Dailynews article: "Boxing fans feeling cheated!"

[Deevel916]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2011/10/21/2011-10-21_boxing_fans_feeling_cheated_as_they_pay_to_watch_duds_like_recent_bernard_hopkin.html

Boxing fan dissatisfaction is running at an all-time high on the heels of the abysmal match between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson at the Staples Center last week and the surprising 4th round KO by Floyd Mayweather Jr. over Victor Ortiz last month.

Dawson defeated Hopkins on a second-round TKO without landing a decisive punch, after he dumped Hopkins off his back and Hopkins landed awkwardly and separated his left shoulder. Hopkins couldn't continue and referee Pat Russell declared Dawson the winner in the WBC light heavyweight match. Mayweather dropped Ortiz after Ortiz apologized for a third time for an illegal head butt and then dropped his guard.

Boxing fans who paid for the HBO pay-per-view matches are feeling cheated.

"When you look at the last two major pay-per-view fights and the way that they've ended you paid over $60 and you got crap," said Kurt Gillis, an irate boxing fan in New Jersey.

Gillis, who buys almost every boxing pay-per-view, speaks for a growing group of disgruntled boxing fans who are getting fed up with paying a premium for bad televised boxing matches.

There are two more major pay-per-view matches on the schedule for this year – Manny Pacquiao versus Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12 and Miguel Cotto versus Antonio Margarito on Dec. 3. The unsatisfactory results from the previous two pay-per-views will have a negative impact on how well they do at the box office.

"Before the last two fights you could say it was 90-10 that I was going to buy both of those fights," Gillis said. "Now it's more like 30-70 that I will. Even with Pacquiao being involved in one of the fights, it's no better than 50-50. At the end of the day you can still wait just seven days and it will be rebroadcast."

That's bad news for Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, who is putting on both the upcoming HBO pay-per-view shows. Arum had harsh criticism for the Mayweather-Ortiz and Hopkins-Dawson PPV shows.

"Hopefully we can differentiate ourselves from those PPV," he said. "But would we have wanted two barn-burning pay-per-views to proceed us? The answer is yes."

At the final press conference at Gallagher's Steakhouse on Thursday for the bantamweight title match between Nonito Donaire and Omar Narvaez at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Arum ripped into HBO for putting Hopkins-Dawson on pay-per-view.

"It never should have been on PPV. I don't blame the promoter on this," Arum said. "HBO had agreed to a very substantial license fee when they were doing all these crazy, ****** deals. And low and behold they woke up one day and said we don't have any more money. So what they did was flip it.

[Deevel916]

"They kept the license fee the same with the promoter and they hoped that the pay-per-view would ameliorate their expenses. That to me is (messed) up. But that's what they did. I don't blame a greedy promoter. I blame a ***********al network."

HBO Sports has undergone some major changes in the last four months with the resignation of Ross Greenberg as president and Ken Hershman, the executive in charge of boxing at rival Showtime, hired last week to take his place.

Whether Hershman will fare any better with HBO pay-per-view as president of HBO Sports than Greenburg remains to be seen. Hershman's last pay-per-view show at Showtime was Pacquiao-Shane Mosley, which wasn't exactly scintillating, as Mosley decided he didn't want to fight after the second round.

Even with a proven fighter like Pacquiao, nothing is guaranteed in boxing, which is the reason everyone involved in pay-per-view events gives when asked to address fan complaints about horrendous shows they've paid for.

Mark Taffet, HBO's pay-per-view guru, said Hopkins-Dawson was moved to pay-per-view because the fall schedule on HBO was overcrowded, but ultimately fans vote with their wallets.

"We believe Pay-Per-view fight buyers are savvy, sophisticated consumers who evaluate and value each event on it's own merits," Taffet said.

Taffet doesn't believe there will be any lingering holdover for the next two HBO pay-per-view shows.

Pacquiao-Marquez III is the conclusion to one of the best trilogies of our era, with the first two fights having been fought to a virtual standstill. We are optimistic that it will take its place among the boxing PPV megafights," Taffet said. "Cotto-Margarito II has all the elements that fight fans look for in a heated rivalry and with Madison Square Garden as the venue, the event is quite compelling."

While boxing fans may be disgruntled over having to shell out hard-earned cash for matches that end in a disappointing fashion, they shouldn't expect anything to change. There certainly won't be any refunds.

