Comments Thread For: Arum: I Want Rigondeaux To Be More Fan-Friendly

[Skip Bayless]

i want bob to shut the fu&k up but hey you cant always get want you want

[The Big Dunn]

No one is giving them a pass but don't think for one second that if Rigo is not exciting in his next fight that everyone and the networks will be clamoring to get him back on TV. That is not reality! And it is not about finding opponents....he can no longer just fight "opponents"! He HAS TO fight the best which comes in all styles and has to look good against the best to remain marketable. It cannot be any more simple than that. And he knows this, evidenced by the article.

He HAS TO fight the best which comes in all styles and has to look good against the best to remain marketable.

He just beat the highest profile fighter in his weght class. a guy assumed to be one of the 5 best in boxing. He looked incredible and made that fighter look like an amatuer. So I dont think he will have any problem beating all styles and looking good.

[-PBP-]

Does a guy like Arce have any interest in facing Rigo? Probably not. Heck even Vic would rather take another route. Same for WV2, who's also shown against Donaire he'll go defensive and wait for opportunities. Probably less open than Marroquin or Agbeko. Fact is, Arum has done an amazing job for Rigo, insensitive talk notwithstanding.

Arce is retired I think. I said fighters "like them" that come forward and engage. And the "insensitive talk" is my biggest complaint about Arum. You don't talk bad about a car to the people you're trying to sell it to. I've defended how Arum was handling him on numerous occasions but his attitude after the Donaire fight was disgusting.

But it is what it is. He has an HBO date against a game opponent, despite all this bull****. Just time to wait and see what happens.

[whoseyourdaddy]

All Arum is saying is 'I want Rigaundeaux to get hit more often'. What a load of bull. Rigaundeaux is a perfect fighter and more fighters need to emulate him. I hope he doesnt feel pressurised to start fighting like a slugger.

Sadly enough if everybody emulates him or Mayweather......boxing would be dead.....85% of people that pays to see boxing likes KOs over jab, jab, jab....jab potshots that is a fact, and who can blame them? I for once appreciate both but nothing more exciting than a grueling war like Provo vs Alvarado.

[richardt]

He HAS TO fight the best which comes in all styles and has to look good against the best to remain marketable.

He just beat the highest profile fighter in his weght class. a guy assumed to be one of the 5 best in boxing. He looked incredible and made that fighter look like an amatuer. So I dont think he will have any problem beating all styles and looking good.

He looked incredible ONLY to Boxing purists but you forget a simple fact. HBO is not a Boxing purist, otherwise they would have JUMPED at calling him back. You are not thinking outside the box. Your definition of "looking good" and my definition of "looking good" does not match what the networks want in this particular case. You and many of us see a sublime fighter. The network saw a fighter that got booed and did not want him back because he was not exciting or was boring to them. You or I don't own HBO or we would have wanted him back on because he earned that with the win. But we don't represent his value in the mass media, the networks do. It is what it is and wishing it was different doesn't make it that way.

[Kris Silver]

I actually like Rigo, but if Arum cannot sell him easily to a network, Rigo has to play the part also. Where is Rigo's management team? Why are they dead between fights. Every Cog wheel has to work. Remember Arum is only a part promoter in all this. Where is his other promotional team? What are they doing?

The boxing game, like any other product, cannot sell on ability alone. They need something to capture imaginations. Rigo is partly responsible and has to sell himself also somehow.

I totally see your point there and well made, but just in terms of approach and what to consider the boxers 'job' I'd tend to disagree there. Everybody is different, but at the end of the day Rigo is a sportsman and does what he has to in the ring.

What other sports to such a degree have promoters, networks saying they need to play differently? I know it's different landscapes but it doesn't happen so much in most other sports. Certainly not world sport. Whilst also recognising each sport is different, this is getting to such a degree is boxing it's no coincidence, and is an example of businessmen overplaying the sport itself.

I can't speak for Rigo's promotional team. But the guy had the fight on HBO, he beat Donaire. What was the roadpaths for future bouts endless if Donaire won, but ended if by chance this unbeaten fighter say....won? It's ridiculous. They are not gonna lose money matching him slightly conservatively building him, and only lose by being so unwilling to get him active. That's counter productive and exposes the inner bias, which is not healthy for the sport, nor it making money for that matter. They've been so unwilling to get him back in the ring he's lost some of the fan momentum and hype he did get from the Donaire win.

[anonymous2.0]

"Win and entertain"

Yup, that about sums up our sport. It's an athlete's nightmare: being told that winning isn't enough, you have to change your style and mindset as well.

[_original_]

This is complete bullshit, I've never heard of a promoter trying to dictate the way a fighter should be fighting. It's funny how Donaire wasn't blamed for anything, when he was the one afraid to open up and literally ran in the 12th. Anyhow, I expect Rigo to put on a great performance against Agbeko, not because Arum told him to, but because it's a style match up that favors Rigo by onslaught.

[-MAKAVELLI-]

This is complete bullshit, I've never heard of a promoter trying to dictate the way a fighter should be fighting. It's funny how Donaire wasn't blamed for anything, when he was the one afraid to open up and literally ran in the 12th. Anyhow, I expect Rigo to put on a great performance against Agbeko, not because Arum told him to, but because it's a style match up that favors Rigo by onslaught.

he actually did it with JMM the first time he had him under Top Rank...told him to be more fan friendly...this isn't new with Arum

[richardt]

They are not gonna lose money matching him slightly conservatively building him, and only lose by being so unwilling to get him active. That's counter productive and exposes the inner bias, which is not healthy for the sport, nor it making money for that matter. They've been so unwilling to get him back in the ring he's lost some of the fan momentum and hype he did get from the Donaire win.

But HBO doesn't care. In their minds they can fill their TV slots with many other fighters. Inner bias isn't what adds or takes away the network's motivation....it comes down to filling seats and creating a buzz. They are not affected by Rigo's inactivity.....they will fill the slot with someone else. Rigo and his promoter and management lose money, HBO moves on. But if Rigo annihilates the next guy he faces, the buzz could be back on. Rigo paid his dues and I'm hoping he sends a message with his next performance. The next guy he faces, he should look across the ring and see that guy as someone who is trying to take food off his table and treat the opponent accordingly. I think Rigo will adjust some things and put on a great show....his money and his career depends on it, even though he should only have to win. A win is a win but it looks like not in this case. He is auditioning to become a TV fighter and this is his audition.