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if you're a friend of casamayor you know that he was never a draw in miami, and why promotors are cautious about promoting cuban fighters in miami.
i'd love for rigondeaux to become a star in miami to the point where it earned him some fights. so far, no good. he's only getting older, and the biggest win he could ahve possibly gotten did next to nothing for his career outside of hardcore boxing fans.
this dude just beat nonito donaire. if that doesn't put him over the edge, what does? don't expect a promotor to throw a ton of money into turning this guy into a star if there's virtually no chance to get his money back.Comment
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Willy Chirino is Cuban and a fan of the sport, he knows what is going on with GR, I had say it before and will repeat it now, if you bring Rigondeaux, Lara, Gamboa or any other Cuban to Miami the place will be packed, de Cubas did it with Casamayor back in 2004 and it was an event, the problem with the Cubans is not the followers it is however the promotion or the lack of it...Comment
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Man, I would love to have been there to see Willie perform. The commercial they broadcast for the re-opening of the casino was hot, very Vegas-like. From the looks of it, the local people are amped for some local excitement.
I remember when Casamayor defected. He was practically a lone warrior, giving some idea what Cuban boxers were capable of. I was proud of him. Joel was damn good, not quite as good as Rigo, but definitely a solid champion.
Caribe obviously cares about Guille's promotion. They're out there trying to drum up interest. I'm happy with their efforts. I don't know what the legal implications are, but you're right, Arencibia ought to take further initiative and line up a card in the Miami area with Rigo as the headliner.Comment
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You are wrong, every card with a Cuban fighter that I had been, full, we don't go to Vegas to watc the fights but you can be sure if you bring it here we will go, I used to live in NY and every week I'll go to the MSG to watch fights, Verderosa, Vilela, my good friend Medal, they all fought there and Cubans support them back in the 70-80's...Comment
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It's a difficult question to answer. The only suggestion I can offer is that Rigo must fight often and win several fights in exciting fashion. But, given his style and track record, that's not likely to happen.
Those were small events. I'm talking about bigger shows, the kind that are televised and draw several thousand at the gate.Comment
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I went to the Friday Night Fights event with Usmanee vs. Barthelemy at Magic City Casino. They had an 800 seat capacity and it filled up with mostly same day sales. That's with no promotion, no big name fighters, no major promoter or anything. Guys like Mickey Ward, Glen Johnson, Richard Hall, Gamboa and others were in the crowd. The crowd went crazy when Gamboa walked to his seat ringside.
Top Rank did Bradley/Provodnikov which only did 2,200 in an empty arena. They haven't released the gate figures for Geale/Barker but from what I've read and heard the arena was empty. Devon Alexander used to draw in St. Louis but can't draw flies anywhere else. Chad Dawson can't draw in the United States and has been forced to travel into other people's backyards over the past few years.
Point is, Rigondeaux isn't the only one with this problem. There are several fighters who can't draw **** and have still been given opportunity after opportunity despite failing on the big stage over and over again. And on top of that, boxing isn't selling in the U.S. PERIOD outside of New York and LA, with the occasional Vegas and Texas megafights.
If they can find room for Dawson, Alexander, Bradley, etc.; they can make an effort and take risks with Rigondeaux.Comment
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