It's Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer's compilation of observations and random thoughts from the previous two weeks that were in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including the debut of Premier Boxing Champions, Miguel Cotto's major announcement, a preview of Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
There were some major pluses with the inaugural PBC telecast this past Saturday. First of all, the introduction to the show made me feel like I was watching Sunday Night Football on NBC, which is America's most watched weekly telecast. Then, the pageantry of the event (the lights, music, graphics, etc.) made me feel like I was watching one of Wladimir Klitschko's fights in Europe. The set that Al Michaels and "Sugar" Ray Leonard opened the telecast on was beautiful, and it was great that the fans could hear everything they were discussing. The fighters coming to the ring by themselves, with no entourage, is the way it should be. Only the head trainer and referee were in the ring before the fight with the fighters. Too many times the ring is way too crowded, and as a fan watching at home, it's distracting and takes away from the fighter. Being a fan in the arena, I can tell you first hand that it's almost impossible to spot the fighters when there are that many people in the ring. I also liked the fact that there didn't seem to be a ring announcer present in the ring. Don't get me wrong. I love Michael Buffer, Jimmy Lennon, and a host of others, but the entire arena was able see the two men in the ring and seemingly nobody else mattered. It was a class-act, grade-A telecast all the way around, and I look forward to seeing more.
Can the PBC keep the momentum going? The debut on Saturday netted an average of over 3 million viewers, which, in comparison to what HBO and Showtime usually get for championship boxing, is about triple the viewership in most cases. However, considering that most people in America have a television set, 3+ million doesn't seem like that much. There was a lot of buzz leading up to this fight card, and I would have thought it would have pulled in a few more viewers. I believe, with the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight being just two months away, the April 11th show featuring Danny Garcia vs. Lamont Peterson will do even better numbers than this past Saturday because more and more media outlets will be buzzing about Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.
One concern I have for the PBC is commerical revenue. Al Haymon has done a great job in the way of receiving financial backing to purchase TV time for his boxing series, but if the viewers don't flock to the small screen, the advertising dollars won't be coming in. I don't remember off the top of my head, but I saw very few different national advertisements during the telecast on Saturday (Corona is the only one I can really remember, and that's not good for advertisers). There were a lot of promos for upcoming shows on NBC, upcoming boxing, and various other programming, but very few sponsors made their way into my home on Saturday. I would have expected more sponsorship for the debut show. Maybe that's what Haymon and NBC is going for; build up the characters (aka the boxers) now, so people will tune in later. I just thought it was odd. Now, on to the fights themselves...
Keith Thurman looked like a boss in the ring as he rolled through Robert Guerrero. Thurman was the heavy betting favorite, and rightly so, however, I don't think anyone expected to see him manhandle Guerrero the way he did. I know some weren't impressed with Thurman's performance down the stretch, and I'm not trying to make excuses, but you MUST take into consideration the fact that the hematoma he suffered in the 3rd round, as a result of a headbutt, was the reason Thurman went straight to the hospital after the fight. Even during his post-fight interview, Thurman didn't seem to have his usual energy or all his wits about him. Thurman is a force to be reckoned with and is one of the top-5 fighters in the welterweight division right now. I would LOVE to see him face Amir Khan next. The winner could be in line for a shot at Floyd Mayweather in the fall should Mayweather defeat Manny Pacquiao.
Speaking of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao... For those wondering when the press tour is going to occur, you're a little late. There is no press tour. The only time the two fighters will meet face-to-face is this Wednesday, in Los Angeles, and the press conference is not open to the public. Only media-credentialed personnel will be allowed to attend. It's probably best this way to avoid a circus and any potential rioting amongst fans.
I knew Robert Guerrero was tough, but man is he a warrior! Guerrero earned every bit of his $1.225 million paycheck on Saturday. He took a beating and kept coming forward, saving his best rounds for the end of the fight. Guerrero is one of the most exciting fighters in the welterweight division, and if Thurman doesn't fight Amir Khan next, I would have no problems watching Guerrero test Khan's mettle.
Adrien Broner was impressive, but can he compete with the top guys at 140 and 147? From a talent standpoint, Broner is one of the most gifted athletes to ever step foot in the ring. You cannot teach the gifts he has: speed, precision, accuracy, reflexes. However, I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my opinion, Broner cannot box a full 3 minutes of every round for a full 12 rounds. I'm not going to question Broner's lifestyle anymore (I have made the mistake of assuming in the past without knowing all the facts and that is not fair to Broner) because I am not with Broner on a day-to-day basis, but one has to wonder if he didn't balloon up in between fights and stayed in fighting shape year-round, would his conditioning be stronger? John Molina was tailor-made for Broner. Anyone who watched Mickey Bey fight Molina knew that. In my opinion though, it's very clear that Broner is going to see trouble from fighters with speed who can come at him for a full 3 minutes. Fighters like Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto could give Broner fits because, while they have been beaten in the past, they don't stop coming and have the ability to negate Broner's own speed. If Broner stays at 140lbs, I believe he can have wonderful success, especially since Danny Garcia won't be there much longer, but if Broner decides to go back to 147, I don't see that going well for him at this point because he isn't a strong enough puncher to fend off much bigger, stronger fighters for 12 rounds. In his two welterweight affairs thus far, he narrowly edged out Paulie Malignaggi and was battered around by Marcos Maidana.
