Mares vs Moreno: Fight Pushed Back to November 10, Staples Center to Host, Possible Top Rank Conflict

Since they almost avoided a dick move by moving Abner Mares vs Anselmo Moreno to October 27 instead of putting the fight head-to-head with the Donaire vs Nishioka / Rios vs Alvarado card on October 13, Golden Boy and Showtime have again moved their card back, this time to November 10 in Los Angeles, a date Top Rank has reserved at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for a possible card that night.

Here's what Richard Schaefer said while dancing around other stuff:

"It has become apparent now that Pacquiao is going to go on Dec. 8, and that opened up Nov. 10. So I am moving the card from Oct. 27 with Abner Mares and Anselmo Moreno from Oct. 27 to Nov. 10 from The Staples Center in Los Angeles," said Schaefer. "I think that that's a fitting place for this showdown, and I'm really excited about it."

Schaefer avoided mentioning -- and believe me, he knows -- that Top Rank by all accounts does intend to run on November 10 at the MGM Grand despite Pacquiao moving to December 8. They've still got the building reserved.

And it's not like Schaefer can say, "Well, the Staples Center is open that night!" like that's some actual big deal in boxing terms, because all of Golden Boy's Staples Center shows draw horribly, to the point that they probably wouldn't fill the Honda Center in Anaheim with their Staples Center (paid) crowd for this show.

Chris Arreola and Alfredo Angulo are called "possibilities" for the undercard.

Honestly, I should have more to say about this, but I just don't. They're going to Staples because of their AEG deal and they're going to give away at least two times the tickets they sell, probably, and it doesn't matter and they don't care, and it sucks if we wind up with another goddamned head-to-head boxing night, but they don't care about that, either. They don't care about boxing fans.

That said, Mares vs Moreno is an excellent fight and GBP might well put on a fantastic overall card. I can't fault what the fighters are doing, or even the Golden Boy matchmaking here. Mares has been treated like a guy they want to lose, not a guy they're banking on, and I mean that in the best way -- they're not pussyfooting around with him, doing the ol' softshoe, they're letting him constantly prove how good he is. It's weird as hell for boxing, but I'll take more of that, even with the continued genitalia-measuring contest we have going on with the suits.

Schaefer constantly says, "I don't care what Top Rank is doing," which easily becomes, "I don't care what boxing fans think or want." But I guess that's fair, too. It's hard to say that boxing fans are paying the GBP bills, since they so rarely buy tickets to their shows.

But what can you do? This is the news, and this is when that fight is now. That's life. That's what all the people say.