A Plea For Better PPV Undercards

Published

11 years ago

February 4, 2014

Bob Arum has been doing this since 1966, and has been regarded as the best of breed, the best in the business of late, after pulling away from rival Don King, showing superior stamina and focus while King’s empire has eroded into a low rent shell of what it used to be. So really, I get it, who am I to take issue with Arum’s recently remark that PPV undercards really don’t mean much to the masses, that about 10% of people actually care about anything other than the main event?

Let me answer that…I am part of the 10%.

Actually, let me start off with a respectful critique of Arum’s POV by questioning that 10% figure. I’d like to see the focus group and sample size which has pushed Arum to determine that it is a fool’s errand to pack an undercard with compelling, meaningful, fan-friendly scraps. As Arum told Yahoo’s Kevin Iole last week, “In theory, yes, it makes sense to say, let’s go get a lot of good, interesting fights and put them on the [pay-per-view] undercard, but the truth is – and I’ve been doing this a long, long time – 90 percent of the people don’t want to see the undercard and don’t care about it. But there is a point to the argument that we should give the other 10 percent something to watch that they’ll enjoy, so we decided to try to put together a fun card for them.”

One man’s definition of “fun” can differ from the others’, of course. The undercard, as it looks today, pits Ray Beltran against Rocky Martinez in a lightweight title eliminator, for an NABO crown; Khabib Allakhverdiev versus Jessie Vargas for the WBA super lightweight belt; and Bryan Vasquez against Jose Felix for an interim WBA super featherweight title. Now, I don’t have a working crystal ball. I’m tending to think odds are that two of those scraps will be real good rumbles, what with the mix of talent and ferocity in that jumble. But that roster pales in comparison to the main support bout to the last Floyd Mayweather fight. Do you recall the social media buzz which erupted when Golden Boy paired up Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse, two name fighters with much higher recognition factors than the crew soldiering on the April 12 Pacquiao-Bradley II undercard? The undercard tiff overshadowed the Mayweather-Canelo pairing for two straight days. Plus, there was ample activity and chatter among the hardcore fight fans, yes, that 10%, in the weeks leading up to the contracts being made official for that young gun faceoff to reach fruition. And to juice your recall, that Garcia-Matthysse fight had more drama than the main event did, and helped lift up the stature of Garcia to another level. He got some love in the Fight of the Year voting, and his dad did for Trainer of the Year voting in the BWAA awards runoff.

Arum, being a wise sort, makes a fine point when he tells Iole that he sees buildings half empty during the pre main event bouts on PPV cards, and notes that at PPV parties, people are busy shooting the bull and eating and drinking until the big guns step to the ring. He’s not wrong. But he could be working to change that dynamic, instead of capitulating to it. The reason disinterest reigns is because fight fans, 100%, have come to expect to much dreck, too many record building bouts, on PPV undercards…and they react by being less than enthused about them. But watch that change if some care and more money is extended on these undercards. Watch the bump to the brand, of Top Rank, of Manny Pacquiao, of HBO, when these undercards get the love they deserve. Watch the buzz on social media when fans Tweet their support and appreciation for getting a great bang for their buck because Top Rank has dumped that old school “only the 10% care” thinking.

I respect Arum’s years in the biz, and don’t dismiss what his gut, or those focus groups or whatever, tell him…but I’d love for him to embrace a mindsight of being a gamechanger, not someone who accepts a norm simply because that’s the way it’s always been done. It remains to be seen how it will play out financially, and I think we’ll need a good year or five to collect all the returns to know for sure, but the uniformity of the reaction to Vince McMahon’s choice to offer his WWE library AND all PPVs to people who pony up a mere $10 a month spoke loudly to me. The UFC’s Dana White called the concept “idiotic,” and said McMahon devalued his product, but me, I’m going with the 40 year track record of McMahon over anyone else on this issue. McMahon conjured oodles of buzz and appreciation for his brand, and left all wrestling fans appreciative for the value they will be getting. I dare say he will add to his fan base, because there is little financial downside for a possible WWE consumer to go all in, and sample the fare. A mere $10 gets you hours and hours of quality product.

McMahon’s brand got a massive boost with that move, and I think the brand of all the people involved in the April 12 Pacquiao-Bradley II could too…but only if old guard thinking gets tossed, and a new commitment to quality and value is inserted in its place.

My two cents.

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Michael Woods

Najee Lopez Steps up in Class and Wins Impressively at Plant City

Published

5 hours ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Garry Jonas’ ProBox series returned to its regular home in Plant City, Florida, tonight with a card topped by a 10-round light heavyweight match between fast-rising Najee Lopez and former world title challenger Lenin Castillo. This was considered a step-up fight for the 25-year-old Lopez, an Atlanta-born-fighter of Puerto Rican heritage. Although the 36-year-old Castillo had lost two of his least three heading in, he had gone the distance with Dimitry Bivol and Marcus Browne and been stopped only once (by Callum Smith).

Lopez landed the cleaner punches throughout. Although Castillo seemed unfazed during the first half of the fight, he returned to his corner at the end of round five exhibiting signs of a fractured jaw.

In the next round, Lopez cornered him against the ropes and knocked him through the ropes with a left-right combination. Referee Emil Lombardo could have stopped the fight right there, but he allowed the courageous Castillo to carry on for a bit longer, finally stopping the fight as Castillo’s corner and a Florida commissioner were signaling that it was over.

The official time was 2:36 of round six. Bigger fights await the talented Lopez who improved to 13-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Castillo declined to 25-7-1.

Co-Feature

In a stinker of a heavyweight fight, Stanley Wright, a paunchy, 34-year-old North Carolina journeyman, scored a big upset with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jeremiah Milton.

