Lou DiBella After Dark By Steve Kim, MaxBoxing (Sept 28, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
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This Saturday night on HBO (9:30
p.m., ET/PT) another edition of “Boxing After Dark” takes place from the MGM Grand
at Foxwoods featuring a tripleheader that has super middleweight Edwin
Rodriguez versus Jason Escalera, Luis Del Valle against Vic Darchinyan in a
super bantamweight contest and welterweights Antonin Decarie and Alex Perez
squaring off. The show, promoted by DiBella Entertainment, is dubbed “Road to
Glory.”
Yeah, let's be honest; this
line-up doesn't exactly conjure up images of Marco Antonio Barrera-Kennedy
McKinney, Arturo Gatti-Wilson Rodriguez or Derrick Jefferson-Maurice Harris.
Ironically enough, back when
those fights made “B.A.D.” must-see-television in the late ‘90s, it was the man
whose company is the promoter of record for this weekend’s card who
green-lighted those aforementioned classics when he was an HBO executive. In
fact, the whole concept of this franchise was his brainchild.
Speaking with Maxboxing
earlier this week, Lou DiBella explained, “There was an awful lot of fighters
nobody had ever heard of that deserved opportunities to show themselves and
back then, ‘Boxing After Dark’ was designed as a place to put guys that weren't
‘World Championship Boxing’ - level but could prove themselves and move on to
that kind of capacity.” And from the very beginning, it wasn't just a home run
but a grand slam. It seemed like almost every telecast delivered a memorable “Fight
of the Year” candidate. When asked if he ever imagined that type of success
from the very get-go, DiBella stated, “Yeah, because promoters then were hungry
and they were willing to make the match-ups that you asked them to make. And as
a TV executive at that point, I was functioning as something as a matchmaker
and if the promoter would make the match-up I wanted, I'd make the fight and
there were a lot of guys in the business - at different levels - that would
know what would make a good fight. I didn't anticipate Wilson Rodriguez-Arturo
Gatti being the classic it was or Kostya Tszyu and Vince Phillips, just how
good they would be. You knew going in they would be good fights.”
Unfortunately, as the
DiBella/Seth Abraham regime at HBO Sports came to an end in 2000, “B.A.D.”
under the Ross Greenburg/Kery Davis era, became more and more about fighters
coming off losses on pay-per-view and the “World Championship Boxing” stage and
getting rehabilitation fights. Later on, it became more about built-in dates on
exclusive output deals and not so much about showcasing talented boxers in the
lower weight classes in evenly matched battles. The card this weekend was
essentially given to DiBella to make up for a developmental series on HBO2 that
was promised by Greenburg but never came to fruition. Both DiBella and Gary
Shaw (who has a similar card on October 27th) have each been given
another date next year to make up for the loss.
Bottom line, if DiBella were
still at his old gig at HBO, would he have bought this card?
“Y’know what? I think it's a
fun fight card. I think it's not a traditional ‘Boxing After Dark,’” he
conceded. “I mean, this is a show designed to showcase young talent and give
them opportunities to prove themselves. It's a tripleheader which everyone
knows is a result of a series that was contemplated, not taking place. I mean,
I can't see it being a fight card that's not pleasing. I can't see it being
boring to anybody. I think it's a fun fight; I think it's a fun match-up of
styles. Do I think it's a show that would be happening without the contemplated
series not happening? No, but I think it's going to be a very entertaining
night if you watch it.”
The license fee is less (“much
less,” pointed out DiBella) than the standard for “B.A.D.”
This particular card - and
how it came to be on HBO - does point out that the industry could use a series
that showcases young, up-and-coming talent who may be quite ready for prime
time. Right now, you're either making pennies and matched softly on ESPN2 or
making the big bucks on HBO or Showtime but, for the most part, there is no
bridge for young hopefuls like Rodriguez.
“I was one of the people that pitched that new series to HBO,” said DiBella, “so
obviously, I thought it was a good idea. But HBO's entitled to make the decisions
they want to make and I think they felt that level of fights didn't have enough
star power. But I personally think that middle ground of a series is not a bad
idea. I wonder now, given the new relationship between HBO and ESPN, if something
can be done in that area.”
So there is it; it's DiBella's “Boxing After Dark” but not the one DiBella helped
create from scratch.
IRONY
It's interesting to hear DiBella say that a bout between Sergio Martinez and
Gennady Golovkin simply makes no financial sense at this moment and that nobody
would give a “flying f**k” (http://www.boxingscene.com/insider-notebook-martinez-golovkin-ward-pavlik-more--57562)
about it. Honestly, I can't disagree with that. The reality is that Martinez
has a much higher profile coming off his September 15th victory over
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and “GGG,” for all his talent, is still unknown and
unproven. Personally, I'd like to see Golovkin notch a few more impressive wins
on HBO and continue to build his résumé.
But as Alanis Morissette once famously sang, isn't it ironic? I mean, it wasn't
too long ago when Martinez was basically that guy to Chavez and, to a large degree, is still that risk vs. reward quandary
for marquee names like Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto. It's the way the boxing
food chain works. The way “Maravilla” and DiBella look at Golovkin; he in turn
is viewed that way by Mayweather and Cotto.
So let's say that all the marquee names pass on Martinez and Chavez Jr. is
unavailable next spring and he's stuck facing a middleweight, then what? Will
the “best vs. best” brigade which held up Martinez as a paragon of everything
that was right in the sport (while Bob Arum and Chavez Jr. were supposedly
killing the game) hold him to the same standard? My old friend, DiBella, can
say Golovkin means nothing and is anonymous to the casual fan in America - and I
wouldn't disagree. But then does that make him any different than Sergiy
Dzinziruk, Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin? (And look at their recent track
record; Golovkin matches up pretty favorably to this trio that recently faced
Martinez.)
Again, I want to make this clear; I agree with DiBella's premise (and most
folks in the industry would take the exact same position, were they in his
shoes) but it reminds me of that classic quote from “North Dallas Forty,” uttered
by John Matuszak's character, O.W. Shaddock, “Every time I call it a game, you
say it’s a business. And every time I say it’s a business, you call it a game.”
PAC-MARQUEZ 4
Tickets go on sale for the fourth installment of Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel
Marquez, here is the 411 (from a Top Rank press release):
Tickets to Pacquiao-Márquez 4 will go on
sale Friday, September 28, at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT. Tickets are priced
at $1,200, $900, $600, $400, and $200. Ticket sales at $1,200, $900, $600 and
$400 are limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $200 are limited to two
(2) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster
(800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or
www.ticketmaster.com.
FRIDAY FLURRIES
Speaking of Golovkin, Tom Loeffler, managing director of K2 Promotions, told me
the plan is for him to fight again on December 8th ( in France,
possibly). Of course, they still have to see if Daniel Geale decides to defend the
WBA middleweight title against Golovkin...Stephen Espinoza of Showtime said via
email that the rumors of Amir Khan fighting on Showtime are “unfounded”...Watching
the Ravens-Browns game; I haven't been this excited to see real zebras since I
went to the zoo as a kid...Seriously, the Bikini Basketball League?...
More of Steve's recent work below his contact info...
