Back when a boxing PPV was still worth it

After last night's Mayorga fight, I was still awake and going through boxrec as I often do, and dug out a fight tape from 2003, back when Mayorga fought Spinks; as many of you will remember that card also had the Simms/Garcia crazy KO when Garcia dropped his hands after a clinch and got KTFO. It was a Don King PPV and I looked at the lineup and realized that this was a WORTHY PPV card, one that was worth dropping money on it This whole MMA/boxing debate too applies here too because this card was as loaded as the Affliction debut PPV or a number of UFC shows TOP to BOTTOM Opener was Zab Judah vs. Jaime Rangel (granted, a showcase fight, but one that would be a BAD nowadays), then Travis Simms vs. Alejandro Garcia for the WBA light middleweight title, both fighters were 22-0; this was a BAD main event or a Shobox or even a weaker Showtime main event - no worse than Simms vs. Alcine that we got recently... Then was Cory Spinks challenging Ricardo Mayorga for the WBC, WBA, and IBF welterweight titles. This might be a PPV main event now but definitely a main event on HBO or Showtime. Then was John Ruiz vs. Hasim Rahman for the WBA interim heavyweight title. This wasn't 2008 when heavyweight alphabet titles went untelevised....yet this was still an undercard on this loaded card. Then the main event was Bernard Hopkins vs. William Joppy for the WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight titles. This was ONE CARD, 40 or 50 bucks, but 5 bouts, and 4 of them for titles, all of them cards that would be single events spread out now, and as many as 2 that would be major PPV events... Also this had a big-event feel, it was an INDEPENDENT PPV but had hosts and announcers and good production and interviews and backstories on video And on another side note, if boxingscene had been around back then (I know Global MMA was but not BS) - can you imagine the activity on Sunday with all of the members we have now? There were those 5 fights, Arthur Abraham fought as well, and so did Jeff Lacy and Ricky Hatton in separate cards on a Showtime card... Man, look up some of the cards King had in the early 90's. You'll fall out your chair.

BUMP are Hopkins/Pavlik, Jones Jr/Calzaghe and DLH/Pacquiao worth it in regards to their respective PPV asking prices?

If they're going to just have undercards like that, they could at least put out a couple more and hope that volume leads to a memorable fight going down on the card... ...but that would squeeze a few more coins OUT of Hopkins and DLH's hands... yeah really, like why no Yuri Foreman? I believe every HBO PPV audience should have the privilege of watching Foreman fight. but yeah true, for the price fans pay and to see only 3 fights is pretty deadbeat IMO. volume aside unfortunately PPV's are all about the biggest names, and everyone else gets swept under the rug (sure you know that) **if boxingscene.com REALLY wanted to do something different with these redundant "look how much our sport has fallen off/MMA rising" articles why not take an on the surface look at ALL the professional sports shown on TV in the USA Pro Basketball, Football, Hockey, Baseball, NASCAR, Golf, Tennis .. and for the sake of it College Sports such as Football + basketball all those above sports can be seen via basic cable for the most part (NBA + NFL premium packages being the exception) where boxing uses PPV and Premium cable for the most part i personally find it kinda amazing just to see how many sports are not using PPV.

Good post. Nostalgia homey... Agreed. Don may be hateful but damn he made some great PPVs

terrible terrible card. not to mention the main event could play out to be pretty boring potentially exactly ... fans are paying $50 for that? I pity anyone who buys the event. just more proof that PPV .. not the fans complaining about is is ''killing boxing'' okay maybe killing boxing is an over statement, but it's killing the interest, IMO If they're going to just have undercards like that, they could at least put out a couple more and hope that volume leads to a memorable fight going down on the card... ...but that would squeeze a few more coins OUT of Hopkins and DLH's hands...

terrible terrible card. not to mention the main event could play out to be pretty boring potentially exactly ... fans are paying $50 for that? I pity anyone who buys the event. just more proof that PPV .. not the fans complaining about is is ''killing boxing'' okay maybe killing boxing is an over statement, but it's killing the interest, IMO

Here's another example: 10/18 Pavlik vs. Hopkins in what will likely be a boring fight because of styles And they want 50 dollars for this main event and THESE TWO UNDERCARDS????!?? Steven Luevano vs. Billy Dib Marco Antonio Rubio vs. Enrique Ornelas

that card was sick! .

actually that card was full of boring fights. but I understand what you mean. If you watch some of the older fights, you notice some crazy stuff. like recently Duran fighting Carlos Palomino. this would probebly be a ppv on its own today, and yet it was on the undercard while Larry Holmes fought Weaver or someone. and even in the 90s, youd have Julio Cesar Chavez defending his title against guys on the undercard of a Mike Tyson fight. what happened...? and then you look at guys defending their titles today, but their matches not being televised. what the hell. its cause promoters refuse to cooperate with other promoters. well, Don can't be blamed so much for what happened in-ring unless he put some certified duds out there that everyone knew would suck before they happened - as it turned out the Hopkins fight was one-sided, Ruiz's win over Rahman wasn't exactly a barnburner, but we got a quick KO from Judah, a memorable KO from Simms, and a close, could-go-either-way, if sloppy Mayorga-Spinks fight... at least the effort had gone into the matchmaking. Promoters don't seem to care so much anymore...

