Boxing Makes A Comeback in 2017?
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 26 Jan 2017
Any good business person knows if they have a good product, market it properly, and have good people to distribute it they generally will reap the financial rewards and be successful. Most consumers (people) are intelligent enough to know when they are being offered something inferior or quality. As an example, consider Boxing PPV. Whenever its quality, there is a so called ?buzz in the air? about a particular fight. Remember the last few weeks before fights such as Tyson-Holyfield I, De La Hoya-Trinidad, Pacquiao-Mayweather? Hardcore fans talked about these matchups to each other who in turn talked about it to their friends, relatives, associates, etc. Then before you know it the ?buzz? crossed over into the ?mainstream?. You would think it were a Super bowl weekend. One could easily over hear two ladies at the supermarket saying, ?he?s having a bunch of guys over for the fight this weekend?, in reference to her husband or boyfriend, or two guys saying, ?where are you gonna watch the fight??
In 2016 the fight fans did not get the fights that they craved. Mayweather-Pacquiao II, Golovkin-Canelo, Stevenson-Kovalev, etc. One can compare the situation to a customer going to a car dealer to buy a luxury vehicle only to be sold an economy car but the customer still had to pay a luxury vehicle price. Fight fans payed $59.99 and $69.99 (HD) for a PPV fight that should really be on a cable channel or free TV. Boxing Fans have spoken! There were six PPV boxing card in 2016 (Pacquiao-Bradley III, Alvarez-Kahn, Crawford-Postal, Alvarez-Smith, Pacquiao-Vargas, Kovalev-Ward). Pacquiao-Bradley III was not necessary, as Pacquiao had already defeated Bradley twice before, but was robbed of an official decision victory in the first fight. Alvarez-Kahn was interesting as long as it lasted. Alvarez-Smith should not have been broadcast on PPV. Crawford-Postal and Kovalev-Ward were excellent matchups, but had not built up a big enough following for PPV. Not one boxing show generated 1 million PPV Buys or close to it! The total PPV sales for the six PPV shows in 2016 were 1,515,000*. In contrast the UFC had only 2 PPV shows in 2016 (Diaz-McGregor I and Diaz McGregor II) and had a combined 3,250,000 PPV sales* for both shows! What does that indicate? UFC is putting on the shows that the public want to see. UFC also realizes that PPV is a gamble and the likelihood of success increases with the best possible product presented to the public, not some ?Hail Mary Pass? up for grabs hoping it will be caught resulting in a touchdown. So what have we seen thus far in from boxing in 2017?
Two weeks ago boxing fans witnessed the best the 168lb division had to offer in a matchup between IBF champ James Degale and WBC champ Badou Jack at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. It was an exciting fight where both fighters had their moments. In the end, the fight was declared a draw, which means there was no winner. A few days later Jack vacated his WBC title to move up to 175lbs division. If newly crowned unified Champ Andre Ward continues to fight, he has another future world class opponent in Jack in addition addition to Kovlaev and Stevenson. This is good for Boxing. On a different note, not since Marvelous Marvin Hagler has there been an exciting Middleweight champion like Gennady ?Easy Work? Golovkin. On March 18, 2017 he will square off against WBA ?Regular? Middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs in what some boxing experts are saying will be a real test for Golovkin. Fight fans realize this. Expect this fight to do some descent PPV numbers! If Golovkin should prevail against Jacobs, there is always the possibility of him dropping down to fight at 154lbs if Mayweather wants to make the guaranteed $100 million dollars to entice him out of retirement. Two weeks prior on March 4, 2017, WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia faces off against WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman. This fight will be a real treat for hardcore boxing fans and the ?mainstream? as it will be on free TV courtesy of Premiere Boxing Champions on CBS. After IBF champ Kell Brooks was defeated by Golovkin, Brook stated he was returning to the 147lb division. Brook has a mandatory defense against Errol Spence Jr, but is negotiating a superfight with Amir Kahn. Whoever Brook fights, hopefully the winner of that fight faces the winner of Garcia-Thurman to give the fans a unified champion. Then on April 29, 2017 across the pond in England, Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua will attempt to show the boxing world if he is for real when he faces former Champ Wladimir Klitschko. This has the potential to be an exciting fight! There is no doubt that the winner of that fight is on a collision course with WBC champ Deontay Wilder. Not since the days of Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis has there been the potential for this much excitement in the Heavyweight division. These are the type of fights that Boxing needs to deliver to keep pace with the UFC. Let?s hope these upcoming matches satisfy the public and the second half of 2017 will be just as exciting.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
*PPV Sales report from internet sources
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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