Jones-Trinidad taking more hits

by Scott Christ on Jan 14, 2008 7:44 AM EST in Boxing News Analysis

The closer this gets, the less it feels like there's any real sense of anticipation here. Saturday night's PPV fight between former greats Roy Jones, Jr., and Felix Trinidad has been slammed in the mainstream media this week.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the two fighters, "have become big-name relics living off their past."

Garden boss James Dolan and Don King (now there's a lovely couple), who is promoting the fight, are selling a memory for exorbitant prices. Tickets range from $111 to $5,130, with plenty of over-priced seats in between. King is a master salesman. He's going to have to be a magician to sell tickets for this fight. As of late last week boxing spies said ticket sales were in the toilet.

Joe Maxse of The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, "It's too bad this bout wasn't made 10 years ago, but another version of boxing's ancient history will be on display Saturday night."

Norm Frauenheim of The Arizona Republic chimes in with this: "Truth and advertising in boxing are a little bit like Mike Tyson in the White House. The Ali-Frazier suggestion and pay-per-view price aren't shameful. Both are just over the top, so much so that it's silly."

My problem, and the reason I won't be ordering, is simple: This is Don King's idea of a Best v. Best fight. Is it any surprise that King would beg Trinidad to come out of retirement to fight the washed-up Jones in an effort to keep pace with the excellent big-name affairs that took place at the end of 2007 (Mayweather-Hatton, Cotto-Mosley, Calzaghe-Kessler, Pacquiao-Barrera), and the star-studded bouts on the early 2008 docket (Pavlik-Taylor, Marquez-Pacquiao, Hopkins-Calzaghe)?

It is a fight that speaks to Don King's perception of stardom and harkens to the seemingly dying days of the boxing pay-per-view that was flat-out not worth the pricetag.

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Comments

Probably well deserved.

Both of these great fighters are passed their primes. Jones might still have his has speed and some punching power, while Trinidad still has his power and jab, if he actually uses it. I don't think it will totally bomb when the PPV buys come back. I think thirst of wanting to have this match years ago might play a part in whether the consumer will purchase this fight. Anyway, it doesn't help that the undercard sucks a$$. The actual fight, Jones vs Trinidad, should be umm..."exciting" and maybe back-&-forth. So yeah, it should be on regular cable, but it's always all about the $.

by E ROC on Jan 15, 2008 5:08 AM EST reply actions

re:

It's going to lose money, I think, based on how they've probably budgeted for fighter payoffs and everything else. I don't think it'll do an embarrassing number. 500K would be a high-end estimate from me.

by Scott Christ on Jan 15, 2008 6:02 AM EST up reply actions

Puerto Ricans

Puerto Ricans will carry the day and sell this thing. I'm guessing it won't be spectacular, but on the other hand, it won't lose money. Don King does know how to read the numbers.

by Matt Miller on Jan 16, 2008 2:43 AM EST reply actions