The Mayweather – Marquez and Cotto – Pacquiao PPV’s look to serving up more than just intriguing main events. The undercards appear to be shaping up nicely.
Last November I attended the Joe Calzaghe – Roy Jones light heavyweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden and saw and heard the criticism of the undercard fights. At best, they were not entertaining. At worst, they were mismatches. There was even a fight that began (seriously) before spectators were even allowed in the building.
A month later I arrived at sports bar to watch the Manny Pacquiao – Oscar De La Hoya fight. Due to commitments calling play-by-play for a TV broadcast of a football game, I figured I’d get there in time to see the co-feature and then the main event.
However when I got there, the undercard was over and I witnessed Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward buying time discussing everything from hand wraps to weight for almost an hour. Apparently only one of the three televised undercard bouts saw the second round.
The forthcoming major PPV’s seem to have learned from boxing mistakes in the past. Mayweather – Marquez will feature the rematch between Rocky Juarez and Chris John, the always exciting Michael Katsidis vs. former Olympian Vincente Escobedo and former world champ Zab Judah in a fun fight vs. Antonio Diaz.
Mayweather – Marquez will be opposed on PPV by the UFC, an organization that regularly puts more than one main event caliber fight on their cards. Perhaps this has led to a better undercard for Mayweather – Marquez.
Not to be outdone though, it appears Cotto and Pacquiao will have a good supporting cast as well. While not finalized, the names swirling around include top junior middleweights Daniel Santos vs. Yuri Foreman, Humberto Soto and the rumored Vegas debut of power punching Edwin Valero.
Whatever the reasons, I applaud promoters for giving fans more bang for their PPV buck.
More Ponderings:
-
Apparently there is an organization out there called the Maro Islamic Liberation Front. It’s reported that they’ve declined having pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao as a peace negotiator on their behalf. This report led to one of the most unintentionally hilarious headlines from a foreign boxing website I’ve ever seen: “Milf Rejects Pacquiao”.
-
It’s sad that as sanctioning organizations keep making up belts, fighters will pay the sanctioning fees to fight for them.
-
What’s going on with Kelly Pavlik? I hope Pavlik vs. Paul Williams eventually happens.
-
If you haven’t already, check out the Brian Minto vs. Donnell Holmes fight on www.NESportsTV.com
> BOXING SCHEDULE > ROY JONES JR. TORNADO FUNDRAISER > FIGHT LIFE MAGAZINE 
