TalkingBoxing Articles
Five Things to Look Forward to 2008 + 2007 Year End Review
MON December 31, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - If, like me, you were lucky enough to get the week between Christmas and New Years off from work, you had some time to do a thing or two that you’ve been putting off for awhile. I had roughly 35 hours of boxing matches on my DVR. So, I took some time to convert most those fights to DVD. During the process, I heard two comments that alerted me to important issues the sport faces moving forward.
During round 9 of De la Hoya-Mayweather Jim Lampley exclaimed, “Boxing is also about theatre.” Early in round 3 of the Paulie Malignaggi-Lovemore N’dou fight, Larry Merchant offered a similar monologue about the difference between boxers who have “professional trainers” like Malignaggi and those with “relatives who know something about boxing” training them like Andre Dirrell, who fought in that night’s co-feature. These two comments by HBO’s announcing team pertain to possibly the most important issues affecting the sport’s progress in an era where mixed martial arts, MMA, is considered a viable alternative. First, how can the difference between entertainment value and skillful competition be reconciled and articulated to new/potential fans? Then, what is the best way to maximize the return on potentially great young fighters?
I do not pretend to know the answers to these questions and I will give Lampley and Merchant credit for raising concerns about these issues while also attempting to offer viable solutions. However, too much is going right in the boxing world to dwell on the negative. So, in the spirit of the holidays, here is a list of five things we can all look forward to in the new boxing year.
Superfights; 2007 was chalk full of superfights and with the success of those superfights 2008 should continue that trend. Roy Jones-Felix Trinidad is signed, Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor 2 is signed, Wladimir Klitschko-Sultan Ibragimov is signed, Israel Vazquez-Rafeal Marquez 3 is close to a done deal, Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez 2 is signed and Oleg Maskaev-Samuel Peter looks as though it will finally happen. The first quarter of the year is off to a great start and with any luck Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De la Hoya and a few other stars will lock horns in significant fights before the year is over. Knock on wood, keep your fingers crossed, do what you do, but just keep the good karma going.
Heavyweights; Facts are facts and mainstream America has a Heavyweight fetish. Nothing can be done to change that, but the good news is that the Heavyweight fights in 2008 will almost certainly be better than they have been in years. We’ll be treated to the first Heavyweight unification match in nearly nine years when Wladimir Klitschko meets Sultan Ibragimov. 2004 Olympic Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist Alexander Povetkin and unbeaten Eddie Chambers, a young and technically skilled American slickster, will face off in an IBF title eliminator to determine the mandatory challenger for the Klitchko-Ibragimov winner. Another young, talented, undefeated American named Chris Arreola will take a step up in class in 2008. Also, Sam Peter and Oleg Maskaev (hopefully) will finally duke it out. With that much quality action promised in the first few months of the year, imagine what might happen through twelve months in boxing’s original glamour division.
Olympians; Olympic years do not mean what they used to for the sport of boxing, but they still provide an advanced look at some of the top young prospects the amateur ranks have to offer. This year also figures to be the year when 2004 Olympians like Andre Ward, Vanes Martirosyan, Abner Mares, Andre Berto, Amir Khan, the aforementioned Povetkin and others finally break out into the world championship scene. Between discussions of top amateurs like Rau’Shee Warren, Demetrius Andrade and Raynell Williams and the major fights involving the likes of Povetkin, Ward and Berto Olympians will have a significant impact on 2008’s boxing headlines.
Reality television; it helped spurn the recent MMA boon and between HBO’s successful “24/7” series and the wildly entertaining finale of “The Contender” season 3 reality television must be on the entrée part of boxing’s menu for 2008. If a power broker or two are smart enough to tie reality television to Olympians and the recently improved Heavyweight division it will be a welcome addition to the “24/7” series. By then the sport of boxing will have found its new best friend.
International Rivalries; all the ingredients for a genuinely spirited rivalry between the United Kingdom and the United States are in place. A fight between Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe in addition to a Paulie Malignaggi-Ricky Hatton fight could take it full scale. The Philippines have enough young and talented fighters to branch out and compete with boxers from all over Latin America. I am confident that if given the opportunity Japanese and Thai fighters would be open to competing with boxers from around the globe in international competitions. The point is, Golden Boy Promotion’s World Cup was a great idea and should be expanded upon. All of the elements that make soccer’s World Cup exciting exist in the sport of boxing, from nationalistic pride, to crowd participation and the general public’s love of head to head combat.
Year End Summary
Dana White and Ricky Hatton may believe that Floyd Mayweather does not sell tickets or create excitement, but the proof is in the pudding. The sport of boxing successfully fended off claims that it is not exciting enough to compete with MMA in large part because of Mayweather’s crossover mainstream appeal.
A few boxing scribes have postulated that this was the year Floyd Mayweather Jr. became the second biggest attraction in boxing. I think that is only partially correct. Mayweather sold more PPVs in 2006 than anyone other than Oscar De la Hoya and fought in one of the most talked about fights of 2005 against Arturo Gatti. The numbers don’t lie. Mayweather has been a highly successful PPV attraction since 2005 and probably the second biggest draw in the sport since then. The key factor is that 2007 was the year Mayweather put it all together and convinced the mainstream public that he is the face of the sport in lieu of De la Hoya, who now carries a reputation of being past his prime.
In another equally important development Miguel Cotto, Kelly Pavlik, Juan Diaz and Manny Pacquiao have become wildly popular regionally and figure to carry the sport for years to come. Their presence and success coupled with more mainstream accessibility can only help the sport. Boxing was late to utilize reality television to hype major events and core stars. It also made the mistake of focusing an incredible amount of resources on mediocre competition, like the first two seasons of “The Contender” and the most recent seasons of Friday Night Fights. By the end of the year though, the parties involved realized that mistake and wanted to correct it. A focus on developing the emerging stars listed above is a start.
Another key factor in this mini-renaissance is the conscious effort on the part of the major promoters to match top fighters against each other. It is no coincidence that Cotto, Pavlik, Mayweather, Diaz and Calzaghe all had huge years at the same exact time. Superfights in boxing are like playoffs in other sports. The advantage boxing has is that, if promoters put their minds to it, they could create a playoff like atmosphere with palpable excitement consistently throughout the year. That’s the way it was from late September all the way through early December. Everyone benefited…I do not see a reason why it should stop now.
2007 was a banner year for this sport that some would have us believe is on its deathbed. I was incredibly disappointed at mid-year when so many prominent sports personalities were repeatedly sticking a proverbial fork in boxing’s chest and proclaiming MMA its heir apparent. I got exponentially more satisfaction in seeing some of those same personalities express their joy over the great fights fought during the second half of the year. There are still some prominent figures singing the “boxing is dying” tune…they just are not hitting the same chord. To reiterate, the sport of boxing does have significant problems, but far too many things are going well for it to be anywhere near extinction.
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