LAST week I lamented on this column about how we boxing followers have little or no to look ahead to within the upcoming schedule. Thankfully, that’s already modified. Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia each took to social media to announce that every thing is agreed for the pair to face one another subsequent 12 months.
No official date or venue was confirmed, although it was revealed that each would participate in separate tune-up bouts in January. What’s attention-grabbing in regards to the announcement is how these concerned appeared to defer to the large followings Garcia and Davis each have on social media – theirs have been the accounts which shared the information first.
According to reviews – and tweets from execs at each firms – DAZN and Showtime collaborated on the deal for what seems to be a shared PPV. It’s at all times a trigger for celebration when direct opponents, explicit broadcasters, can work collectively to create large fights.
It additionally seems as if we are edging nearer to a different wonderful light-weight conflict: Devin Haney towards Vasily Lomachenko. Top Rank boss Bob Arum informed BoxingScene that either side are on board and talks are progressing properly. He additionally spoke about how he hopes to air the struggle on ESPN, relatively than PPV.
“My hope is to do as few fights on pay-per-view as possible,” he stated.
“I really believe that putting these fights on pay-per-view is not a wise thing to do. Now, other people might find difficulty in this. It’s not a wise thing to do because people aren’t buying the pay-per-views. And it costs a lot of money to do it. Even if the fighters don’t take guarantees, they hate you afterwards because they haven’t made money.”
He cited piracy and the truth that fewer individuals are inviting teams of buddies over to look at PPVs collectively as the primary causes behind the decline in viewing figures for these exhibits. He’s referring to the US market the place the value of a single PPV sits across the $80 mark.
It’s encouraging to listen to such a robust determine within the sport converse out towards the fixed rise within the quantity of PPV occasions staged every year, and the way he hopes to current large fights to as large of an viewers as potential.
Of course, now we have heard all this earlier than from numerous completely different individuals inside boxing. There is, clearly, a spot for PPV occasions inside boxing however there must be some management over simply what number of exhibits are positioned behind such a paywall every year.
Broadcasts
All that being stated, it was fantastic to see that Artur Beterbiev will defend his light-heavyweight title towards Anthony Yarde in London subsequent 12 months, with BT Sport opting to not have the struggle on its PPV channel. That is to be each admired and counseled.
In this present boxing local weather it wouldn’t have been out of place for this struggle to go on PPV – in reality many even anticipated it to. It does really feel a bit of unusual to be praising a serious sports activities broadcaster for mainly doing the naked minimal and never charging us additional for a struggle that doesn’t warrant it, however right here we are.
Sadly it was one other disappointing weekend of motion from DAZN. There was yet one more YouTuber boxing card on the streaming service, which featured some offensively dangerous makes an attempt at boxing (clips of which went viral) in addition to Hasim Rahman Jnr getting stopped in the primary occasion by a mixed-martial artist who weighed in 94lbs heavier than him.
However it was the primary occasion on a unique DAZN card that drew essentially the most criticism. Jaime Munguia pummelled the grossly overmatched Gonzalo Coria inside three rounds, then known as out Gennadiy Golovkin.
The complete factor was a colossal waste of time. Who at DAZN signed off on this as a major occasion? DAZN’s schedule has come underneath fireplace lately and a few of the criticism has been a bit of exaggerated – DAZN have aired some actually good playing cards and have some attention-grabbing ones within the pipeline, however Munguia-Coria is indefensible.
There is not any means this struggle ought to have been headlining a card on a serious broadcaster. Promoters Golden Boy have inquiries to reply, too. Further nonetheless, Munguia has been coasting in his profession for some time now, regardless of being an thrilling expertise who continues to enhance. Fights like this are a disservice to him and the followers.
Terence Crawford sat down with Max Kellerman for the “Max On Boxing” present on ESPN to debate his profession and his “legacy” throughout the sport. The 35-year-old claimed that not preventing welterweight rival Errol Spence Jnr earlier than he retires won’t harm his legacy.
That’s uncertain at finest. Crawford is an exceptional expertise and has achieved nice issues in boxing, however his profession lacks a very defining win. While he has beforehand conquered different divisions, he can’t make a declare to be the most effective 147lber on the planet till he fights Spence.
Crawford didn’t attempt to downplay the importance of a struggle with Spence, however he did cite different large fights that by no means occurred. Kellerman neatly countered that these Crawford talked about, together with Sugar Ray Leonard, took half in different huge fights apart from those that fell by means of.
What was additionally worrying about Crawford’s feedback was how last they appeared. He gave the impression of a person who has accepted that he won’t ever struggle Spence, which might be an actual disgrace for the game and likewise speaks to how ineffective the methods in place inside boxing actually are in relation to facilitating the most important contests.
Boxing on the Box
November 25
Harlem Eubank-Tom Farrell
Channel 5
Coverage begins at 9pm
November 26
Dillian Whyte-Jermaine Franklin
DAZN
Coverage begins at 7pm
Zach Parker-John Ryder
BT Sport 1
Coverage begins at 7pm
November 27
Regis Prograis-Jose Zepeda
FITETV
Coverage begins at 2am
Mikail Lawal-David Jamieson
Sky Sports Arena
Coverage begins at 3pm
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