By Cliff Rold
It’s had its ups and downs.
Right now, ESPN2 staple Friday Night Fights is up. Really, it’s been up for a couple years but there’s a hint of magic to the programming this year.
Multiple undefeated fighters have arrived on the air this year and left, well, defeated. Among them, Fernando Guerrero, Ivan Popoca and Yordanis Despaigne ran into Grady Brewer, Ruslan Providnikov, and Ismail Sillakh respectively.
On each occasion, fans got some memorable warfare before the “0” was sent packing.
It hasn’t all been guys being introduced to the “L.” Before he got robbed blind against Paul Williams on HBO, Jr. Middleweight Erislandy Lara picked up a blemish that many thought could have been a loss against Carlos Molina.
Just weeks ago, Jr. Middleweights Pawel Wolak and Delvin Rodriguez put on a Fight of the Year contender. Both those scrappers had lost before. In their draw, they each exited winners and serious players in their class.
Enter this week’s main event players. Between them, there is but a single defeat. The man who holds it might be the hotter commodity, if either can qualify as such. More boxers than puncher’s, Tim Coleman (19-1-1, 5 KO) and Vernon Paris (24-0, 14 KO) need not be viewed as style kryptonite for viewers. Their speed and technique could turn out to be complimentary, if not organically than by necessity.
Why necessity?
Simply put, anonymity. Neither man is a household name. That might include their own households. Matches that pair boxers sometimes get a bad wrap. They often turn out great, depending on how bad each participant needs to win that night. Coleman and Paris both need to win. If they know it, in the ring, 2011 could have yet another one for the growing stack of strong on ESPN2 this year.
And that’s a very good, very important, thing.
It’s not because of anything singularly to do with the main event participants. Maybe one, or both, goes on to have Hall of Fame careers in boxing. Maybe not. That’s not why shows like this one matter.
While sometimes taken for granted, the development shows are where fans are created for later, and boxing is always going to need lots of later. Before they were stars on HBO, Showtime, or pay-per-view, the biggest of stars were on basic cable looking to stand out. Mike Tyson lit up ESPN. Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. were both standouts on the old Tuesday Night Fights. Manny Pacquiao was on regional TV in the Philippines. The list goes on. Thos fighters, in their youth, stood out because they gave viewers a reason to watch and, more importantly, to tell others to watch.
Boxing fans will follow boxing no matter what. However, boxing fans will buzz about boxing outside the circle when boxing is actually good. Any fan worth their salt (should have) told at least one person to find Wolak-Rodriguez after it aired, should be telling others about the great year being had on the air period.
All of the guys on the air won’t turn out to be ‘tomorrow’s champions’ but some will. Given the quality on the air this year, the chance is there to get people interested in the sport’s tomorrows no matter which fighters those future champs turn out to be.
Will we get another memorable Friday night fight this week? Is it worth the risk not to find out?
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com