Fibroso
07-21-2012, 12:07 PM
Matchmakers face tough task of protecting stars while filling up a major fight's undercardThu, Jul 19, 2012 7:19 PM EDT
If there is one undeniable truth in boxing, it is this: The bigger the main event, the more one-sided matches there will be on the undercard.
Promoters use the big shows, when the media attention is greatest, to showcase their up-and-coming talent. They're rarely willing to put their prospects in bouts in which they'd be even remotely challenged.
There were six fights on the undercard July 14 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, a show headlined by a super lightweight unification bout between Amir Khan and Danny Garcia.
There were 24 rounds of those six fights in which the judges had to turn in scores. Accounting for three judges, that's 72 opportunities to score a round. The fighter in the red corner won 71 of those, with the blue corner earning just one. Golden Boy's prospects, naturally, were all in the red corner. http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/.QJRFApzRDymulczNYALcw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTMxMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/YahooSports/1291080550.jpgBob Arum, left, and other promoters don't make competitive fights on undercards of big names like Manny Pacquiao. …
Jose Medina won the 10th on one of three judges' cards in his fight against Fernando Guerrero, the final fight before the main event. The six undercard fights produced a first-round knockout, a second-round knockout, an eighth-round TKO and three decisions. There was never any doubt who would win those fights.
But just a couple of miles away, things were vastly different. A much lower-profile card, headlined by Anthony Mundine against Bronco McKart, featured far more competitive bouts. Three of the seven undercard bouts were majority decisions and the results weren't nearly as predictable as at Mandalay Bay.
Battling with the matchmakers over their choice of opponents is a fact of life Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, doesn't relish. In some cases, he repeatedly turns down potential opponents to assure somewhat even matches and the safety of the challengers.
Smaller promoters, who have far less invested in their fighters, are more willing, it seems, to put their fighters in tough matchups.
"I know not every match on a card can be a 50-50 fight, but I hate to go to a show where I can look at the [bout sheet] and know before exactly who is going to win every fight," said Al Bernstein, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame's Class of 2012 and a Showtime boxing analyst.
At most major events, the arena is desolate until moments before the main event. That stands in stark contrast to mixed martial arts bouts, when fans fill the seats for the first match, hours before the main event.
Fans are accustomed to competitive undercards at MMA shows and know to show up early. Such is most often not the case with boxing.
"It's not just the UFC in MMA, it's most of the promoters," Kizer said. "Rarely do you see a fight worse than 60-40. You get a lot of 50-50 fights. Once in a while [in MMA], someone tries to slip a guy in, but for the most part, the MMA promoters make good matches."
Far too often, major boxing undercards are filled with complete mismatches. Managers don't want to risk putting their fighters in even competitive bouts because they fear a loss would make them unattractive to television.
Kizer said he had to turn down "two or three" potential opponents for Abner Cotto, a Golden Boy prospect who stopped Juan Montiel in the eighth round on the Khan-Garcia undercard. Cotto's management team kept suggesting poor opponents Kizer wouldn't consider.
He said after rejecting one opponent, he told Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez that Cotto would be off the card if they didn't come back with an acceptable opponent the next time.
It's not that matchmakers are doing a poor job or don't know the fighters. The biggest issue is they serve multiple masters.
They must appeal to the ticket buyers. For those who choose to sit through an entire undercard, the matchmakers have to give them something to enjoy. But that becomes difficult when the matchmaker also wants to help a fighter develop his skills. It's an even more challenging job when the fighter's manager is wary of putting his guy in against anyone with a pulse.
If there is one undeniable truth in boxing, it is this: The bigger the main event, the more one-sided matches there will be on the undercard.
Promoters use the big shows, when the media attention is greatest, to showcase their up-and-coming talent. They're rarely willing to put their prospects in bouts in which they'd be even remotely challenged.
There were six fights on the undercard July 14 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, a show headlined by a super lightweight unification bout between Amir Khan and Danny Garcia.
There were 24 rounds of those six fights in which the judges had to turn in scores. Accounting for three judges, that's 72 opportunities to score a round. The fighter in the red corner won 71 of those, with the blue corner earning just one. Golden Boy's prospects, naturally, were all in the red corner. http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/.QJRFApzRDymulczNYALcw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTMxMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/YahooSports/1291080550.jpgBob Arum, left, and other promoters don't make competitive fights on undercards of big names like Manny Pacquiao. …
Jose Medina won the 10th on one of three judges' cards in his fight against Fernando Guerrero, the final fight before the main event. The six undercard fights produced a first-round knockout, a second-round knockout, an eighth-round TKO and three decisions. There was never any doubt who would win those fights.
But just a couple of miles away, things were vastly different. A much lower-profile card, headlined by Anthony Mundine against Bronco McKart, featured far more competitive bouts. Three of the seven undercard bouts were majority decisions and the results weren't nearly as predictable as at Mandalay Bay.
Battling with the matchmakers over their choice of opponents is a fact of life Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, doesn't relish. In some cases, he repeatedly turns down potential opponents to assure somewhat even matches and the safety of the challengers.
Smaller promoters, who have far less invested in their fighters, are more willing, it seems, to put their fighters in tough matchups.
"I know not every match on a card can be a 50-50 fight, but I hate to go to a show where I can look at the [bout sheet] and know before exactly who is going to win every fight," said Al Bernstein, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame's Class of 2012 and a Showtime boxing analyst.
At most major events, the arena is desolate until moments before the main event. That stands in stark contrast to mixed martial arts bouts, when fans fill the seats for the first match, hours before the main event.
Fans are accustomed to competitive undercards at MMA shows and know to show up early. Such is most often not the case with boxing.
"It's not just the UFC in MMA, it's most of the promoters," Kizer said. "Rarely do you see a fight worse than 60-40. You get a lot of 50-50 fights. Once in a while [in MMA], someone tries to slip a guy in, but for the most part, the MMA promoters make good matches."
Far too often, major boxing undercards are filled with complete mismatches. Managers don't want to risk putting their fighters in even competitive bouts because they fear a loss would make them unattractive to television.
Kizer said he had to turn down "two or three" potential opponents for Abner Cotto, a Golden Boy prospect who stopped Juan Montiel in the eighth round on the Khan-Garcia undercard. Cotto's management team kept suggesting poor opponents Kizer wouldn't consider.
He said after rejecting one opponent, he told Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez that Cotto would be off the card if they didn't come back with an acceptable opponent the next time.
It's not that matchmakers are doing a poor job or don't know the fighters. The biggest issue is they serve multiple masters.
They must appeal to the ticket buyers. For those who choose to sit through an entire undercard, the matchmakers have to give them something to enjoy. But that becomes difficult when the matchmaker also wants to help a fighter develop his skills. It's an even more challenging job when the fighter's manager is wary of putting his guy in against anyone with a pulse.