By Jason Pribila. There isn’t a sport that asks more of their fan base
than boxing. Whether it be a “Cold War” between promotional giants that
prevent coveted fights from happening, rising costs of pay per views,
bad decisions, or ticket distribution practices that either leave fans
in the cold or overpaying; the boxing fan remains loyal to a fault.
However, the six furious rounds fought between Juan Manuel Marquez and
Manny Pacquiao at least momentarily justified all of the birthday
parties, weddings, and anniversaries that fans have skipped in order to
watch a fight live.
While the majority of the boxing world was focused on Las Vegas,
there were other fights and fighters that earned a mention in my
breakdown of Winners and Losers, so let’s get to it.
Winners:
5. Michael Farenas: The super featherweight of the Philippines found
himself as the designated opponent for the returning Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Although Farenas was not well known to the American public he was far
from a soft touch. Although Farenas had been down twice and suffered
cuts above each eye but he was still in the fight. Gamboa found that
out the hard way in the ninth round. Gamboa hurt Farenas and went for
the stoppage, but Farenas launched a counter left that dropped Gamboa to
his knees and into the ropes. Although Farenas was unable to
capitalize on the knockdown, he did succeed in being the only fighter on
the undercard (other than Gamboa) that I want to see anywhere near a
PPV again.
4. Mikkel Kessler: The consensus number three super middleweight in
the world sent a message to Carl Froch and Andre Ward that he is very
much interested in a rematch against either former foe. While Ward
handled Kessler in the opening round of the Super Six Tournament, the
Dane rebounded by winning a decision in a hard fought battle against
Froch. Since Ward is having a hard time staying healthy, we could
eventually see Kessler back in the ring against Froch. Either way, the
“Viking Warrior” is poised to make another run at the top.
3. Bryant “By By” Jennings: NBC’s “Fight Night” returned to
Philadelphia, right up the road from where they introduced Bryant
Jennings to the boxing public in January. Jennings won a decision in
the main event of the inaugural show and on Saturday night he was facing
Bowie Tupou with the hopes of finishing 2012 a perfect 5-0. Things
were going as planned until Jennings got dropped in the third frame. He
was able to hold on and eventually stop Tupou with a perfect uppercut
in the fifth. Three weeks ago we saw another football player turned
boxer turned American Heavyweight prospect get dropped and knocked out
in Atlantic City. Jennings seemed to learn from Seth Mitchell’s
misfortune and held on until his legs were again under him and able to
provide support. Jennings is another busy year or two away before
challenging the divisions elite, but he has a good team behind him and
the luxury of having his development unfold on television.
2. Main Events / Peltz Boxing: The first season of NBC SportsNet’s
“Fight Night” series has already exceeded expectations. They have given
us entertaining bouts, discovered a few prospects, and in two weeks
they will bring boxing back to network television when Tomas Adamek
faces Steve Cunningham in a heavyweight rematch. On Saturday, their
show in Philadelphia was no doubt overshadowed nationally by the
Pacquiao – Marquez fight, but it was the only show in town for boxing
fans in Philadelphia. Hall of Fame promoter Russell Peltz has been
matching up Philly’s best for over forty years. His shows are as
entertaining from the opening bout thru the walk-out bout. Saturday was
no exception as the card was filled with local rivalries. And while
Top Rank’s undercard was boring fans and writers to tears, their
attention soon turned to the competitive bouts that were being televised
for free. Fans turned the channel from a stylistic nightmare that was
being contested in an empty arena, and tuned into an evenly matched
fight in front of a raucous crowd. This is what happens when an event
is run by promoters who put the paying customer’s entertainment at the
forefront of their mission statement.
1. Juan Manuel Marquez: Unfortunately much of the pre-post fight
talk is about the fact that Marquez looked like a physically gifted
younger brother compared to the featherweight who first touched gloves
with Pacquiao over eight years ago. The suspicion of PED use that
surrounds the sport as a whole will get a lot worse before it gets
better. That being said, I want to focus on the eighteen minutes of
combat that took place on Sunday morning.
