by David P. Greisman
In what has become a near-weekly tradition, the crew at HBO Boxing spends numerous Saturday nights together on the roof, pointing out the brightest stars and mythological constellations.
Alas, their vision and conversations center not around those celestial bodies light years away, but with celebrities’ bodies under the nearby television lights. Instead of observing Polaris or Orion, attention is given to shining beacons like Jermain Taylor and historic heroes like Oscar De La Hoya.
While broadcast rival Showtime advertises itself as “America’s #1 Boxing Network,” it is HBO that may claim to be on top of the game with their big bucks, higher ratings and sizable profits from regular pay-per-view programming. Yet for all the acclaim Showtime has received for its policy of “great fights, no rights,” HBO squanders its stable of stellar superstars, fiddling around on the figurative roof with their questionable matchmaking decisions.
If you believe the slogan, it is all about “building legends one round at a time” for HBO, and the evidence supports the phrasing. Since his fifth professional fight in 1993, De La Hoya has fought under the network’s spotlights 31 times, a number matched only by the mismatches and guaranteed checks that Roy Jones Jr. feasted upon.
Whether they are former Olympians – Ricardo Williams and Andre Ward, for example – or just have famous names given by successful fathers – like juniors Julio Cesar Chavez and Hector Camacho – airtime is granted in the hope that the slightest recognition gained by the above factors will make profiting from potential stardom that much easier.
When that superstar is found – it matters little if he was born or made on HBO – the intent is to keep them there: on top, happy and rolling in the green.
Why else would HBO promise dates to fighters without having an opponent lined up? The intent is to appease everyone but the fans who crave the best match-ups instead of the quickest, flashiest knockouts. Why make Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Henry Bruseles or Jermain Taylor-Daniel Edouard unless they are setting up pay-per-view showdowns with Arturo Gatti and Bernard Hopkins, respectively.
Sometimes, though, the train is derailed, or at least comes perilously close to being so: Vernon Forrest was knocked out by Ricardo Mayorga after signing an extended contract with HBO, sapping him of any momentum gained from two wins over Shane Mosley. And pay-per-views between De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins – as well as Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao – needed marketing wizardry following De La Hoya’s controversial decision over Felix Sturm and Morales’ ugly loss to Zahir Raheem.
To compensate for potential disaster, HBO has filled out some of this year’s remaining schedule with dates for their fighters to star on without dates for their fighters to star against. Among the big names initially set to face TBA were and are Wladimir Klitschko, Jermain Taylor, Floyd Mayweather and Winky Wright.
That Klitschko reportedly will now face Calvin Brock (instead of Shannon Briggs) and that Mayweather is challenging the legitimate welterweight champion in Carlos Baldomir is beside the point. If HBO is going to act like a promoter by giving contracts to fighters and then having decisive input over the opponents, then the network’s voices must be directed at themselves when criticism is necessary.
After all, it is in part through their actions that the heavyweight picture isn’t clearing up, and that one of the best boxers in the sport took years to return to the caliber of foes he went through in order to earn his pound-for-pound standing.
So if Brock beats Klitschko, at least the network has branded Brock by featuring him on Boxing After Dark. A likely rematch would only delay title unification even longer.
And Mayweather has set up his preferred path in a manner that will benefit himself and his network the most. He and they have a pay-per-view in November, possibly another in February and perhaps a mega-promotion with De La Hoya in May.
It’s all about building legends and their mega-mansions. Sacrifice Sharmba Mitchell to Paul Williams, airing it on Boxing After Dark and blaspheming all that made the original series great? Spotlight Andre Ward against Andy Kolle? Sure. No danger, no problems, as long as they win and continue on the paths to being, hopefully and respectively, the next Thomas Hearns and Roy Jones.
Meanwhile, Showtime has set up the rubber match between Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor for October, and this Saturday has a fight between James Toney and Samuel Peter, unusual in that it is a highly anticipated non-title heavyweight bout.
Matchmaking that looks one-sided on paper and is done to spotlight a star is rare for that network, excepting Samuel Peter’s crushing of Taurus Sykes last year that coincided with the drop in viewers over the July 4 holiday weekend. Promise fireworks to the loyal fans and send them home happy.
As for December’s doubleheader featuring Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto against as-yet-undetermined foes? Hopefully the best available opponents will be chosen and this sort of business deal will be an aberration.
Boxers may stagnate or become complacent when in situations that call for them to be the leading roles in blockbuster events but do not provide opportunities for artistic growth or critical acclaim. It shouldn’t be boxers starring in fights, but rather the fights making the boxers stars.
