TONS OF HYPE YIELDS ONLY POUNDS OF ENTERTAINMENT
Al Haymon
San Francisco, CA– The return of professional boxing to NBC TV Saturday night had both good points and bad. First off, the key to successful boxing is not having a stable of stars, but rather to make competitive fights which in turn create stars. You see, the bright lights of Network TV do not alone make a star out of a boxer as he has to perform at a level that makes you want to see him again.
BRONER “WASTES” GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
That being said, putting Adrian Broner-John Molina in the first bout on Network TV since the President Ronald Reagan era was a huge mistake by Al “The Godfather” Haymon. This opening bout turned out to be about as exciting as a fully clothed porno. But I’m not going to blame Mr. Heymon for that, no that dishonor belongs to Adrian Broner.
VASTLY DIFFERENT SKILL LEVELS APPARENT FROM START
Facing a guy in Molina that was past his best, Broner, two levels above Molina in class fought down to the level of his opposition, which most importantly did nothing to make somebody who was not a boxing fan to-not want to change the channel during a commercial. When you are vastly superior, Broner being like the NBA best Golden State Warriors vs the current L.A. Lakers, Broner needed to close the show with three pointer instead of a missed free throw.
THURMAN PITCHES NEAR SHUTOUT ON CARDS
When it came to the main event, unbeaten Keith Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs) outclassed a game but overmatched Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero over 12 rounds in a match where maybe “The Ghost” won one round on my card (119-109) while the official cards read 120-107, 118-109 & 118-108. Dropped in round nine, Guerrero had nothing in the way of offense. Not that Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs) looked like the second coming of a Ray Leonard, but Keith won almost every, if not every round and give him some props for that.
THE FIGHTS MUST HAVE SOME EXPLOSIONS!
If “Big Al” is to succeed on NBC he will have to match his guys not only against better guys, but against his own clients as well. I mean you cannot sign 120 fighters and not have them fighting one another. And that’s where things get a little weird as the relationship Heymon has with his fighters is he gets a flat 10% acting as their manager/advisor. I think James Prince, he of Andre Ward managerial fame reportedly had two clients (Ward & Chad Dawson?) face off, but it really is almost unheard of.
LATE 1970’S CARLOS ZARATE-LUPE PINTOR HEIST
When the great World bantamweight (118 lb.) king Carlos Zarate was robbed, and I know that turn can be over utilized, but they put a gun to the long time champion and gave his WBC belt to Lupe Pintor. Both were managed by Culio Hernandez, whom Zarate was dumping after the Pintor (cough, cough) 15 round split decision win of 1978.
OK, BOXING HISTORY ASIDE
So it will be interesting as to how Heymon will move forward when it comes to making matches for he cannot continue to put on two 12 round fights and have them go the route sans any real explosions will not keep the viewer tuned in. Heymon need realize that while blow outs aren’t cool either, you can’t expect two 5-1 or more fights are going to thrill an audience you are trying to cultivate.
SPIKE TV BOXING COMING THIS WEEK
“Big Al” returns March 13 on SPIKE TV, more later in the week.
Pedro Fernandez
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AL HEYMON AND BOXING ON NBC
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