yeah Don King is the man, I saw Trinidad-Jones at a friends and thought it was a pretty good event "This was ONE CARD, 40 or 50 bucks, but 5 bouts, and 4 of them for titles, all of them cards that would be single events spread out now, and as many as 2 that would be major PPV events..." good post man, I have to say all that knowledge about it being on one PPV was brand new to me. I obviously knew all the fights happened, but looking back on it, holy crap seeing all those fights for $40 or even $50 would totally be worth it. and your dead on, as in this day and age Spinks/Mayorga would be it's own headliner .. same with Rahman/Ruiz .. and same goes for Hopkins but 4 title bouts (even if one is an interim) all on the same event is pretty insane, thanks for the post. but in all honesty, when you dropped 55 bucks on DLH/Mayweather and not only got a shit main event, but only two undercard fights that were barely ESPN2-caliber with any other promoter, weren't you feeling a little robbed? Different sports offer different products but shouldn't there have been a couple more undercards and at least one of them with fighters who were household names in the boxing world? To me, it's just greedy how they stack these shows any longer...that's probably why I'm not buying all of them anymore I actually bought World Awaits and TBQH I agree with the entire above post. I felt like an absolute moron after spending the $55. 2 crappy under card fights to go with a main event that disappointed as well. besides disappointed I walked away with this question " If all PPV's are like this, quality wise and for this kind of money ($55) a boxing fan would have to be an idiot to buy a PPV" and I haven't bought a PPV since.

Don King's mid 90s PPVs, when Tyson was locked up, were very good. He had the "Night of the Rematches", with rematches of Jackson-McCellan, Norris-Brown, Nelson-Leija, and Chavez-Randall on one card. Later that year, he had Trinidad-Campas, Randall-Coggi, Ruelas-Leija, and Chavez-Taylor 2 on another card. Later that year, he had Trinidad-Carr and Castro-Jackson 1 on the undercard of Chavez-Lopez. The best "bang for your buck" PPV ever was Quiroga-Anifowoshe, which was $10.all I have to say is wow. were all those fights televised?

actually that card was full of boring fights. but I understand what you mean. If you watch some of the older fights, you notice some crazy stuff. like recently Duran fighting Carlos Palomino. this would probebly be a ppv on its own today, and yet it was on the undercard while Larry Holmes fought Weaver or someone. and even in the 90s, youd have Julio Cesar Chavez defending his title against guys on the undercard of a Mike Tyson fight. what happened...? and then you look at guys defending their titles today, but their matches not being televised. what the hell. its cause promoters refuse to cooperate with other promoters.

Don King made really good cards back then. Also, as much as I like watching boxing, I don't mind the mean time about people talking about the sport.

Don King's mid 90s PPVs, when Tyson was locked up, were very good. He had the "Night of the Rematches", with rematches of Jackson-McCellan, Norris-Brown, Nelson-Leija, and Chavez-Randall on one card. Later that year, he had Trinidad-Campas, Randall-Coggi, Ruelas-Leija, and Chavez-Taylor 2 on another card. Later that year, he had Trinidad-Carr and Castro-Jackson 1 on the undercard of Chavez-Lopez. The best "bang for your buck" PPV ever was Quiroga-Anifowoshe, which was $10.

MMA fans are more enthused about the undercards they get than boxing fans are about the undercards they get. You're really comparing apples and oranges when you compare MMA fighters' records to boxers' records. Good MMA fighters will usually have more losses than good boxers because there are more variables involved in the MMA fight game. Plus they don't have amateur careers(as far as I know). with all that said, the gayness that MMA projects really does make me trhrow up. but in all honesty, when you dropped 55 bucks on DLH/Mayweather and not only got a shit main event, but only two undercard fights that were barely ESPN2-caliber with any other promoter, weren't you feeling a little robbed? Different sports offer different products but shouldn't there have been a couple more undercards and at least one of them with fighters who were household names in the boxing world? To me, it's just greedy how they stack these shows any longer...that's probably why I'm not buying all of them anymore

Say what u want about King but he always put together an entertaining card. What I don't understand is how can people say UFC puts on good cards? They are able to put on more fights because it doesn't take as long. Most fights are 3 rnds at 5 minutes so they can give u more fights because it will end quicker. Sorry guys but seeing a 16-9 guy vs a 11-4 fighter is not my idea of a good undercard. Imagine if Boxing had fighters with those records on an undercard I think u'd laugh. Boxing does need to step it up a bit on the undercard but to say UFC puts on a better undercard is A MYTH! UFC will fill an entire 2 hour 45 minute show with FIGHTING...whether it's 5 fights or 10. Remember the like 90 minutes of nothingness while we waited for Lennox and Tyson to come out? Records between MMA and boxing aren't comparable because of 1) the nature of the sport for the most part and 2) the pool of competitors. There's no need to, and no way to, pad one's record for years "developing" And I wish a boxing PPV would put the cameras on the first undercard on the show period. Doors open at 4 PM - put the cameras on at 4 pm and run all the way til the main event at 10. It makes me mad to see the announcer running over some boring shit standing ringside, reading off a teleprompter while two guys are seen fighting in the ring in the background. It's 2008; if I want more than a few minutes of backstory and hype, I'll have already obtained it on the Internet. Other than having fighters asking for a few more coins, I don't understand why that doesn't happen, especially when the cable providers aren't showing anything on those PPV channels all day til the main event anyway.