Without Manny Pacquiao, Marquez has authored a Hall of Fame career,
and his name will forever be on the short list of the best Mexican’s to
ever lace up the gloves. He has spent the past several years being
listed as the third best fighter behind only Pacquiao and Mayweather.
The previous 36 rounds contested against Pacquiao illustrated exactly
how elite Marquez has been for a long time. On Sunday morning he was
again being beaten to the punch. Despite scoring his first knockdown of
the series, he found himself bleeding through his nose and behind on
the scorecards, and then he landed a punch that will make him immortal.
A Hollywood script couldn’t write a better scenario for a fighter to
leave a sport on top. However, this is boxing, and we’ll be sure to see
Marquez again. I would love to see an All-Mexican battle against
Brandon Rios before a fifth fight with Pacquiao, but whomever Marquez
signs to fight against he should now be considered a boxing treasure,
and fans should make it a point to tune in for whatever Marquez has yet
to show us. Winner and/or Loser:
Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios: Rios was ringside, as it was no secret he
was on the short list as Pacquiao’s next opponent. He told ESPN.com’s
Dan Rafael that he would have taken Gamboa out within seven rounds had
they met in April, and the Twitter universe echoed those sentiments.
Rios was also a near lock to being honored for participating in the
Fight of the Year against Mike Alvarado. By the end of the night the
Pacquiao lottery ticket was voided, and he’ll probably have to settle
for being in the second best fight of the year. We will know in the
early part of 2013 just how this result will impact Rios’ bank account.
Losers:
5. SMS Promotions: Rapper 50 Cent aka Curtis Jackson made his
promotional debut as he was lowered to the ring while rapping as his
fighter Yuriorkis Gamboa made his first appearance in the ring in over a
year. Jackson succeeded in giving the paying customer something
different, and after a very scary moment Gamboa had his hand raised; but
overall this was a red-letter day for his company. Originally he was
going to partner up with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and promote under “The
Money Team” banner, but when it came time for Floyd to write a check or
at least hand over his stack of cash, Mayweather balked. That forced
Jackson to scramble. He changed his company’s name, and fighters
honored their agreement with him. The crown jewel was Gamboa, who was
bought from Top Rank for a reported million dollars. The irony is that
his first exposure came on a Top Rank card that only paid Gamboa
$50,000.00 for his services. Gamboa got dropped during an uneven
performance, and then suffered a cut that will likely keep him on the
shelf for at least the early part of 2013. The inaugural effort may
best be labeled, “No Money – More Problems”.
4. Boxing fans of the EST: Three undercard bouts that went the
distance followed by three national anthems meant that the opening bell
for main event rang at 12:25 AM on Sunday morning for fight fans who
watched in the Eastern Standard Time Zone. Is there another sport that
asks its fans to stay up after midnight for the main attraction?
Forget about newspaper writers meeting a deadline, as this sport is
covered primarily on-line, but how about giving a boxing fan the chance
to watch a fight with his son or daughter? Ever consider what someone
would have to pay for a sitter if he chose to go out on a Saturday Night
to watch a fight with friends? The sport of boxing is followed by an
older demographic, but if promoters ever want to seriously cultivate the
sport for those fans born post 1973 they will have to figure out a way
to get their marquee fighters in the ring on Saturday Night and not
Sunday morning.
3. Top Rank match-makers: I understand that there are only so many
slots for fighters to get exposure, and pay per view undercards are the
only way to ensure fighters actively make money, but the opening two
bouts of the Pay Per View were inexcusable. Forget about the $69.99
price tag three weeks before Christmas, how about some consideration for
the two hours of my life I won’t get back….on a Saturday night, no
less. Javier Fortuna and Patrick Hyland were bad, but it was nothing
compared to Miguel Vazquez vs Mercito Gesta waltz. Vazquez is a fine
fighter with an awkward style; therefore he needs to be matched against
someone that has a clue of how to cut off a ring. Mitt Romney was at
ringside and he must have felt like he was sitting thru a filibuster.
