Much of
the discussion regarding the sport of Boxing this week has centered on topics
concerning Floyd Mayweather. The first topic of course has been about Floyd
Mayweather’s dominant victory in his bout against former two-time world
champion Andre Berto on September 12th. A fight, which Mayweather insists was
his last.
The second
topic has centered on the estimates of how many pay-per-view buys the
Mayweather-Berto bout generated. According to several media outlets including
Yahoo Sports the pay-per-view broadcast, which was priced at $75 for the high
definition broadcast and $65 for the standard definition feed only generated
between 400,000-550,000 total buys.
Some
readers may recall when the Mayweather-Berto fight was officially announced in
August that although this observer was not surprised that the fight would be broadcast
on pay-per-view, I was somewhat critical of the decision due in large part to
the success and increasing popularity of the Premier Boxing Champions series. I
stated that it was my opinion an opportunity was missed by CBS/Showtime to give the American public a chance to see
the best pound for pound fighter in the world without a pay-per-view price tag
as well as what would likely be a guaranteed ratings winner for CBS by putting
the bout and its undercard on pay-per-view as opposed to CBS as was rumored in
the weeks prior to the fight being officially announced.
What
seemed to be overshadowed by both the Mayweather-Berto fight itself as well as
the criticism surrounding the decision to put the fight on pay-per-view was an
undercard that was quite frankly very solid. The broadcast featured three well-matched
competitive bouts including two world championship fights. A Jr. Lightweight bout between former
Featherweight world champion Jhonny Gonzalez and top Featherweight contender
Jonathan Oquendo set the tone for what would end up being an undercard of close
battles.
After
trading knockdowns in the first two rounds, Gonzalez and Oquendo engaged in a
hard-fought battle where Oquendo ultimately would earn a ten round split
decision in a fight that this observer unofficially scored a draw. A lot of the
rounds in this fight were very close and as the bout progressed, I felt Oquendo
seemed to outwork Gonzalez. Gonzalez however, seemed to get a second wind in
the later rounds and was able to make the fight close when it appeared that
Oquendo was starting to build a lead on the scorecards. It was an entertaining
battle that one might argue could see a rematch between the two in the future.
The same
can easily be said about the other two fights that took place before Floyd
Mayweather and Andre Berto entered the ring. In a clash for the WBC
Super-Middleweight world championship champion Badou Jack in his first title
defense scored a hard-fought twelve round split decision over multi-time world
title challenger George Groves. Groves was able to survive a knockdown in the
first round and to his credit made the fight close due to his ability to work
behind a consistent jab and his being the busier of the two fighters. Jack
however, was able to win this fight in the eyes of this observer based on his
effective body punching down the stretch as I unofficially scored in 8-4 in
rounds or 116-112 in his favor.
As was the
case in the Gonzalez-Oquendo fight, there was some difference of opinion as to
who won this fight as one judge felt Groves had done enough to win the fight by
only one point. The two other official judges felt that Jack had won the fight
by margins of three points and five points on their respective scorecards
giving Jack the victory.
The co-main
event on the Mayweather-Berto card featured a rematch for the WBO world Jr. Lightweight
championship between world champion Roman Martinez and former champion Orlando Salido.
The fight was a rematch from a competitive battle earlier this year where Martinez
scored a unanimous decision to win the title from Salido. The second encounter
between the two did not disappoint.
It was a
battle of Martinez’ ability to use lateral movement and quick hands versus
Saldio’s constant pressure and body punching. The two fighters traded
knockdowns in the third round and traded momentum right up until the final bell
in a fight that this observer felt Salido deserved the decision based on how
effective he was in getting to the body of Martinez as I unofficially scored
the fight 9-3 in rounds or 117-111 in points.
Although
my unofficial score may give the appearance of the fight being lopsided in
favor of Salido, in reality if one watches the fight round by round as fights
are scored on a round by round basis, this fight was very close where I simply
felt Salido was able to be more effective than Martinez. It was no surprise to
see this fight end in a split decision draw, which theoretically could set up a
third encounter between the two. The first two battles between Martinez and
Salido will likely be in the running for 2015 fight of the year honors and if a
third encounter between the two does take place in the future, I believe it
would be a fight that would be welcomed by Boxing fans and experts alike.
Unfortunately,
it appears based on the estimates of official pay-per-view buys for this card
that what ultimately was an exceptional undercard of what appeared to be well-matched
battles prior to the card, was not enough to convince consumers to spend their
money on this card. Whether the reason for that has to do with consumers
feeling dissatisfied following Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao
earlier this year, a fight that many felt they did not get their money’s worth,
or the trend of the sport beginning to be featured more prominently across
broadcast and cable television as part of the Premier Boxing Champions series
is a subject for debate. Whether or not an official figure will be released
regarding how many pay-per-view buys this card generated will be released
remains to be seen.
In the
eyes of this observer however, I believe that what will likely be viewed as a
financial failure for CBS/Showtime by putting this fight card on pay-per-view
would have been more positively received and a ratings winner for CBS had this
card taken place under the Premier Boxing Champions banner. As much as I felt
it would be a shame as I stated when Mayweather-Berto was officially announced
if what could be Mayweather’s swansong and the end to a great career was
largely rejected by Boxing fans, which ultimately proved to be the case, it is
perhaps a bigger shame that Boxing fans, who did not buy the card on pay-per-view missed out on a very entertaining
undercard that in this observer’s view gave those who purchased the card their
money’s worth, regardless of how one might feel about the main event.
“And That’s
The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
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Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
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