Currently Golden Boy is promoting all Major Draws. They have Floyd, Pac, Hatton, Khan, and Hopkins (Oscar too). Golden Boy is currently trying to acquire Saul "Canelo" Alvarez as well. The problem with this in my opinion is that this monopoly is going to offer us PPV cards that have a megafight with a crappy undercard at a high price. They do this because they know the card will sell. It is not all bad news though, it appears that Don King is making his comeback by offering low cost stacked cards on the internet. Furthermore, Gary Shaw has been promoting some very good events as well. I miss the days when you could see a PPV with 3 to 4 quality fights.
You're right, but unless boxing's drawing power gets totally destroyed by MMA I don't see things going back to the way they were. Everyone's too much of a businessman in boxing to care about the sport's future.
Say what you want about Arum, but he ain't afraid to put his cash cows in risky fights. Margo-P.Williams, Margo-Cintron, Margo-Clottey, Margo-Mosley, Cotto-Margo, Cotto-Mosley, Cotto-Judah, Cotto-Clottey, Pac-Cotto, Pac-JMM II, Pac-De La Hoya, Pac-Hatton, Pac-Clottey. Pavlik-Hopkins, Pavlik-Taylor I & II Those fights have been great for boxing. Golden Boy too, even though they are a bunch of scumbags for what they did to Pac and killing the biggest fight of all-time, have also put on some good fights with their cash cows. Though I agree that the undercards in their Mega fights leave a lot to be desired. I'd still rather have **** undercards and the best fighting each other than a solid card with no mega fight.
While I'm not against vilifying sleazy *******s the caliber of Don King & Bob Arum, you've got to admit they've been very shrewd businessmen who have been able to make huge fights happen & make millionaires out of a lot of formerly impoverished youths. That's what this is all about: business. The sport is also referred to as "prize fighting", right? Even if MMA completely erodes boxing's drawing power, the businessmen involved will still milk all the money they can. They know that the top matches to be made will still draw ticket & viewing buyers. The business side of prize fighting sports has been the cause of the sports' boon or bust for as long as money & fighting have been associated. There's just no way to avoid this. Remember that boxing's resurgence in popularity among casual sports fans over the past few years is also due in part to the big promoters realizing that the biggest fights have to be made for boxing to prosper. I agree that PPV cards featuring megafight main events with boring, crappy undercard fights are bad for boxing. But, I think we should consider that boxing is long past its "Golden Age" where the boxer talent pool was much larger & when boxing wasn't overshadowed by other televised sports & entertainment.
:good I too would rather see a huge fight with the best out there fighting each other, preceded by a lack-luster undercard, rather than a solid card filled with middle-ranked, yet competitive, former jabroneys. I mean, there are valid reasons why the best fights cost money, while the cards on FNF just require basic cable.
