JUST BE THANKFUL, FOR WHAT YOU GOT!
Plymouth Rock, MA-This Thanksgiving, the top of my thankful list contains the usual suspects: my wife, my children, my family and my health. But if I turn my to the lighter interests in my life, there is a trio of developments to be grateful for in the world of televised fisticuffs as well.
SHOBOX USES OPPORTUNITY TO NAB RESPECT, ShoBox is really filling a sweet spot in the sweet science right now. I couldnt have been happier that during the November 18th ShoBox broadcast, featuring a solid win for prospect Chad Dawson over Ian Gardner, two more ShoBox dates were announced for January. My fears that the departure of VP Jay Larkin from Showtime might signal the eventual demise of ShoBox may have been unfounded.
WITH ESPN ON HIATUS, SHOBOX TAKES OVER!
I really wasnt able to appreciate this series for its true worth until ESPN2s Friday Night Fights signed off for football season early this fall. While ShoBox consistently pulls together better matchups than Friday Night Fights, its 11 PM ET Friday night air time usually meant I was well approaching my fourth straight hour of boxing (as well as the early hours of the morning) by the time the main event hit high gear. The often lackluster ring offerings down the dial at ESPN 2 too often served a poor lead-in to ShoBox, leaving fans less than hungry for more fights. Even more damning, although the ShoBox in-ring offerings often outshined Friday Night Fights, the commentary and production on ESPN 2 easily put the Showtime B-team to shame.
SHOWBOX, THEYRE SHOWING OFF OF LATE
With Friday Night Fights off the schedule for a while, however, the ShoBox package can be seen for what it really is, namely the only place you are going to see solid prospects taking on solid opponents in eight and ten and twelve-round fights. For some of these fighters, it is their first real step up in competition. For others, an impressive performance can move them out of the small time and into the top 10 and contender status.
MID LEVEL GUYS HAVE LOTS ON THE LINE!
Either way, the stakes are often higher for the fighters on ShoBox than any other fight short of the super-fight championship tilts. In fact, when you account for the fact that the loser of many elite pay-per-view main events are going to walk away with enough money to support the lifestyle of the average fan for 50 years, you can make the case that the prospects on ShoBox have as much on the line as in any fight youre going to see. And they usually fight like it.
THE HBO PLAN STEERED TOWARDS PPV
HBO is committing more and more of its World Championship Boxing undercard slots to PPV replays, and the networks ace production, Boxing After Dark floundering. ESPN 2 has stepped its fare down quite a bit, often featuring one ShoBox-caliber participant against a walk-over opponent. Fox Sports seems enamored of the bigger names and older fighters in comebacks and tune-ups. That leaves ShoBox the only place left to see fights of this quality.
TEDDY, BRIAN, & JOE, HAVE GOOD VACATION PLAN
The return of Teddy Atlas and the Friday Night Fights gang, with ESPN 2s weekly boxing entry hitting the air comes back again in January. While its easy to be critical of the main events theyve provided since reducing their payments to promoters a couple years ago, the fact remains that Brian Kenney, Atlas and Joe Tessitore make up the most vibrant on-air team in the game right now. The fact that they go dark for the better part of four months during the fall is a detriment to the sport.
ATLAS HAS A HUMUNGOUS HAT SIZE”
In what some cynics consider a self-aggrandizing campaign, Atlas has come to serve as one of the consciences of a sport that has little. But more importantly to the viewer, he is the best analyst working ringside right now. Only HBOs Emanuel Steward can approach him when it comes to telling viewers what to look for inside the ring, both before and during a bout. Although he does tend to develop a script early in a fight and stick maddeningly to it, Atlas observations in the ring can be so prescient as to be downright spooky. Year after year viewers have been treated to Atlass identification of flaws or trends in a fighters performance, just minutes, or sometimes seconds, before his opponent exploits the flaw for a knockdown.
NOT YET BROADWAY JOE, BUT THIS JOES CLOSE!
Joe Tessitore, who can be accused of making vanilla ice cream look colorful, is a highly underrated professional and the perfect compliment an often hyper Atlas. Atlas might not be deliver half as much information during a fight without Tessitores deft direction. Brian Kenney runs the studio portion to perfection, exhibiting the perfect level of respect for his guest boxer co-hosts. He is admiring without being obsequious, nor is he combative like HBOs Larry Merchant or Showtimes Jim Gray. His ability to grill guest hosts like heavyweights Riddick Bowe and Joe Mesi on ill-advised returns to the ring, and then work with them effectively and good-naturedly the rest of the evening, shows a masterful control not often found behind the microphone.
LACY-CALZAGHE MATCH NOW A DONE DEAL
Showtime Championship Boxing has an open date in February now that the Joe Cazalghe-Jeff Lacy super middleweight unification fight has been set for March 4th, rather than the expected February slot. It looks like the Antonio Margarito-Manuel Gomez tilt, left homeless when Vitali Klitschkos retirement scratched the November 11th pay-per-view showdown with Hasim Rahman, may be headed to PPV itself in February. If that deal is not yet final, Showtime should step up and buy the fight for its February show. Another appealing fight rumored for February is the proposed Calvin Brock-David Tua clash. That could create a very respectable double-header, containing two fights that otherwise seem destined to be missed by the majority of fight fans.
Lou Ciaccia
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