with Herman Ngoudjo facing Juan Urango in a vacant junior welterweight alphabet title fight.
You’ll notice something missing from the aforementioned list of fights to ring in the New Year – the minimal number of fights with predictable outcomes. Most importantly, there’s hardly a foregone conclusion among the lot among HBO and Showtime, the sport’s two biggest players.
You’ll notice something else missing from the schedule for the moment – the absence of a pay-per-view event.
It can just as easily be argued that none of the bouts listed deserve to headline a pay-per-view telecast, though that’s never previously stopped the sport from going that route.
But after several promotions falling short of expectations, coupled with a crippled economy, it appears that boxing has decided to employ that’s been sorely lacking on a consistent basis for far too long – standards.
CORRECTION: Tuesday’s column discussing the present and future of the heavyweight division came with the mention that undefeated contender Alexander Povetkin opted for a summer tune-up before pursuing a mandatory title shot against Wladimir Klitschko.
Scott Schaffer, an attorney for Sauerland Event (who promotes Povetkin), informed this hack that there was nothing voluntary about Povetkin’s actions. The plan was to aggressively pursue a summer mandatory, only to be sideswiped by the IBF, who denied his request (though more of a right) and instead agreed to allow Tony Thompson (WBO mandatory) to instead get first crack.
The consolation prize was that Povetkin was guaranteed a shot at the winner, only for the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist to injure himself during training camp this past fall, thus further delaying his title hopes. But it deserves to be mentioned that his hand was forced, and not that he agreed to step aside on his own.
Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .