Back in mid-April, Mexican
tough guy Orlando Salido went to the island of Puerto Rico and promptly
bludgeoned Juan Manuel Lopez over eight rounds to take the WBO featherweight
title. This weekend, he takes on Kenichi Yamaguchi in what is a homecoming
title defense in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. Following in the trend of other
standout, south-of-the-border fighters from like Jorge Arce, Humberto Soto and Fernando
Montiel, Salido is opting for a quick turnaround to stay active. Most fighters
nowadays at this level perform about every half-year but there's a simple
reason why Salido is boxing just three months after his title winning effort.
It's because he can and he's
willing to.
With the presence of
Televisa and Azteca, two huge, terrestrial networks in Mexico that regularly
televise the sport, the opportunities are plentiful for boxers like Salido.
"Both big networks are
going with weekly programs, so you're talking about close to 90 shows a year
between the two of them that they have. They're both going up against each
other 45 weeks each. As a result of that, you have incredible opportunities for
all these fighters," explained Todd DuBoef, President of Top Rank, which
handles Salido's career in association with Zanfer Promotions. This bout is
being shown on Azteca in Mexico and on the “Top Rank Live” series in the States
on Fox Deportes/Fox Sports.
DuBoef believes it isn't so
much that Mexican fighters want to stay busier than their American
counterparts; it's that they have more chances to do so. "I think you're
seeing that the opportunities are right now are so strong in Mexico with the
television and the weekly programming that you're seeing the guys in the ring
on a much quicker basis than we are seeing here, where the ability between
Showtime and HBO is twice a month, it's not nearly as much as four times a
month. So I think we're seeing guys turn around differently; we're seeing the
economic expectations- they're not sometimes as reasonable as we see when the
pay TV becomes involved- so I think it's a more functional role and it helps
the environment that's going to create a lot of boxing stars in the
future."
Salido defeated Lopez on
Showtime. This fight will come with a decidedly marked down license fee. The
reality is that a fighter must understand the economics involved with each
promotion and adjust his expectations accordingly. In other words, just because
you might have been paid ‘X’ amount by one of the premium cable networks, there
is no reason to believe that that is some sort of threshold that simply cannot
be lowered. Many boxers carry this attitude; until that changes, they will sit
on the sidelines for months at a time until their turns come up on HBO and
Showtime.
DuBoef says, "I see
that more in America than I do anywhere else and I think that that paradigm is
slowly going to get broken down. I remember the year when Oscar [De La Hoya]
fought five times in one year (1997). Ray Leonard, what, did he fight like
eight times that year before he fought Wilfredo Benitez? I mean, in one year.
So I think it's just that kind of environment here. The environment here is,
you get to a certain level and you wait for a date and it could be once every
six months and I think we have to change that and make it so that it isn't set
up that way and so these guys capture the opportunity on a regular basis, which
obviously keeps him in the game regularly, keeps them in better shape, obviously,
keeps them sharper also. Out of sight, out of mind.
"We gotta turn the
clock back and I think we're getting very close."
You can make an argument
that the last real full-time American fighter was James “Lights Out” Toney, who,
from 1991-1994- as he became one of the best boxers in the sport- fought 23 times
during that stretch. During that run, even as he became an HBO staple, he
fought in interim fights on various platforms from ESPN, ABC, TVKO, USA and a
fight or two that weren't even televised.
"James was a throwback
fighter," said DuBoef, whose company promoted Toney during his heyday,
"He had Bill Miller as his trainer. He wanted to be in the gym; that's all
he knew how to do. He was tough. You had ESPN going on a premium level; they
were paying nice fees, usually for big fights, like for a Tommy Morrison and
Michael Carbajal or James. You had ABC out there a little bit in that time. I
remember [Toney] fought a couple of times on ABC and CBS. He understood the big
picture, 'I gotta get out there all the time. I gotta get popular. I gotta be
exposed and I want to stay active and keep me in the gym. Just line up the guys
and I'll go fight.' That's the throwback mentality. I think we'll see more
often once these opportunities arrive."
Unfortunately, ABC or CBS
are no longer in the boxing business and when USA's “Tuesday Night Fights”
franchise folded up its tent in the summer of 1998, another avenue for fighters
to ply their trades on a regular basis was closed. However, the loss of these
platforms wasn't the sole reason for this systemic failing, where so few
crossover stars are created nowadays.
"I think the breakdown
happened when multi-fight agreements were started in the '90s," opined
DuBoef. "It was really prevalent in the late '80s and '90s between both
the premium networks and they started locking up talent. As a result of that,
they had to offer a certain minimum of bouts and they usually could only do
two. Therefore, the gap between those bouts and other bouts became so great
that everyone just started getting used to taking two fights a year from the
premium channel and that was it- and maybe doing a one-off pay-per-view- or
something like that. So that's when it kind of started."
So while guys like Salido
and the like have the option to fight regularly, earn steady income and build
themselves into attractions, fighters in the States don't have that option- for
now.
"I think we're moving
towards getting to that point, where hopefully, we get other avenues here in
the United States that would supplement and complement the shows of HBO or
Showtime and ESPN and Fox and everything like that," said DuBoef. "That
would be a nice mid-level show but I think it takes time and we're building
there. We're getting close, one step, one day further."
JUANMA
On the other side of the coin, Lopez looks like he's not going to take an
interim bout before facing Salido in a return bout later this year.
"I think 'JuanMa's' a really exciting fighter. I think he had some alibis
coming out of the fight, which I didn't like. He wasn't focused; he didn't take
it seriously. It was a terrific fight; he wasn't prepared 100 percent. He
learned the hard way. Do I think he should be fighting between now and a
rematch with Salido? I think he should get in the ring and keep himself
active," said DuBoef, candidly. "He's young; he should show his
dedication, get back. And should you be concerned [about that]?
"I mean, I can't do the training. I can't get these guys to do what I
think would be the right thing, as it relates to their training and everything like
that. I can line up the opponents for them and they have to be prepared to get
in the ring."
SKED
As it relates to the fall schedule, including Salido-Lopez II, DuBoef explains
much of that will be sorted out as soon as a decision is made on which network
will distribute and televise Manny Pacquiao's bout versus Juan Manuel Marquez
on November 12th. Of course, how much is left in the boxing budgets
of HBO and Showtime will determine the remaining schedule.
HEAT WAVE FLURRIES
Salido-Yamaguchi will be
televised by Fox Deportes on Saturday night at 10 PM, ET/PT but that's far from
the only-televised card. ESPN2 has Anthony Dirrell-Kevin Engel on Friday night
at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT and Telefutura features Christopher Martin taking on Jose
Silveira at 11:30 PM, ET/PT...The Saturday afternoon heavyweight bout between
Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora, which can be purchased on pay-per-view through
Integrated Sports, begins at 3 PM, ET...Of course, HBO has Judah-Khan at
10 PM ET/7 PM PT...I loved the most recent edition of “Real Sports” on HBO. I
thought all four segments were outstanding. For all that Ross Greenburg bungled
in terms of boxing, shows like this cannot be forgotten about...Tiger Woods
gives his caddy the ax? Who else is he going to throw under the bus?...What in
the name of Andy Van Slyke is going on in Pittsburgh? The Pirates are in first
place?!...
