TalkingBoxing Articles
I Didn’t Buy the Jones-Trinidad PPV, But…
TUE January 22, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - Do you remember the “Roycotts?” They were the days when large groups of “hardcore boxing fans” would plan and agree to boycott Roy Jones Jr.’s 175 lb title defenses against overmatched mandatory opponents? I remember them well. I was an active participant in these Roycotts. I refused to fork over $50 to watch Jones fight Ricky Frazier, Julio Gonzalez or whatever other mandatory came due during his undisputed Light Heavyweight title reign.
If I wanted to be self congratulatory, I might say that those of us who participated in the Roycotts were successful. In the past five years, Jones has challenged a then legitimate top 5 heavyweight, fought in a memorable trilogy and been a part of five fairly successful PPV events. He significantly raised his level of competition from the previous five years and in the process he lost a few fights…just as many of us predicted he would.
However, it’s unlikely that those facts manifested themselves as a direct result of the Roycotts. People were not going to pay for those fights either way. They were unappealing and truly irrelevant fights…especially since they had a $50 price tag attached to live television viewership. It has been a couple of years since I posted regularly on boxing message boards, but I do read many of the boxing web sites. So, I have an inkling that some of the same pockets within the boxing community who organized the “Roycotts” of the late 90’s and early 2000’s were back for the buildup of Roy Jones’ PPV televised fight against Puerto Rican legend, Felix “Tito” Trinidad.
I didn’t pay for the PPV. I had planned to buy it, but decided against it last Wednesday. I don’t know…I just didn’t feel like buying another PPV. It’s the third one in the last six weeks. There were two others in the nine weeks prior to that and there will be three more in the next eight weeks. I didn’t buy Pacquiao-Barrera 2 for similar reasons (and it turns out that was a good thing). Nothing against Roy or Tito, but some boxing fans just do not feel like paying PPV premium prices every time a superstar fighter decides to step into the ring.
That does not, however, mean I viewed the Jones-Trinidad clash as a meaningless fight. I understand the rationale behind that position. The fight was a physical mismatch between two presumably shot stars. Jones and Trinidad are ostensibly on the boxing superstar retirement tour. They fought each other because the money involved and potential to set up other big money fights far exceeded the risk of suffering an embarrassingly one-sided loss. It makes logical sense. However, it doesn’t sit well with fans’ purist sensibilities that boxers should fight for pride, glory and respect instead of money and business considerations.
What we need to remember is that when Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas fought each other twice in 2006 they fought under very similar circumstances as Jones and Trinidad. The two victories made Mosley a significant amount of money, but also put him back in the title picture. A subsequent win over Luis Collazo landed him his truly credible megafight with WBA 147 lb. titlist Miguel Cotto. The strategy worked out just fine for Mosley and if Jones plays his cards right he may be able to parlay his win on Saturday night into a truly credible title fight as well.
Sure, a few things were different. So, the analogy between Mosley’s two fight series against Fernando Vargas and Jones’ win over Tito Trinidad isn’t completely accurate. The fight last Saturday was relevant though because this was Roy Jones against Tito Trinidad just like those 2006 fights pitted Shane Mosley against Fernando Vargas. Who cares if they’re past their prime? Does it really matter if logic says that they should not have fought each other? They fought each other because it makes them a lot of money and also because fighting is what they do. Especially in Trinidad’s case, fighting Jones proved a point.
On the other hand, Jones was criticized for years because his fights were not big events. Jones-Trinidad was a physical mismatch. I did not have to see it to know that. That said, the criticism that Roy Jones is not relevant no longer holds true. At 39 years of age, he wants to be in big events more than he wants to milk a multi-fight television contract. First of all, he no longer has one nor will he ever get another multi-fight television deal. More importantly though, he appears to realize that time is running out for him.
Boycotts and low PPV numbers did not damage Jones’ ego. The realization that his skills were eroding did. So, he took a fight against an undersized former champion coming off of a long layoff. So what? If nothing else, the fight will definitely make a nice edition to many fans’ fight collections. This was Roy Jones and Tito Trinidad. It may not have been worth $50 to watch live on tv, but it’s a fight I’m going to watch a week later on HBO even though I know exactly what happened. It’s a fight that will impact the aftermath of Pavlik-Taylor 2 and Hopkins-Calzaghe. It was a relevant fight.
Mayweather – De la Hoya 2 Fallout
In the same vein, when I told a friend of mine about the Mayweather – De la Hoya rematch he responded by asking me, “Why is that fight happening?” My friend and I each scored the first fight 9-3 for Mayweather. So, in my friend’s mind there’s no reason for Mayweather to reinvent the wheel while Miguel Cotto waits on the sideline.
The justification for this rematch is not as readily apparent as the justification for Jones-Trinidad. Why do it again? The obvious answer is more money. There might also have been enough people who had a problem with the decision to warrant a rematch. However, there doesn’t seem to be a tertiary concern that all fans can rally behind and therein lays the problem. All of the other fighters between 140 and 154 want a crack at these two money machines. Since a loss could throw these contenders out of the running to land that shot, they may avoid seriously risky fights and instead create gridlock for the right to challenge Mayweather.
With that thought in mind, it comes as no surprise that Cotto’s next opponent is likely to be fringe contender Alfonso Gomez. Hey, why blow your chance at $5-10 million when you have reason to believe that only a loss within the next 12 – 18 months can blow that payday? I’m not knocking Cotto because he has built a pretty impressive resume over the last seven years. Still, the 147 lb. division is deep. Gomez is not near the best Team Cotto can come up with. So, while it may be tough to swallow an unnecessary rematch, it’s also incumbent upon prospective challengers to fight each other in order to secure a mandate for a Mayweather fight.
Other 147 lb. contenders appear to have the right idea. Antonio Margarito and Zab Judah are looking toward a showdown with each other; Paul Williams is fighting Carlos Quintana; Kermit Cintron wants Miguel Cotto, but will probably settle for Josh Clottey. If the winners of these fights take the next step and fight each other they may very well find a seat at the bargaining table when Mayweather and/or De la Hoya start looking opponents in 2009. If they sit on their hands, we may find ourselves talking about Mayweather – De la Hoya 3 at this time next year.
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