By Jake Donovan
For the second straight week, the Fox Deportes portion of Top Rank Live will not include the evening’s true main event.
Top Rank was informed late Thursday evening of the latest scheduling change that the headlining bout between Ulises “Archie” Solis and Jether Oliva will not be made available for the televised feed of this weekend’s show from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
“Our hands are tied when it comes to the shows that come out of Mexico,” explained Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels. “Zanfer Promotions is in control of the Mexico shows, which air live on Mexico Azteca. Sometimes we are given the entire card, but other times like this and with last week’s show, certain fights aren’t made available.”
Fans expressed disappointment when learning during last week’s telecast that their night would end without getting a televised glimpse at Fernando Montiel. The former three-division titlist was in his second fight since being violently stopped by Nonito Donaire earlier this year, but his third round stoppage of Alvaro Perez took place shortly after the conclusion of last Saturday’s Top Rank Live show.
The bout still aired live on Mexico Azteca, and was also made available via online stream, but fans were left to feel disappointed when the highlight of their televised boxing intake was limited to Aaron Herrera’s controversial points win over Carlos Wiston Velasquez, two names that hardly register in the grand scheme of things.
It was a decision that also didn’t sit well with Top Rank, but decided that live boxing with a modified lineup is still better than no boxing at all.
“It’s never our choice to pull these fights from any show,” Samuels clarifies. “We’re very happy with the ratings from the shows coming out of Mexico. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. racked up the highest rating ever for boxing on Fox Sports (in his win over Billy Lyell earlier this year). Fernando Montiel also pulls in tremendous ratings and it was disappointing when we learned he wasn’t going to be on the Fox part of the show.”
Solis is still on the card and headlines the Azteca telecast but is no longer playing live on Fox. The stateside feed will now be topped by the strawweight title fight between Raul Garcia and Moises Fuentes.
Hiccups aside, Top Rank is still pleased with the progress of the series and confirmed that plenty of good news still lies ahead.
“Next weekend, we have Omar Chavez and Jorge Paez Jr. appearing in separate 10-round bouts,” Samuels confirmed of the Labor Day weekend card that could serve as a prelude to a future head-on collision between the next generation fighters. “Two weeks after that, we’re in full control of the Top Rank Live telecast, when Mercito Gesta headlines the card in Parker, Arizona. The co-feature will have the sensational Jose Benavidez, so we’re very excited about that card.
“Then October 1 in another stateside card, we are doing a show with Honda Promotions live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Rafael Marquez goes for another world championship when he takes on the excellent world champion from Japan (Toshiaki Nishioka).”
The shows on September 17 and October 1 – while locked and loaded as far as the televised portion come with a small hitch.
“Both shows will air live on Fox Deportes,” states Samuels. “However, they will air via one-day tape delay on FSN due to unavoidable scheduling conflicts with college football.”
As for this weekend’s show, the fact that it won’t include Solis’ bout is a letdown, but there’s still plenty to be gained from the telecast. The action should prove to be entertaining, and the ringside broadcast promises to come in a festive tone, as color commentator and former titlist Raul Marquez celebrates his 40th birthday.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com