Say what u want about King but he always put together an entertaining card. What I don't understand is how can people say UFC puts on good cards? They are able to put on more fights because it doesn't take as long. Most fights are 3 rnds at 5 minutes so they can give u more fights because it will end quicker. Sorry guys but seeing a 16-9 guy vs a 11-4 fighter is not my idea of a good undercard. Imagine if Boxing had fighters with those records on an undercard I think u'd laugh. Boxing does need to step it up a bit on the undercard but to say UFC puts on a better undercard is A MYTH!

After last night's Mayorga fight, I was still awake and going through boxrec as I often do, and dug out a fight tape from 2003, back when Mayorga fought Spinks; as many of you will remember that card also had the Simms/Garcia crazy KO when Garcia dropped his hands after a clinch and got KTFO. It was a Don King PPV and I looked at the lineup and realized that this was a WORTHY PPV card, one that was worth dropping money on it This whole MMA/boxing debate too applies here too because this card was as loaded as the Affliction debut PPV or a number of UFC shows TOP to BOTTOM Opener was Zab Judah vs. Jaime Rangel (granted, a showcase fight, but one that would be a BAD nowadays), then Travis Simms vs. Alejandro Garcia for the WBA light middleweight title, both fighters were 22-0; this was a BAD main event or a Shobox or even a weaker Showtime main event - no worse than Simms vs. Alcine that we got recently... Then was Cory Spinks challenging Ricardo Mayorga for the WBC, WBA, and IBF welterweight titles. This might be a PPV main event now but definitely a main event on HBO or Showtime. Then was John Ruiz vs. Hasim Rahman for the WBA interim heavyweight title. This wasn't 2008 when heavyweight alphabet titles went untelevised....yet this was still an undercard on this loaded card. Then the main event was Bernard Hopkins vs. William Joppy for the WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight titles. This was ONE CARD, 40 or 50 bucks, but 5 bouts, and 4 of them for titles, all of them cards that would be single events spread out now, and as many as 2 that would be major PPV events... Also this had a big-event feel, it was an INDEPENDENT PPV but had hosts and announcers and good production and interviews and backstories on video And on another side note, if boxingscene had been around back then (I know Global MMA was but not BS) - can you imagine the activity on Sunday with all of the members we have now? There were those 5 fights, Arthur Abraham fought as well, and so did Jeff Lacy and Ricky Hatton in separate cards on a Showtime card... A Don King mega card. I remember it and have the tape. I think that was one of Hopkins' best performances to date, he absolutely destroyed Joppy. His face was swollen to ****.

After last night's Mayorga fight, I was still awake and going through boxrec as I often do, and dug out a fight tape from 2003, back when Mayorga fought Spinks; as many of you will remember that card also had the Simms/Garcia crazy KO when Garcia dropped his hands after a clinch and got KTFO. It was a Don King PPV and I looked at the lineup and realized that this was a WORTHY PPV card, one that was worth dropping money on it This whole MMA/boxing debate too applies here too because this card was as loaded as the Affliction debut PPV or a number of UFC shows TOP to BOTTOM Opener was Zab Judah vs. Jaime Rangel (granted, a showcase fight, but one that would be a BAD nowadays), then Travis Simms vs. Alejandro Garcia for the WBA light middleweight title, both fighters were 22-0; this was a BAD main event or a Shobox or even a weaker Showtime main event - no worse than Simms vs. Alcine that we got recently... Then was Cory Spinks challenging Ricardo Mayorga for the WBC, WBA, and IBF welterweight titles. This might be a PPV main event now but definitely a main event on HBO or Showtime. Then was John Ruiz vs. Hasim Rahman for the WBA interim heavyweight title. This wasn't 2008 when heavyweight alphabet titles went untelevised....yet this was still an undercard on this loaded card. Then the main event was Bernard Hopkins vs. William Joppy for the WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight titles. This was ONE CARD, 40 or 50 bucks, but 5 bouts, and 4 of them for titles, all of them cards that would be single events spread out now, and as many as 2 that would be major PPV events... Also this had a big-event feel, it was an INDEPENDENT PPV but had hosts and announcers and good production and interviews and backstories on video And on another side note, if boxingscene had been around back then (I know Global MMA was but not BS) - can you imagine the activity on Sunday with all of the members we have now? There were those 5 fights, Arthur Abraham fought as well, and so did Jeff Lacy and Ricky Hatton in separate cards on a Showtime card... Good post. Nostalgia homey...