By Jake Donovan
The writing was on the wall the moment a bill was unanimously passed to bring Mixed Martial Arts to Tennessee. If further confirmation was needed on which direction the state was heading in regards to the boxing vs. MMA debate, it came last weekend when a sea of empty chairs was on display for the HBO-televised card at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.
Just six years after hosting the highest-grossing heavyweight pay-per-view event in the sport's history, the Tennessee boxing scene is officially on its last legs, with little to no chance of resuscitation.
For years, Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson had been restricted to mythical matchup discussion, but the fight became a reality in June 2002 when it landed at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. Drawing a crowd of over 15,000, it wasn't quite a sellout, but at the time served as the highest grossing pay-per-view event in boxing history. It also helped turn Memphis into a fight town, as little else in the way of professional sports was going on at the time.
Tyson would return the following year, to a similar-sized crowd, though gimmicks were required to reel 'em in, including 2-for-1 specials for what would become 49 seconds of action against Cliff Ettiene.
From there, the crowds regressed, though still maintain positive results for the next couple of major shows.
Attendance numbers were solid for Glen Johnson's shocking 9th round knockout upset of Roy Jones Jr in September 2004. Johnson would lose in the very same arena nine months later in a rematch with Antonio Tarver, a night where a strong walk-up crowd helped surpass promoter Goossen Tutor's expectations for the show, even though their guy (Johnson) came up just short in the end.
Since 2006, very little positive spin could be applied to what has ultimately trickled down to the death of the Tennessee boxing scene.
Memphis was really the state's last hope. Smaller shows have surfaced in other areas throughout the state, but nothing that captured anything beyond local headlines (and most shows, not even that much). The last major card in Nashville came in 1997, when Don King brought boxing – and Showtime – to Music City.
So west on I-40 boxing fans would have to travel for real events. To its credit, Memphis has played host to a major show in each of the past six years. But it now begs the question of how long promoters will want to keep bringing boxing to the city.
Much was made of the less-than-stellar turnout for Jermain Taylor's middleweight title defense against Winky Wright in 2006. It turned out that all of the banter was much ado about nothing, as promoters involved will gladly take that night's tally over what was pulled in for Taylor's return to River City the following year (against Cory Spinks) as well as last weekend's card headlined by Andre Berto.
The irony of the interest regressing with each year is that ticket prices – the initial (and erroneous) source of blame for the 2006 card – decreased with each show. Seats that went for over $1000 for Taylor-Wright were on sale for $500 for Taylor-Spinks. It would only cost $100 for the very same view for last weekend's show.
But the sad truth of the matter is, the state is no longer concerned with getting value from a boxing show. Not in a town where "Boxing On Beale Street" means a night of club fights at the New Daisy Theatre, where for years it was common to juggle the entire lineup of a given card, to where fighters didn't know who they'd be facing until hours, sometimes minutes, before the opening bell.
Selling quality boxing at a premium price to a town that's become accustomed to paying $10-20 for garbage simply isn't going to happen - especially on a card where the majority of the participants mean little to the hosting city.
Among other things, missing from last weekend's card were local fighters who can sell tickets. The closest to it on this show was junior lightweight prospect Ira Terry of nearby Brighton, who usually brings a respectable crowd – including several past classmates and teachers - whenever he fights, as he's only two years removed from graduating high school.
As luck would have it, Terry suffered his first loss as a pro in the opening bout of the evening, dropping a four-round decision to a fighter who honestly had no business beating him. He was the only prospect on the card that wouldn't leave the same way he came in – undefeated. Fernando Guerrero, Rayonta Whitfield and Jonathan Nelson were all impressive in their non-televised bouts, each scoring knockouts.
The downside; not one of those names mean anything to the local crowd.
Sure Prize Fight Boxing is expertly bringing along Guerrero and Whitfield, as well as several other potential blue chip prospects. But serving for a local promoter and becoming a local attraction are two separate matters entirely. Not to mention that the majority of their fights aren't taking place in local venues, but in Tunica (MS)-based casinos.
No, the strip isn't too far from Memphis. But those events come with a built-in audience, with those frequenting the casinos serving as the majority of patrons in the crowd, none of whom are going to travel to Beale Street to pay upwards of ten times the price to see those same fighters – and that's for those whose casino tickets aren't already comped.
However, you're forced to play with the hand you're dealt. The truth of the matter is, the cupboard is bare in regards to promising up-and-coming in-state talent, and has been for a long time.
Perhaps this weekend was missing someone like a Lamont or Anthony Peterson. Both were familiar faces in past big fight weekends, either serving on the undercard or, as was the case for Anthony in 2006, headlining an ESPN2 card the night before.
Prize Fight was onto something when they staged free-to-the-public outdoor events at the Pepsi Pavilion, literally just outside the FedEx Forum. That came to an end when the Tennessee Boxing and Racing Commission as we know it today decide to remind the promoter of state regulations, one of which prohibits boxing events taking place without ticket sales. The reason being; no ticket sales eliminates the standard 4% of the gross receipts that makes for the commission's pay for the night.
Then again, even in collecting the amount on shows over the past few years, the state is hardly rolling in the dough. In fact, it's buried in the red.
According to the recently passed bill HB 2633 – SB 3836, it costs that state $211,700 per year to fund a boxing commission that only collects $71,800 in revenue. Roughly a 3:1 ratio, in the very wrong direction.
The new proposals call for a minimum dollar amount to be collected on future shows, both boxing and MMA, now that the latter is being invited to town. No longer will promoters get away with submitting 4% of the nightly take – which for club shows doesn't even amount to a tank of gas for one commission member, even at yesterday's prices.
The new minimum is $500 – an amount that will most likely result in the death of the club show circuit, and pave the way for mixed martial arts to take over.
The report suggests a first-year revenue increase of 900%, though at least 1/3 of the amount to come from fees to be collected on fighters to be newly licensed in state. The estimated cost to fund a revamped state athletic commission will also increase, but by barely 50%.
The math shows that the state will now go from running a $140,000-per-year deficit to clearing upwards of a $400,000 annual profit once mixed martial arts is brought into the fold.
The only math that applies to the Tennessee boxing scene, however, is addition by subtraction – with the sport ultimately on the wrong end of that equation.
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
