By Keith Idec

Ideally, HBO Sports wouldn’t have had to commit to producing three pay-per-view cards within an eight-week span in September, October and November.

At least, though, the promoters of those cards have made earnest efforts to give fight fans much more for their money than just a compelling main event. That’s more necessary than ever in these trying economic times, and everyone involved in these upcoming pay-per-view events seems to understand the need to remain committed to quality pay-per-view undercards.

The televised undercard beneath the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson light heavyweight title fight Oct. 15 in Los Angeles includes these three bouts:

● Antonio DeMarco (25-2-1, 18 KOs), Mexico, vs. Jorge Linares (31-1-1, 20 KOs), Venezuela, 12, for the vacant WBC lightweight title.

● Danny Garcia (21-0, 14 KOs), Philadelphia, vs. Kendall Holt (27-4, 15 KOs), Paterson, N.J., 12, for the vacant NABO junior welterweight title.

● Paulie Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KOs), Brooklyn, N.Y., vs. Orlando Lora (28-1-1, 19 KOs), Mexico, 10, welterweights.

“I have to give Richard [Schaefer] and Gary [Shaw] a lot of credit,” said Mark Taffet, HBO Sports’ senior vice president of operations and pay-per-view. “They’ve put together an outstanding undercard, an undercard of quality matchups that boxing fans will want to see, where the outcomes are undecided. It’ll make for a great night of boxing, so we’re really proud of it.”

Golden Boy Promotions, which Schaefer serves as chief executive officer, and Shaw are co-promoting the Hopkins-Dawson card. Golden Boy also is co-promoting the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Victor Ortiz card along with Mayweather Promotions.

The televised undercard beneath the Mayweather-Ortiz welterweight title fight Sept. 17 in Las Vegas includes these three bouts:

● Lucas Matthysse (28-2, 26 KOs), Argentina, vs. Erik Morales (51-7, 35 KOs), Mexico, 12, for the vacant WBC super lightweight title.

● Saul Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KOs), Mexico, vs. Alfonso Gomez (23-4-2, 12 KOs), Whittier, Calif., 12, for Alvarez’s WBC super welterweight title. (This bout will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles.)

● Jessie Vargas (16-0, 9 KOs), Las Vegas, vs. Josesito Lopez (29-3, 17 KOs), Riverside, Calif., 10, junior welterweights.

Taffet also applauded the strong Mayweather-Ortiz undercard.

“As with any televised boxing match, particularly on pay-per-view, you always want to maximize value for the consumer,” Taffet said. “And promoters lately, in all the fights we’ve been involved in, have been stepping up and making great undercard matchups because they want the fans to have a great time from the minute they turn the TV on at 9 o’clock [EDT] to the minute the final bell rings after the main event.

“I applaud the efforts of the promoters. They’ve got their fingers on the pulse of the public and I think it will really enhance the fans’ appreciation of the sport and of the televised events.”

The undercard for the last of the three aforementioned pay-per-view shows, which will feature a third bout between Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) and Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KOs) on Nov. 12 in Las Vegas, hasn't been put together.
 
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.