"They were not good fights, no argument," Arum said of Mayweather-Ortiz and Hopkins-Dawson. "It's the same as when people pay good money to go to a basketball game or a football game and it's a blowout."

The only way that boxing fans can show their displeasure is to not buy pay-per-views. That would send the strongest message of their dissatisfaction.

PUNCHLINES: The WBC restored Bernard Hopkins as light heavyweight world champion on Thursday and declared his fight against Chad Dawson a technical draw. Dawson was awarded a TKO victory in the second round after he tossed Hopkins from his back and Hopkins landed awkwardly on his back and elbow and separated his left shoulder. Referee Pat Russell declared Dawson the winner by TKO because Hopkins couldn't continue.

Hopkins and his reps had filed an appeal of the decision with the California Athletic Commission on Tuesday and ask that the decision be overturned and ruled a disqualification because they believe Dawson committed a foul. The WBC did not wait for a ruling from the California Commission, which doesn't meet again until Dec. 13. Instead the sanctioning organization reviewed a tape of the incident and concluded that Dawson committed a foul by lifting Hopkins off his feet and dumping him on the canvas.

The WBC controls the belts, but it has no bearing on the official outcome of the fight. So Hopkins still has a TKO loss on his fight record. But now that he has retained his title it puts into play a rematch. Any takers? … The documentary on the Klitschkos opened in limited release on Friday and is being shown at Cinema Village and AMC Empire 25 in Manhattan. The documentary explores the rise of the two brothers as the dominant forces in the heavyweight division.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/mo...#ixzz1bRTWjWmw

[FIGHT HYPE]

Pacquiao vs. Marquez III will be a fight of unspeakable brutality. It will be a fight to remember - a classic by which future great fights will be measured against.

[LA_2_Vegas]

Heh, so we go from an era of having too many PPV's...upwards of 10-12 a year, to like 4 and people still get their panties in a bunch.

Yes, I do feel bad for people who bought and contributed their money in some way to the past two events...but overall, looking at the big picture, the amounts of fights that are just thrown on PPV for no reason in the past 4 years have been considerably less.

[Deevel916]

Heh, so we go from an era of having too many PPV's...upwards of 10-12 a year, to like 4 and people still get their panties in a bunch.

Yes, I do feel bad for people who bought and contributed their money in some way to the past two events...but overall, looking at the big picture, the amounts of fights that are just thrown on PPV for no reason in the past 4 years have been considerably less.

Hops/Dawson should have never been on PPV. That was NOT a ppv worthy fight from the start. This fight wasnt even in demand by the fans. It had snoozer written all over it.

[ThePrince]

PPV has contributed more to the 'death' of boxing than any other factor. But there's too much money involved for the promoters and fighters, and it seems like they won't stop until every fight is PPV. It's sickening especially with pretty much all PPVs this year being farces (minus Morales-Maidana, but like 23 people bought that).

[S.J. II]

Nothing's gonna change.

[LA_2_Vegas]

Hops/Dawson should have never been on PPV. That was NOT a ppv worthy fight from the start. This fight wasnt even in demand by the fans. It had snoozer written all over it.

I won't disagree with you, because I understand what you're saying....but, mismatches also have "snoozer" written all over them. While the style matchup of Hopkins-Dawson maybe be "boring" to you, it is still just an opinion that differs amongst fans, putting fights on PPV where the outcome is pretty much known is just as annoying.

But, hey I can't say much I used to order every Julio Cesar Chavez PPV regardless of some of the mismatches that were going to occur - it was just like a 3 hour long culmination party for him and us every time.

[Check_hooks]

real boxing fans knew that the floyd-ortiz was gonna bomb because floyd was gonna run once he tasted Ortiz's power and would throw elbows and clinch. It really wasn't suprising that he sucker punched him because he has no sportsmanship whatsoever.

And BHop-Dawson on PPV? Give me a break.

At least Pac-Marquez 3 and Cotto-Marg are both gonna be flat out wars. Thats what fans like to see. Not no scumbag defense first fighter with less punching power than malinaggi or a 46 year old man who back in the day was a good draw but not isn't and both fights being promoted by GBP (who sucks at promoting and even put Mosley-Mora on PPV) doesn't help at all.

[Triple-K]

Boxing is almost dead in America -- soon it will be like soccer, a sport people in the rest of the world follow, with a small cult following in America. And a big part of the reason is that America will never again dominate the heavyweight division.