The remaining 2010 boxing schedule is a mixed bag of crap! Anybody know who's fighting in October? Are there any fights besides Pacquiao-Margarito that we've even heard about that might be on the networks? I must applaud the matchmakers and executives for making sure that there are NO fights on the horizon to care about.
Potential fights down the pipeline I've heard talked about are Sergei Dzinzriuk against former welterweight Luis Collazo, Kelly Pavlik in a do-or-die fight against Dmitri Pirog, Miguel Cotto vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (a major downgrade from the proposed Andre Berto-Cotto match) and Vitali Klitschko vs. Shannon Briggs.
Outside of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Rafael Marquez match and the remaining Super Six fights, both of which are on Showtime, there's not one fight that we have to look forward to, unless, of course, you're excited about Shane Mosley's ring return against Sergio Mora. The World Cup ended last month, so why aren't promoters and networks trying to make more interesting fights anymore? Oh well. At least 2011 is only four months away.
Much Ado About Devon
Doesn't it seem like everybody is making too big of a deal about Devon Alexander's fight with Andriy Kotelnik last weekend? While Alexander won, he didn't do so too impressively, thanks to a fantastic late charge by the former champion Kotelnik, yet people are already jumping off the Alexander bandwagon after happily jumping on it following stoppage victories of Junior Witter and Juan Urango.
I'm not going to stand and make excuses for Alexander, but knowing he was main-eventing a card in his hometown and that a potential mega-payday against Tim Bradley was all but settled would make most fighters lacksidasial leading up to a fight against a relatively obscure opponent. Anybody remember Zab Judah coughing up his belts to Carlos Baldomir when Floyd Mayweather Jr. was knocking on his door?
With that being said, Bradley-Alexander needs more time to get made since it's rather clear that both fighters still have some work to do before it can truly be a mega-fight, as opposed to a very good one. I'd love to see either one against Judah, Kotelnik or WBA interim champion Marcos Maidana, or just clean up the division in general before they cash out on each other this coming January.
GBP's Convoluted View of "Success"
The initial PPV reports of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz II card is coming in at around 150,000 to 200,000 buys, according to Golden Boy Promotions. This would make it the second pay-per-view which Golden Boy has put out this year that hasn't cracked the 250,000 mark. Most promoters wouldn't consider that number to be acceptable when being shown on a major network, yet the Golden Boy is saying that the show was successful in meeting its pay-per-view numbers despite having a 50% capacity at the arena, which undoubtably meant an awful gate.
GBP probably knows they laid an egg, but since it was an in-house show, they made every cent from whatever was spent. Why this is troubling to us fight fans is because fights that should be available to us for free may now become more common on the paid circuits. Diaz-Marquez II didn't deserve a pay-per-view, and neither does the upcoming Mosley-Mora fight next month, but as long as the promoters are willing to accept sub-par turnouts, then we're back to 2008 where we'll have almost one pay-per-view every month!
Potshot Picks
Chad Dawson vs. Jean Pascal
In Pascal, Dawson will be fighting his youngest and freshest opponent, in nearly three years, who will no doubt take the fight right to him from beginning to end. While Pascal may find moments to test Dawson's chin, it'll be Dawson who will slow Pascal down with his technically superior skill set and grind him down with crisp combinations and short punches. Remember, we're talking about a guy who was outboxed by Carl Froch of all people. Give me Dawson by a lopsided and uneventful decision.
The Spoken Word
Thanks again for all your responses last week. Without further ado, your fix of the "Pillar to Post Boxing Podcast."