Miguel Cotto's signing with Roc Nation is HUGE for Jay-Z and company. Man, did Cotto make a lot of people at Top Rank upset with that move! Cotto has always said he wants to be a promotional free agent for the rest of his career, but he also said he wanted to work with Top Rank for the rest of his career as well. Well, signing with Roc Nation eliminates both of those possibilities. For my take on Cotto's future, be sure to check out my email of the week at the bottom of the column.
Can we all jump off the Zou Shiming bandwagon now, please? I've been saying since his pro debut that he wasn't ready to be a championship level fighter, and Amnat Ruenroeng proved me right. Shiming was a great amateur because, in the amateurs, you didn't need your opponents to respect your power. It will be difficult for Shiming to ever win a world title because he doesn't have all the intangibles needed to be a top-level professional prizefighter.
Abner Mares is proving to be a very one-dimensional fighter. Mares is one of the nicest guys I've ever spoken with in boxing, and he is always a must-see fighter, but he is trying to go to war every time out and shortening the lifespan of his boxing career. I believe he is capable of being more than a brawler, and sometimes it's okay to just be a boring ol' boxer. More paydays will come that way because you will have more prizefights. Mares should not have had as much trouble with Arturo Santos Reyes as he did. A Leo Santa Cruz fight would be magical, but would greatly shorten both fighters' careers if it happened, so it's definitely a double-edged sword to hope for that fight.
Sergey Kovalev takes on Jean Pascal this Saturday night in Montreal. This fight is very intriguing because Kovalev is going to be fighting on Pascal's home turf, and it's never easy to win on someone else's turf, especially in boxing when the hometown guy gets the close calls 99% of the time. However, Kovalev has all the advantages in this fight with the exception of speed. But Kovalev's size, reach, and power should keep Pascal at a safe distance. Pascal is tough and has never been down in his career, so Kovalev is most likely in for another 36 minute affair, this time against an opponent who has a better chin, better power, and better speed than Bernard Hopkins. We might actually see what type of chin Kovalev possesses in this fight.
Andre Berto vs. Josesito Lopez should be another entertaining scrap for the PBC on Friday night! Berto has all the advantages except he is giving up about 3 inches in height. However, Berto isn't exactly known for using his advantages to win fights. Berto usually lets his emotions get the best of him and gets lured into fighting a war when it isn't necessarily needed. Lopez should try to make this fight an ugly, phone booth type of affair. I can promise you that Al Haymon and Spike TV hope that is the case.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week's email comes to us from Lateef from Curacao (this email was written 2 weeks ago before Cotto's announcement of signing with Roc Nation Sports) regarding Miguel Cotto's future opponents...
"Hello, I'm a long time reader of Fighthype but this is my 1st time writing in. In todays (2/23) Observer and Fight you talked about Cotto's next opponent. I've been reading and hearing rumors about Bradley/Rios, and to say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. Either of those opponents would be a disgrace to boxing and Cotto. How can a Middle Weight champ even fathom to fight a junior-welter in Rios or a guy who could still probably make junior-welter in Bradley?? I don't recall what Cotto weighed for the Martinez fight, but it's easy to see he's not really built for that weight. But still, if he's going to fight at Middle Weight then he needs to fight other middle weights or high profile junior-middles like Alvarez, Andrade, etc. I believe Cotto to be a proud champion and great fighter, but I'd have to boycott him if he takes this low road."
Thanks for the question, Lateef. Now that Cotto has signed with Roc Nation, and pissed off all of Top Rank, I would doubt that Rios or Bradley would be in the running anymore. Looking at the scope of things between 154 and 160 lbs, IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius "K9" Bundrage seems to be the only man available who would make any sense. A rematch with Austin Trout would be nice (since Cotto could potentially avenge a loss which would create a great storyline in the lead-up to the fight), or a match-up with Erislandy Lara would be challenging; however, both of those fighters are managed by Al Haymon who is mortal enemies with Jay-Z. Demetrius Andrade already had a tentative opponent scheduled and is not trying to call out Lara. Really, Bundrage is THE GUY because he has no promotional ties and holds a title belt at 154. Bundrage has been looking for a big name to fight for years, so he will definitely give the fans a great show. Should Cotto win that fight (most likely in June at Madison Square Garden), a match-up with Canelo Alvarez still looks enticing for the fall in a fight that would land on HBO PPV. Gennady Golovkin is very doubtful because that fight would need some more time to build-up since it would be a pay-per-view fight, and fans might still be tight with their dollars after shelling out big bucks for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao just one month earlier.
That's all I've got for this week. Email any questions or comments to dkassel@fighthype.com and I will answer them throughout the week. Your email may be featured in the next "Observe and Fight." Follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to "Like" The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
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