Wright carried 280 pounds, 100 pounds more than in his pro debut 11 years ago. Although he was undefeated (13-0, 11 KOs), he had never defeated an opponent with a winning record and his last four opponents were a miserable 19-48-2. Moreover, he took the fight on short notice.

What Wright had going for him was fast hands and, in the opening round, he put Milton on the canvas with a straight right hand. From that point, Milton fought tentatively and Wright, looking fatigued as early as the fourth round, fought only in spurts. It seemed doubtful that he could last the distance, but Milton, the subject of a 2021 profile in these pages, was wary of Wright’s power and unable to capitalize. “It’s almost as if Milton is afraid to win,” said ringside commentator Chris Algieri during the ninth stanza when the bout had devolved into a hugfest.

The judges had it 96-93 and 97-92 twice for the victorious Wright who boosted his record to 14-0 without improving his stature.

Also

In the TV opener, a 10-round contest in the junior middleweight division, Najee Lopez stablemate Darrelle Valsaint (12-0, 10 KOs) scored his career-best win with a second-round knockout of 35-year-old Dutch globetrotter Stephen Danyo (23-7-3).

A native Floridian of Haitian descent, the 22-year-old Valsaint was making his eighth start in Plant City. He rocked Danyo with a chopping right hand high on the temple and then, as Danyo slumped forward, delivered the coup-de-gras, a short left uppercut. The official time was 2:17 of round two.

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Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue is Headed to Vegas after KOing Ye Joon Kim

Published

15 hours ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11^th straight stoppage tonight while successfully defending his unified super bantamweight title, advancing his record to 29-0 (26 KOs) at the expense of Ye Joon Kim. The match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came to an end at the 2:25 mark of round four when U.S. referee Mark Nelson tolled “10” over the brave but overmatched Korean.

Kim, raised in a Seoul orphanage, had a few good moments, but the “Monster” found his rhythm in the third round, leaving Kim with a purplish welt under his left eye. In the next frame, he brought the match to a conclusion, staggering the Korean with a left and then finishing matters with an overhand right that put Kim on the seat of his pants, dazed and wincing in pain.

Kim, who brought a 21-2-2 record, took the fight on 10 days’ notice, replacing Australia’s Sam Goodman who suffered an eye injury in sparring that never healed properly, forcing him to withdraw twice.

Co-promoter Bob Arum, who was in the building, announced that Inoue’s next fight would happen in Las Vegas in the Spring. Speculation centers on Mexico City’s Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) who is ranked #1 by the WBC. However, there’s also speculation that the 31-year-old Inoue may move up to featherweight and seek to win a title in a fifth weight class, in which case a potential opponent is the winner of the Feb. 2 match between Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa/Fulton have different promoters, but the arrival of Turki Alalshikh, the sport’s Daddy Warbucks, has changed the dynamic. Tonight, Naoya Inoue made his first start as a brand ambassador for Riyadh Season.

Simmering on the backburner is a megafight with countryman Junto Nakatani, an easy fight to make as Arum has ties to both. However, the powers-that-be would prefer more “marination.”

Inoue has appeared twice in Las Vegas, scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Jason Moloney in October of 2020 at the MGM Bubble and a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels in June of 2021.

Semi-wind-up

In a 12-round bout for a regional welterweight title, Jin Sasaki improved to 19-1-1 (17) with a unanimous decision over Shoki Sakai (29-15-3). The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.

Also

In a bout in which both contestants were on the canvas, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3) edged out Misaki Hirano (11-2), winning a majority decision. A 28-year-old Osaka southpaw with a fan-friendly style, the lanky Shimomachi, unbeaten in his last 22 starts, competes as a super bantamweight. A match with Inoue may be in his future.

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Eric Priest Wins Handily on Thursday’s Golden Boy card at the Commerce Casino

Published

21 hours ago

January 24, 2025

David A. Avila

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Model turned fighter Eric Priest jabbed and jolted his way into the super middleweight rankings with a shutout decision win over veteran Tyler Howard on Thursday.

In his first main event Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) proved ready for contender status by defusing every attack Tennessee’s Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) could muster at Commerce Casino, the second fight in six days at the LA County venue.

All ticket monies collected on the Folden Boy Promotions card were contributed to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as they battle wildfires sprouting all over Los Angeles County due to high winds.

Priest, 26, had never fought anyone near Howard’s caliber but used a ramrod jab to keep the veteran off-balance and unable to muster a forceful counter-attack. Round after round the Korean-American fighter pumped left jabs while circling his opposition.

Though hit with power shots, none seemed to faze Howard but his own blows were unable to put a dent in Priest. After 10 rounds of the same repetitive action all three judges scored the fight 100-90 for Priest who now wins a regional super middleweight title.

Priest also joins the top 15 rankings of the WBA organization.

In a fight between evenly matched middleweights, Jordan Panthen (11-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated after 10 rounds versus DeAundre Pettus (12-4, 7 KOs). Though equally skilled, Panthen simply out-worked the South Caroliina fighter to win by unanimous decision. No knockdowns were scored.

Other Bouts

Grant Flores (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Costa Rica’s David Lobo Ramirez (17-4, 12 KOs) with two successive right uppercuts at 2:59 of the second round of the super welterweight fight.

Cayden Griffith (3-0, 3 KOs) used a left hook to the body to stop Mark Misiura at 1:43 of the second round in a super welterweight bout.

Jordan Fuentes (3-0) floored Brandon Badillo (0-3-1) in the third round and proceeded to win by decision after four rounds in a super bantamweight fight.

A super featherweight match saw Leonardo Sanchez (8-0) win by decision over Joseph Cruz Brown (10-12) after six rounds.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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