Watch Dog: Steve’s PPV Criteria: Shannon Briggs vs Ray Mercer
 By Steve Hudgins (August 25, 2005)  
Warriors Boxing
THE PURPOSE:

I don't think any one fight can be made in boxing today that alone is worth the price of a PPV.

Unless of course, they can conjure up Dempsey vs Marciano or Joe Louis, but until that day comes, I want some quantity to go along with quality!

I say, if they want us to shell out 30, 40 sometimes 50 bucks per PPV, they should give us some bang for our buck! The card should be solid from top to bottom! Or at least it should be so top heavy with excellent fights that they can get away with a showcase fight to kick off the festivities, but these 2 or 3 showcase fights and 1 decent to mega main event PPV's are for the birds! (My apologies to any of the birds I may have offended with that statement.)

SO HERE'S MY SYSTEM:

I preview and rate every fight that is scheduled to be televised on a PPV boxing card, and try to determine whether that card is worth purchasing or not based on my point system below.

Please note that at the end of each preview, I will mention what weight class the bout is being fought at and where each fighter ranks within that weight class. This is done by using ‘The Ring’ ratings.

HERE'S HOW STEVE'S PPV CRITERIA WORKS!

POINTS:

6 = MEGA MATCHUP
5 = Excellent Matchup
4 = Good Matchup
3 = Decent Matchup
2 = OK Matchup
1 = Bad Matchup

If a fight is scheduled to be televised on the card, it gets at least 1 point. This helps to reward quantity.

POINT SYSTEM:

14 or higher = GET IT!
13 = If you can find someone to split it with you, GET IT!
12 = If you can find someone to split it with you, CONSIDER getting it.
11 = If you can find a place that is showing it, or get enough people over to split it with you, so that you are not paying more than 10 dollars for the card, CONSIDER it.
10 or under = Save your money and sleep well at night knowing you didn't get ripped off!

AND AWAY WE GO!

Friday, August 26th – PPV PRICE: $29.95

SHANNON BRIGGS (42-4-1) VS RAY MERCER (34-5-1)

If this fight took place 10 years ago, it still would not have been a worthy main event for a PPV card. So why is it a main event now? Is it because Shannon Briggs has gotten so fat that he practically has to be crane lifted into the ring? Seriously, 10 years ago, when Briggs was at his peek, he was fighting in the 220's. And let’s face it, even then he was never a very good fighter. He lost most of the time he stepped up the competition and his biggest ‘win’ was a decision over George Foreman, which was such a gift it had a big red bow on top. Nowadays, he typically shows up for fights weighing in the 250's or even 260's. Yep. Somewhere along the way Briggs adopted that popular training method widely used by most of today's heavyweights, which of course is curling donuts and taking a bite out of said donut after each rep. Mercer on the other hand has always fought a bit chunky. But to his credit, at least even now as he has gotten older, he still comes in at around the same weight he did back in his heyday.  I wouldn't expect much excitement here. Mercer still has a solid jab, but that is about the most I can say for either guy at this point. Neither was stellar in their prime. Mercer was a solid heavyweight, but that was ages ago. I would expect this fight to be lethargic, at best, but go ahead and pick out your own negative adjective and it will probably live up to that also.

*This fight is being fought at heavyweight. Neither fighter is rated.*

SCORE = 1

O'NEIL BELL (24-1-1) VS SEBASTIAN ROTHMANN (18-3-2)

Bell has been in more than a few good scraps on ESPN. Rothmann is certainly no better than Bell's recent competition. Rothmann did have a solid decision victory over Jorge Castro back in 2003. However, in 2004 he was KO'd in 9 by Carl Thompson, whom Rothmann did have down early in the fight, and later that year he dropped a majority decision to up and coming Steve Cunningham. His only fight in 2005 was a decision victory over Anton Nel. If Rothmann shows up and gives it his all, this could be an entertaining scrap. He does have some pop to his punches and Bell does get hit. This is an ESPN2 Friday Night Fights main event at best.  The sad thing is that O'Neil Bell vs Sebastian Rothmann, who has lost 2 of his last 3 fights, is by far the best fight on this card. That pretty much sums up this PPV in a nutshell.

*O'Neil Bell is rated #6 at cruiserweight (200 lbs) – Sebastian Rothmann is not rated.*

SCORE = 2

JAMEEL McCLINE (31-5-3) vs. STEVE PANNELL (34-8)

Jameel McCline comes in on a 2 fight losing streak having dropped close decisions to Chris Byrd and Calvin Brock. If that losing streak doesn't come to an end against Pannell, McCline should retire immediately. Pannell has lost 5 of his last 6 fights folks. Yep, that's right, 5 of his last 6 fights. As if that wasn't bad enough, all 5 of those losses were via KO in 3 rounds or less, and if that STILL wasn't bad enough, he has only fought 2 times since the year 2000. This is a pure showcase fight for McCline. Nothing more.

*Jameel McCline is rated #10 at heavyweight – Steve Pannell is not rated.*

SCORE = 1

JUAN URANGO (15-0-1) VS ANDRE EASON (15-3)

Urango is a young junior welterweight with an entertaining, aggressive style. This is a showcase fight for him. Many of Eason's victories are over opponents with .500 records or below. The biggest name on his resume is Panchito Bojado, whom Eason lost a lopsided decision to. Eason has never been KO'd in his 3 losses, so Urango should get some rounds in here, but this shouldn't be more than a glorified sparring session.

*This fight is being fought at junior welterweight (140lbs). Neither fighter is rated.*

SCORE = 1

FINAL SCORE = 5

SUMMARY: Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the worst PPV boxing card in the history of the world. It doesn't get much worse than this. If they wanted to pay YOU $29.95 to watch this card, my recommendation would be to consider it, but only if you really, really, needed the money! They are seriously asking $29.95 for this card? They may as well ask for you to pay $29.95 for them to slide bamboo chutes under your finger nails! This card is a punchline to a joke, it's not something you pay to see.
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