And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
By Cliff Rold, photo by Hoganphotos
How dead is boxing in the US?
Let’s put aside that a sport some considered dead before last week was still capable of producing a revenue generator like Mayweather-Pacquiao.
The week before the Superfight shouldered its way into global focus, the Heavyweight Champion of the World packed the Garden and produced a solid TV number for HBO. This weekend, close to 40,000 will show up in Texas for Canelo Alvarez-James Kirkland and the week after that Gennady Golovkin will have a packed house in Los Angeles.
So, to those proclaiming boxing dead because, deep down, they probably think they’re too good for it and wish it would just go away:
Go to hell.
Here’s the truth: those people would have said boxing was dead if Mayweather-Pacquiao was the greatest fight since gloved boxing became a thing. It’s what they do.
They’ll be back saying it again after Deontay Wilder-Wladimir Klitschko or whatever the next fight is that captures the public stateside.
See them then.
Everyone else: welcome back to boxing at its normal levels. We now return to regularly scheduled programming.
This next two weeks is a great chance to generate new fans off the Superfight hangover.
Lots of people tuned in for the spectacle. There is plenty of room to grow off last Saturday’s technically interesting if disappointing showdown. Something curious, anecdotally, came from conversations about last weekend’s show.
Almost everyone, big time boxing fan or casual observer, this author spoke to was critical of Mayweather-Pacquiao.
And, to a person, each brought up that they’d like to see Vasyl Lomachenko again. They remembered his name and knew he could fight.
It might not mean significant numbers now. That a seed was planted was a good thing. Lomachenko impressed and, when someone is flipping channels and sees him again, they might stop. That’s why Pacquiao was on the Tyson-Lewis undercard years ago.
Every little bit helps. Before most were main events, they gathered eyeballs on someone else’s shows.
This Saturday is different. We have an established star in the mix. Lots of people who didn’t see the fight last week will be checking in with Showtime and HBO to see if Manny really couldn’t throw the right hand or whatever. HBO viewers will see a huge crowd waiting for a guy many are already familiar with in Alvarez.
No matter how long it lasts, Alvarez-Kirkland is going to be a fight. It could end early. It could become a flat out war. Anyone who sees it is likely to want to see the winner again. They’ll hear about Golovkin, see highlights, and hopefully be back again next week. Earlier in the day, boxing will be on CBS. There will be eyes that stop there as well.
Boxing is unlikely to ever again reach the level of attention it held in the US even a generation ago. It can still do better than it has in the last decade. The gap between the mega-stars and the shows that can develop the next mega-stars is too wide.
This is a window of opportunity, a chance to show the other side of boxing. When the spectacle dies down, there are still younger men trying to scale the economic mountains Mayweather and Pacquiao have. They are still taking risks, taking shots, trying to get there.
If any of those men can get a look in the next week or two from just some of the audience that showed up curious last week, that’s a good thing.
Cliff’s Notes…
This Manny Pacquiao lawsuit seems, um, frivolous. We’ll stick with that…If it wins though, can we go back and look into whether Julio Cesar Chavez showed up for the first Oscar De La Hoya fight with a cut? I want my time back on that one…Want it or not, the seeds for a rematch between Pacquiao and Mayweather are planted. Don’t be surprised if the new MGM Grand Arena debuts with that rematch next year…Finally got to start watching Daredevil. Comic book hero TV just went up a level…Age of Ultron was worth going to see too. IMAX 3D is expensive so spectacle is a must…While some are over the moon to see Golovkin in two weeks, the excitement here is in seeing the HBO debut of Roman Gonzalez. This could be a lot of fun...It’s not hard to believe that Canelo Alvarez would be willing to face Golovkin in the next year or so. He seems to have no issue fighting guys who everyone assumed he’d duck like Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara. It’s a commendable quality for the youngster…The prime minister of Cambodia thinks Pacquiao scored a shutout last weekend? That’s still not the worst score in boxing history.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
