Margarito approved in Texas, press tour starts Tuesday in L.A.
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 6:53 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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Well, that didn't take long. Lem Satterfield of FanHouse reports that Antonio Margarito has been approved for a boxing license in the state of Texas, meaning that the November 13 fight with Manny Pacquiao is a definite go. A press tour will begin Tuesday in Los Angeles.
That's it and that's all. The fight is on. It is what it is.
Top Rank is saying they're very confident that the fight will do well. I don't doubt that a bout between Pacquiao and Margarito will do phenomenal live attendance numbers and a tremendous gate in Texas. I even would go so far as to say that's a given, and that I agree with Bob Arum's thought that the fight happening in football season is only going to be a good thing. Jerry Jones will be able to advertise that fight to a sellout football crowd every home game leading up to the fight. That's a big deal. A lot of people don't really follow boxing news all that closely, and an advertisement for the fight on the Cowboys' giant TV will be the first a lot of people hear of it.
But I don't know how well they'll do on pay-per-view. The reported number for Pacquiao-Clottey in March was 700,000. Pacquiao has largely been out of the boxing spotlight since then, as he successfully ran for Congress in the Philippines, and his name has only come up in negative lights, as the fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. again fell through, there was more quibbling and gossip about the drug tests for that potential fight, and now you have a lot of people dumping on this fight. And this fight, it's been made clear, was Pacquiao's choice.
I wouldn't be shocked if they came in right around the same numbers for this PPV. It's a really good number, but it's not a blockbuster, amazing number. Margarito is more popular and well-known than Clottey to be sure, but I think there's a good chance that some of the fledgling boxing newbies or returnees that may have ordered Pacquiao-Clottey due to Pacquiao's hot name at the time won't be back. I think the fact that a lot of the casual fans truly resent the fact that the best fight in boxing isn't being made might affect numbers. I don't think as many casual boxing fans will order this one for a lot of reasons. And then there's the people who refuse to pay for a Margarito fight. It is not the overwhelming wave of detractors that you can find on boxing sites, but it's not an ignorable factor, either.
Or it could do gangbusters numbers and lessen some fans' faith in humankind. I think we'll have more of a sense in the final two weeks before the fight, when buzz usually starts really picking up. I remember the Mayweather-Marquez fight really felt like it was dragging its legs until the week before, and then for whatever reason the energy around the fight just went nuts. That could happen again. But a lot of folks are going to be impossible to convert this time.
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I expect this fight will have a crappy undercard. I wouldn’t buy it anyway, but that will make the decision easier.
I hope Manny beats the ever-living crap out of him.
I expect this fight will have a crappy undercard.
I hope everyone’s ready for Marco Antonio Barrera OR another weak Humberto Soto fight OR Alfonso Gomez in a winnable snorefest OR maybe just maybe MORE JOSE LUIS CASTILLO?
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions
On the undercard front, Bernabe Concepcion is also a possibility for Guillermo Rigondeaux. So now we’ve heard Ricardo Cordoba and Concepcion.
http://twitter.com/boxingscene/status/22219036353
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions
I saw in BoxingScene that they’re also considering putting Pavlik there. http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=30392
Officially boycotting Pacquiao vs. Margarito.
I’ll take it, but then I like Pavlik more than most.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions
My thing with Pavlik is I really like how he fights when his head is on straight. But I’m not blind. I firmly believe as an observer that he badly needs a new lead trainer. Hell, keep Jack Loew there. I understand they have a deep bond and that splitting with Jack would be a tough professional decision to make, and that Loew has done a lot for Kelly. But it’s clear that that business relationship has gone as far as it’s going. Pavlik’s career can go one of two ways at this point, and I totally understand folks who doubt it’ll go the good way.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions
keep Loew as an assistant I mean
I also realize that probably wouldn’t happen. I doubt Billy Graham would have accepted being demoted to assistant by Ricky Hatton, either.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions
When is the last time Boxing attracted 75000 people at a live event?
That alone is good for Boxing. And what’s good for boxing is good for all who enter the squared circle.
