ARE “CAGE” FIGHTS KILLING BOXING?
Sacramento, CA-If live gates are an indicator, professional boxing is being eclipsed by Mixed Martial Arts. San Jose, CA for instance, was once a real fight town, now they cant get 1,500 paid for a show with local names. On the other hand, MMA has drawn 10,000 paid for a card featuring second-rate guys! Now, with California approving MMA, cant you see the busiest commission in the country, stretched beyond its limits? I expect Ultimate Fighting Championships CEO, Dana White, to promote rabidly in California., WARREN SPEAKETH: English promoter Frank Warren was twice in the news in as many days. No, Frank wasnt involved in anything as bizarre as Mike Tyson turning him out, by beating him up. The London Daily Mirror had some tough talk from WBO cruiser guy Johnny Nelson. He wants at least $150,000 UK pounds, to meet Enzo Maccarinelli. Secondly, Frank told Scoop Malinowski, a fine lad penning in this instance for www.BoxingInsider.com where youll find the interview in its entirety, “I think Omar Sheika and Robin Reid would go on record and say that Joe Calzaghe would knock Jeff Lacy out.” SHOWTIME BEAMING FIGHT AROUND THE GLOBEThe pair clash March 4, in the UK, with Showtime televising. Im thinking that Showtime will air the fight at around 3 AM Manchester, UK time. Warren, the king of UK, Europe, and more, has a website: http://www.frankwarren.tv HBO FEELING THE HEAT? ESPN.com ace Dan Rafael, broke the news that HBO would not be renewing Oscar De La Hoyas Boxeo De Oro, the Spanish series, on HBO Latino. The folks at 1100 Ave of The Americas, HBO, will launch a new English series. SPANISH SPEAKERS CANNOT LOSE! The Spanish thing just never made sense! If youre looking for numbers, the broadcast has to be in English. With the secondary audio programming (SAP) of all big fights available in Spanish, those that prefer Espanol are still accommodatedFEELING THE HEAT II: Showtime, long the AVIS compared to #1 Hertz/HBO, has made a strong enough move in the past 18 months. ARIZONA BLUES CONTINUE FOR CAMPAS: Yory Boy Campas inked a contract to face Wilfredo Rivera, at Madison Square Garden in two weeks Team Freedom head, Louis De Cubas, was told by the New York Commission that Campas was on the Federal suspension list. Arizona Boxing head John Montano suspended Campas, supposedly for embarrassing Montano by picketing his office. TIME TO SUE MR. MONTANO? Yory and others including myself, picketed Montanos office because promoter Peter Mc Kinn had bounced a $5,000 check to Campas in May 2004. I will go into this in detail later this week, but reportedly the Arizona Attorney General, Blair Griggs, said last night that Montano had erred in suspending Campas. FOLLOW THE PHONY RECEIPT: Mc Kinn came up with a receipt, albeit allegedly forged, that he had paid Campas manager Joe Diaz in cash. They also used this receipt to quash an arrest warrant on Mc Kinn. BUT in the past week, with sworn depositions upcoming in the case, Mc Kinn has offered Diaz, $3,000, $5,000, $7,000, and finally, $10,000, to settle. If McKinn has a receipt, and Diaz is full of spit, why is he willing to settle for $10K? I dont know about you, but I smell blood! PEDROS DECEMBER ODDS & PREDICTIONS: My Odds, & Predictions are up for the boxing month of December 2005. Hit the blue box at the top of this page, “Schedule, Odds, & Predictions.” JERMAIN TAYLOR UNPLUGGED:World middleweight king, Jermain Taylor, will be featured later today in an unplugged interview in which he lays out his case against Bernard Hopkins, the fighter, and the person! You can listen to the interview, part of the Ring Talk Radio mix this past Saturday night, by clicking on the blue Radio Archives box at the top of this page.
Pedro Fernandez>
Note: Mr. Fernandez is an award-winning writer, talk show host, and four-time Golden Gloves champ. Comments pertaining to this article can be left below.