by David P. Greisman
It’s one thing to declare independence. But as with so much in life, words often must be backed up with actions. This day in the United States celebrates the day, 240 years ago, when representatives from 13 colonies made clear their desire to be free from Great Britain.
It’s one thing for a boxer to declare his desire to be free from a promoter. That, too, must often be earned. And rarely is it easy, particularly when the promoter feels it has put in a significant investment toward the fighter’s career and still has a valid contract for getting that investment to pay off further.
Mikey Garcia is the latest notable name to return from a lengthy layoff after a dispute with his promoter. The former 126- and 130-pound titleholder hasn’t fought in two and a half years, dating back to his January 2014 decision win over Juan Carlos Burgos. He’ll be back on July 30, fighting on Showtime in Brooklyn on the undercard of Leo Santa Cruz vs. Carl Frampton.
Garcia was a regular headliner on HBO back then. But he soured on his relationship with promoter Top Rank. He felt his contract was unlawful, that he was stuck in it and wouldn’t be able to extricate himself if he fought again for the company. He also didn’t think his promoter was being as open with him about financial and contractual terms as it should’ve been. Top Rank disagreed, and their dispute lasted until earlier this year, when the two sides settled.
It was a gamble, a prolonged battle that had the potential to do more harm than good.
It kept him out of the ring for 30 months. Even if a fighter spars and trains as much as he says he did, it doesn’t completely replace competition against high-level opposition. He at least had the benefit of sharing the gym with the many boxers who work with his brother, trainer Robert Garcia, and was able to spar with others who wanted good work.
It kept him off television for 30 months, a loss of momentum for a boxer who was rising in the rankings. The fight with Burgos averaged 829,000 viewers. That was a drop from his two previous appearances, a win over Roman Martinez in November 2013 that averaged 1.118 million viewers, and a clobbering of Juan Manuel Lopez in June 2013 that averaged 1.262 million. Despite that decline, he was fighting often enough that his name remained relevant.
He’ll start anew on July 30, hoping that Santa Cruz-Frampton draws enough viewers who’ll tune in to the undercard, and hoping that curious fans also will remember Garcia and want to see him again. His fight isn’t compelling enough on its own; he’ll face former featherweight titleholder Elio Rojas, who lost a decision to Jhonny Gonzalez in April 2012 and has been even more inactive than Garcia, fighting only once in the years since, a layoff due to his own issues with his management.
But if Garcia looks good, then he could be back in the mix rather quickly. Showtime wants to feature him. Al Haymon, the powerful boxing adviser, would want to do the same against at least a few of the many boxers in his stable.
The gamble will pay off for him, so long as he remains in good form. He lost out on paychecks during the time off, but he feels it was worth it to get out of a relationship in which he felt it wasn’t worth it to stay.
It was less worth it for another fighter who departed Top Rank for Haymon: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. His layoff was only about 13 months. The dispute followed what Chavez’s camp felt was a deal to face middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin in a bout at 168 but under financial terms they didn’t like.
But unlike Garcia, who was considered one of the best in the sport, Chavez was often protected by his matchmaking. He was good, but not great. He had flaws in the ring and poor discipline outside of it. Chavez came back too tough, facing Andrzej Fonfara and trying to take advantage of his star power by making the light heavyweight Fonfara drop down a few pounds for a contractual catch-weight.
Fonfara embarrassed Chavez and stopped him. Chavez came back with a decision win a few months later, but his ratings were down, and so were his chances of being competitive at light heavyweight. He needed to drop down to super middleweight. Chavez hasn’t fought in nearly a year; he’s rumored to be returning soon against another flawed 168-pounder, once-beaten prospect J’Leon Love.
As damaging as these disputes can be to a fighter’s career, it’s not surprising that boxers dig their heels in and stick to their guns. They are the ones who are putting their health on the line. They would prefer not to do so unless they are fully motivated; no one wants to go to work if they don’t feel it’s worth it, if they don’t feel like their interests are being looked out for, or if they’re being paid what they believe is the right amount.
That’s why Andre Ward stayed away for so long in a dispute with the late Dan Goossen; Roc Nation Sports ultimately bought out Ward’s contract from Goossen’s company after the promoter passed away.
That’s why Demetrius Andrade missed out on opportunities and lost his title, only getting back in the ring after reconciling with his promoters under a new deal. He was fortunate to do so, as the relationship allowed him to jump to Showtime, where more opportunities awaited him at junior middleweight.
It doesn’t always work.
Andre Dirrell wasn’t in a dispute with Al Haymon, but he left the adviser and promoter Gary Shaw for upstart 50 Cent’s promotional company, only to learn how little the rapper was able to do in boxing. Dirrell ultimately returned to Haymon.
The same problem befell Yuriorkis Gamboa, whose contract 50 Cent bought from Top Rank.
They can’t all be Floyd Mayweather Jr., who paid $750,000 to leave Top Rank and reaped hundreds of millions of dollars after having more control over how he was marketed and how much he got paid.
Not all gambles involve putting money down. Sometimes the gambles just mean no money coming in as they sit out.
They hope it’ll be worth it. Freedom isn’t free. But the hope, like the hope of a new country, is that the repercussions of the battles they went through to win their freedom will fade away. As in the ring, it can be best to stop working, wait for a clean break and then start anew.
“Fighting Words” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com
