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Who is the best 140 pound fighter in the world?
Now here is a fun question, but it is a hard one to answer since none of the top 5 fighters are slated to fight each other any time soon. Amir Khan appears headed for the big money of the senior tour. It seems that Juan Manuel Marquez is being lined up and, of course, there is the persistent speculation that Khan will then follow up with Ricky Hatton. Naturally, Khan takes a lot of heat for going this route, but why? It wouldn’t be a viable option if it didn’t make money. I am not particularly excited to see Khan fight Marquez who is not only quite a bit smaller than Khan, but also appears to be finally showing his age in the ring. And, as nonplussed as I am about a Khan-Marquez tilt, I am positively giddy about that potential fight in comparison to the apathy I feel toward a potential Khan-Hatton fight. So, how does it make sense for him to make these fights? Because, one can be assured that it does. How do we know? Because he is looking to make them. So, the real question is; why isn’t it the best financial move for the top fighters in a division to fight each other?
Khan is riding the path of lesser resistance to riches at the top of the division. Meanwhile, Timothy Bradley just moved up to 147 to fight the unknown Luis Carlos Abregu while Devon Alexander survived a much tougher than expected battle with the game Andriy Kotelnik. Both men won, but neither man had the opponent we wanted to see; each other. Meanwhile, Marcos Maidana is playing it even safer basking in the ultra security of a bout with former top contender Demarcus Corley. And Victor Ortiz has a date upcoming with the similarly well known and nearly equally well traveled Vivian Harris. There is something eerily similar to the modus operandi of these particular fighters; it is almost as if they are waiting for something. Oddly enough, fighting the other top fighters in their division just doesn’t seem to be the best move for them; How could that be? And lest we should think this is a one time thing, consider the similar plight of the Featherweight division. Chris John, Juan Manuel Lopez, Celestino Caballero, and Yuriorkis Gamboa; all fighting, just not each other any time soon.
Perhaps as fans we are just not voting strongly enough with our wallets. I am somewhat hesitant of pricy PPV cards. I always want to watch, but I don’t have 60 bucks to shell out for anything less than a truly compelling card. But, I do pay for HBO and Showtime. So, I simply watch what they give me. Are fighters pricing themselves out of compelling fights? Is it just as lucrative for them to schedule less dangerous fights? Do we reward spectacular individual performances as much as great two way fights? I think the answer to all of those questions is yes. I know that I get very excited for a good match up and I am bored with fights that are largely exhibitions of one promising fighter at the expense of another who is just there to collect a check and wait to be knocked out. But, as a boxing fan, I tend to watch whatever they put in front of me. So, why do we see so little of the first and so much of the second. The answer is simple, because the second type of fight clearly still makes money for the participants while simultaneously putting everyone involved in position to make even more money down the road. But, why not just make the fights against the other top fighters, well known or relatively unknown? Truth be told, the top 5 at 140 must still be able to make a little more fighting each other rather than the one time contenders they seem to be choosing now, right? The answer is, there is another far more lucrative class of opponent out there. Which leads me to another question…
source:http://ringside report.com/?p=4390
Now here is a fun question, but it is a hard one to answer since none of the top 5 fighters are slated to fight each other any time soon. Amir Khan appears headed for the big money of the senior tour. It seems that Juan Manuel Marquez is being lined up and, of course, there is the persistent speculation that Khan will then follow up with Ricky Hatton. Naturally, Khan takes a lot of heat for going this route, but why? It wouldn’t be a viable option if it didn’t make money. I am not particularly excited to see Khan fight Marquez who is not only quite a bit smaller than Khan, but also appears to be finally showing his age in the ring. And, as nonplussed as I am about a Khan-Marquez tilt, I am positively giddy about that potential fight in comparison to the apathy I feel toward a potential Khan-Hatton fight. So, how does it make sense for him to make these fights? Because, one can be assured that it does. How do we know? Because he is looking to make them. So, the real question is; why isn’t it the best financial move for the top fighters in a division to fight each other?
Khan is riding the path of lesser resistance to riches at the top of the division. Meanwhile, Timothy Bradley just moved up to 147 to fight the unknown Luis Carlos Abregu while Devon Alexander survived a much tougher than expected battle with the game Andriy Kotelnik. Both men won, but neither man had the opponent we wanted to see; each other. Meanwhile, Marcos Maidana is playing it even safer basking in the ultra security of a bout with former top contender Demarcus Corley. And Victor Ortiz has a date upcoming with the similarly well known and nearly equally well traveled Vivian Harris. There is something eerily similar to the modus operandi of these particular fighters; it is almost as if they are waiting for something. Oddly enough, fighting the other top fighters in their division just doesn’t seem to be the best move for them; How could that be? And lest we should think this is a one time thing, consider the similar plight of the Featherweight division. Chris John, Juan Manuel Lopez, Celestino Caballero, and Yuriorkis Gamboa; all fighting, just not each other any time soon.
Perhaps as fans we are just not voting strongly enough with our wallets. I am somewhat hesitant of pricy PPV cards. I always want to watch, but I don’t have 60 bucks to shell out for anything less than a truly compelling card. But, I do pay for HBO and Showtime. So, I simply watch what they give me. Are fighters pricing themselves out of compelling fights? Is it just as lucrative for them to schedule less dangerous fights? Do we reward spectacular individual performances as much as great two way fights? I think the answer to all of those questions is yes. I know that I get very excited for a good match up and I am bored with fights that are largely exhibitions of one promising fighter at the expense of another who is just there to collect a check and wait to be knocked out. But, as a boxing fan, I tend to watch whatever they put in front of me. So, why do we see so little of the first and so much of the second. The answer is simple, because the second type of fight clearly still makes money for the participants while simultaneously putting everyone involved in position to make even more money down the road. But, why not just make the fights against the other top fighters, well known or relatively unknown? Truth be told, the top 5 at 140 must still be able to make a little more fighting each other rather than the one time contenders they seem to be choosing now, right? The answer is, there is another far more lucrative class of opponent out there. Which leads me to another question…
source:http://ringside report.com/?p=4390
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