This is a genuine question: How is it “good for boxing”? What will it really do for boxing? What will it change? Tim Bradley will still be fighting in front of 2,500 people in Agua Caliente. 10,000 in St. Louis for Devon Alexander will still be something that promoters point to as a big deal. Getting a few thousand at the MSG Theater in New York for JuanMa Lopez and Yuri Gamboa and Amir Khan and Paul Malignaggi will still be the norm. There hadn’t been 50,000 at a live event in the States for a long time before Pacquiao-Clottey, either, and that didn’t help boxing do better business anywhere else. Having a lot of people in a building, most of them watching a giant TV, is not going to change boxing’s direction or overall outlook.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 7:05 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Scott, All that may be true. Most of it is.
But anytime you can pack 75,000 people into an event in a sport whose norm is four figures, that can’t be bad.
How Arum, Jones and Co leverage it remains to be seen.
But to know Boxing is to love it….and to be certain it will find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
I didn’t say it was a bad thing. I said it’s not going to do anything for boxing as a whole. It’s like Brad Pitt guest starring on Friends. It happened and then the next week he was gone, and it was the exact same show it was before.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Sometimes I think we’re not only too critical of boxing in particular but also to parochial in our outlook in general. There is no doubt that boxing is suffering in America. But so is manufacturing. So are movies. And records. and countless other industries. some will recover, most will not. Not the same as before . that is almost certain.
Some of that has to do with this economy and most of it has to do with dynamic changes in a global marketplace. Technology has reached places previously without much in the way of communication, displacing and fracturing familiar structures.
Audiences are invariably niche audiences. We can gather here at BLH and not have a thing to do with those that follow women’s body-building or surfing.
My very long winded point is that boxing has audiences in the populated emerging countries such as the Philippines, Mexico, the former Soviet republics that make it possible bigger than ever. We are not the center of the universe any longer. Boxing promoters, Top Rank in particular, get that.
There’s an expression that Art and artists go where the money goes. They need the patronage. Boxing better wake up and realize they have a historic brand…and global is the way to go.
75000 fans for a fight between a Mexican and a Filipino in Texas is a start.
jcc vs haugen drew 130,000 back in 93.
"Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining."
-Sonny Liston
by sonofapsycho on Aug 26, 2010 8:24 PM EDT up reply actions
You can definatly put me in the detractor category. I hate this matchup the fact its for a paper title at a catchweight and involves margarito. I buy all ppv’s that are offered by my provider but there’s no way I will support this one.
by boxzilla on Aug 26, 2010 7:07 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
The fact that it’s a catchweight doesn’t bug me, but the title thing does bother me for a different reason. The fact that it’s for a vacant title that Ryan Rhodes has been in line for since Vernon Forrest held it is off-putting. But the WBC doesn’t give a crap about Ryan Rhodes or who earned anything. Margarito and Pacquiao! This is the sanctioning body that has Erik Morales ranked No. 2 contender at 140 despite that he’s never fought at 140 in his life.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Aug 26, 2010 7:08 PM EDT up reply actions
Shows that the Governing Body that rules Boxing is money !!! Nothing more ...
nothing less !!! A fighter will say yeah I want to be known as the all time greatest but only if they pay me enough !!! Boxing is not about being the greatest as it has turned into who can pay me the most !!!
It's not a matter of "IF" the North will break you.It's a matter of "WHEN" the North will break you.For up here every year counts as two on the outside.
by Ghostman (Son of the Wolf) on Aug 26, 2010 8:15 PM EDT reply actions
Lets Get Ready To Rumble
I Hope it has a Strong Undercard, I’m Ready for the Tickets to go on Sell. I Wonder How Much on the Ringside
son of a bitch. every time i have faith that texas will do something right this shit happens
Texans 19-0 in 2010-2011 season PERIOD
by battle axe of doom on Aug 26, 2010 10:21 PM EDT reply actions
Not really worth the read
In a nutshell, Margarito says he doesn’t know and nobody can prove what’s in his head, so he should be given the benefit of the doubt. *yawn…heard it before.
Has anybody here in their lifetime ever believed somebody when they said “I didn’t know” after being caught breaking some type of law or rule? Seriously.
Maybe this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ4axo9rmJY
Officially boycotting Pacquiao vs. Margarito.
good point at the end about mayweather-marquez.. it didnt really feel like it had legitmate buzz at all. then all of a sudden- the hype kick into gear and the numbers are what they are. I feel like that will probably happen in this fight also. superstar and storylines is a good combo. but we the people should demand maywether-pacquiao by boycotting goldenboy and top rank until this gets done. simple.
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