At least fans at home could turn on the Main Events show or more likely
the UFC on Fox, but there is usually a no re-entry rule once one enters a
fight venue. Bob Arum once flipped off those in press row who made it
through a Yuri Foreman fight, however, in this case he may as well have
pressed his ass up against my TV screen.
2. Manny Pacquiao: 2012 proved to be a year to forget for Manny
Pacquiao – boxer. He was first robbed against Timothy Bradley, and now
he suffered a chilling one punch knockout that few fighters recover
from. Manny’s meteoric rise took place over a five year span that saw
him rise from fan-friendly fighter to one of the two best and richest
fighters in the sport. A fighter from the Philippians who made his
boxing debut at 106 lbs. was now a regularly butchering 70’s love
ballads on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. He was the rare superstar that you
not only had to watch, but found it hard to hate. Perhaps it proved to
be impossible to be an elected official and boxing superstar. Perhaps
it is the fact that unless you are a fighter 24/7 for 365 the sport will
eventually catch up with you. I originally picked Pacquiao to again
out-point his nemesis, but I also had a feeling that a loss may come as a
relief to Pacquiao. Maybe it would be the best way for him to walk
away from a sport while he’s still able to fulfill his dreams outside of
the ring. No one, however, could have prediced a scenario that left
Pacquiao lying face down and knocked out for several minutes.
Following the fight he said he wants to continue his career, but he will
never be the same. In recent history we have seen top fighters like
Roy Jones Jr., Paul Williams, and Ricky Hatton absorb shots like that.
None of them were ever the same, and they all had less miles on the
odometer than Pacquiao. I, for one, don’t want to see him test just how
much that punch took out of him.
1. Freddie Roach: Anyone else get the feeling that scheduling time
at the Wild Card Gym will be a little easier in 2013. When a fighter
loses it is natural for him to find someone to blame. Amir Khan fought a
terrible fight against Danny Garcia, but chose to part ways with Roach
as a way to rebuild his own ego. When you train enough fighters at the
top level you are going to collect your share of losses. That being
said, it has been a brutal stretch for the Hall of Famer. I don’t think
Roach suddenly forgot how to be an elite trainer. The man forgot more
about boxing than I’ll ever know. I will, however, blame him for his
misguidance during this fight promotion. One moment he was jokingly
questioning the methods that Marquez used to put on so much muscle in
between bouts. He then said that the muscle will make Marquez slower.
If that is the case, why are you instructing Pacquiao to be more
aggressive? If you have a decisive speed advantage then why give that
up by getting into a slugfest? I think that there were a number factors
that have recently taken shots at Roach’s ego. I believe his fighting
spirit got the better of him and he gambled with greatness that he had
seen so many times in Pacquiao. I think Coach Freddie should allow guys
like Khan and Chavez Jr. to walk and again work with hungry fighters
that will follow his lead and not dictate how/when/where he runs his
camp. 2013 is only a few weeks away.
And Finally:
The Death of Mayweather – Pacquiao: The fight that would save the
sport is officially DOA. This fight should have been made two years
ago, and the fact that being the richest fight ever was still short of
satisfying the egos involved should be a stain on the legacies of
everyone involved. We may now turn the page, because even if this fight
happens it will never compare to what could’ve been. Now, instead of
being teased twice a year we could enter 2013 talking about the fights
we’ll likely see. Mayweather – Pacquiao talks should now be replaced
with the reality of PPVs: Mayweather-Guerrero and Marquez-Rios, with an
appearance by Pacquiao on HBO against Stevie Forbes. The brightside is
that we’ll never again have to answer, “When are they gonna fight?”
Jason Pribila is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers
Association of America. He could be followed on twitter.com
@PribsBoxing and reached for questions or comments at
pribs2000@yahoo.com
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