There is always a let down the following year after great year of boxing. It happened in 2006 after a great 2005. And in 2002 after a great 2001. Unfortunately, it is happening again this year.
1) Mandatories ( Lockett , Lorenzo ) 2) Ducking ( Sturm ) 3) Weak divisions ( Middleweight, Heavyweight ) 4) Retirements ( Mayweather , Winky [for all practical purposes] ) 5) Fighters wanting to build some US cred before going for the champ ( Abraham ) It's not all HBO's fault. HBO doesn't want ridiculous mismatches any more than you do. But what can it do? They can't refuse to air a Pavlik, Cotto, or Wladimir mismatch or they may lose their prime position to air these fighters when they manage to land a serious scrap. ( such as Cotto-Margarito )
HBO IS boxing. HBO has biggest budget in the sport and can pick which fights it wants to air. They have no competition... where is Kelly Pavilk goint to fight at? Showtime is the next best but their budget is limited and can't equal HBOs. ESPN? Come on, we deserve much more than that. I only have HBO and SHO for the boxing and if they don't produce good high quality competive fights I am not going to pay for their services.
Well, the Berto fight is a mismatch, but DiBella indicated that he is going to step up significantly in his next fight. We have to remember that he is still on the tail end of the prospect phase; he's just stepping up to contender status. The undercard bout with Arreola and Witherspoon is a classic BAD fight and I think this is the last time we'll see Berto matched this soft. July/August is when we start to see the good matches again: Klitschko in with a decent mandatory in Thompson, the Cotto/Margarito super fight, and Clottey against Judah.
Strange - I never noticed this!:good 2007 was a great year IMO, big fights were being made, mainstream coverage was returning, good action was being produced, money was being generated, interest levels were rising ... and then this year, with mismatches being packaged as main-events, Floyd Mayweather jr. retiring ... ugh. What's next!!!!!
Boxing has been good so far in '08, did ya'll forget the first 5 months already?? I agree there are some mismatches that shouldn't happen, but don't forget... Vasquez-Marquez III Campbell-Diaz Casamayor-Katsidis Pac-Marquez II Taylor-Pavlik II
That one was spectacular. My personal favorite fight of the year, so far. Great action, dramatic shifts in momentum. Plus, it may have set up Casamayor-Marquez!!!:happy
Yeah, I'm not sure this counts as a bad year. Along with those fights, you also had Dawson/Johnson and Tarver/Woods, eliminating one fighter from the world stage. Calzaghe/Hopkins was a money fight that eliminated another old fighter from the picture, so 175 has become much more clear this year so far. Haye proved his superiority at CW, and there was HW unification, even if the fight itself was crap. Adamek beats Bell to eliminate his inactive ass and is in line to fight Cunningham this year. Timothy Bradley breathes life into 140, and Gamboa and Lopez emerge as a great prospects. Mijares becomes a PfP fighter. Williams/Quintana I & II were good and both surprising in their own ways. On the schedule are Cotto/Margarito and Abraham/Miranda II, and who knows what else will come along in the next 6 months.
Not entirely true. HBO does tend to have certain fighters whom they seem to want to keep exclusively theirs. Klitschko Pavlik ( previously Taylor ) Cotto Calzaghe I suspect that HBO would air any of their fights, no matter what the opponent. They don't want any of "their" fighters possibly showcasing on Showtime.
Berto v Rodriguez might actually be good ... its going to be for a title ... and we don't know what the hell Berto is made of ... the undercard features two heavyweights Arreola v Whitherspoon ... both are undefeated HW ... and Arreola is a KO artist ... Whitherspoon is a boxer but might be in for the fight of his life. We don't know how the fight is going to be till we see it ... this is boxing and upset do happen quite often.
What's wrong with a showcase fight? I have no problem with HBO promoting their product/fighters, especially when fights like these are mandatory title defenses anyways. HBO has a history of mixing in enough marquee matchups to balance out the one-sided affairs. Anyways, I believe the one-sided fights are just as good for boxing as the big matchups.....people like to see dominance.