That sort of fiddling around matchmaking may make them rich men, but what is the value of money when there’s little pride in beating biddy-biddy bums?
The 10 Count
1. The fight I was looking forward to this past weekend, Arthur Abraham against Edison Miranda in a middleweight trinket fight, was postponed due to Abraham being ill, adding insult to the injury of not having boxing to watch Saturday on American television. Of course, it wasn’t long until the press releases went flying, with Miranda’s camp alleging that Abraham’s flu-like symptoms were a byproduct of cold feet, forcing Abraham’s publicist to respond. Abraham-Miranda has been rescheduled for September 23, the same night that Jorge Arce wastes his talent on Boxing After Dark against an opponent like Hawk Makepula and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fills up the televised undercard. Wonderful. Another episode of Boxing After Dark that is as similar to the original as World Wrestling Entertainment’s current version of ECW.
2. Sticking with Abraham, reporter Daniel Hiller noted that, due to a cease and desist letter, the IBF titlist may not be allowed to have his trademark ring entrance when he faces Miranda. In something more bizarre than the ring walks of Naseem Hamed and Cory Spinks combined, Abraham typically wears a golden Smurf hat and is backed by a singing of the Smurfs’ theme song. Frankly, I think Abraham should tell the lawyer and his clients to go Smurf themselves.
3. Pardon me for being curious, but how is Virgil Hill assumedly being allowed to defend his WBA cruiserweight trinket in a rematch against Henry Maske? Maske retired nearly a decade ago after losing his light heavyweight belt to Hill via split decision. Since then, he has done nothing to gain a ranking with the WBA, nor will he by the time the March 2007 fight date comes around.
4. Sergio Mora outpointed middleweight Eric Regan on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, possibly setting up a bout with division champion Jermain Taylor. That aside, Mora-Regan was rather entertaining, and ample evidence that The Contender should trust its contestants’ abilities and air full, unedited fights.
5. Two of Mora’s cohorts from the first season of The Contender were also in action Friday. On the televised undercard of Mora-Regan, Alfonso Gomez stopped Carson Jones in the eighth and final round, and, on a separate bill, Ishe Smith made early work of late replacement Oscar Gonzalez. With Gomez continuing to develop, Smith regaining form, Mora nearing a dubiously earned shot at the champion and Peter Manfredo in the public eye, perhaps these Contender alums may finally contend.
6. Boxer Behaving Badly: Ron Siler, a flyweight who lost in the second round of the 2004 Olympics and had yet to turn professional, is facing up to five years in prison for violating probation, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Siler was sentenced to probation in 2002 for felony attempted assault, spent nine months in jail for a probation violation but was then released to train for the Olympics. He was recently convicted for disorderly conduct, and is facing additional charges for alleged domestic violence and cocaine possession.
7. For your Redundant Decisions file: As part of their punishment of Jose Luis Castillo for his inability to make the lightweight limit for June’s canceled rubber match with Diego Corrales, the Nevada State Athletic Commission said that Castillo will no longer be allowed to fight… at the lightweight limit.
8. This week’s season finale of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights will see a bout between Emanuel Augustus and Courtney Burton, a rematch of the 2004 travesty in which Burton was somehow awarded a split decision win. Considering the result of the initial fight and that Burton has been knocked out in four of his last five appearances, here’s guessing that Augustus doesn’t let Burton go the distance, and here’s hoping that Augustus ends it early and convinces his opponent to retire.
9. The Contender Update: Thanks to a double-dose of, as the show’s horrible ring announcer would say, “bahhhhxing action,” the first round of Mark Burnett’s boxing reality show is over.
In the first fight, Jeff Fraza, who had to withdraw from the first season due to contracting chicken pox, failed to get in good form for his Contender ring debut, dropping a five round decision to Nick Acevedo, who retired in 2002 following a loss (his first and only) to Vince Phillips.
The second fight saw Freddy Curiel’s idiotic challenge of Steve Forbes, resulting in the former junior lightweight titlist Forbes outpointing Curiel, who, like Acevedo, has been on an extended layoff since 2002.
With the quarterfinals beginning, the team format is over. Advancing to the second round are the blue team’s Acevedo, Michael Stewart, Norberto Bravo, Grady Brewer and Cornelius Bundrage, along with the gold team’s Gary Balletto, Forbes and Walter Wright.
10. I’m glad that Curiel was eliminated, by the way. Like a clucking person acting out the latent effects of hypnosis, every time Curiel said, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man,” I had to let out a Ric Flair “Whoo!”