Last month, a press
conference was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel to announce the October 12th pay-per-view match between Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley. Before the
official proceedings started, this reporter inquired about when Guillermo
Rigondeaux's next date on HBO might be. A Top Rank executive had a reaction
that was akin to Jim Mora's (in)famous “Playoffs?!” rant.
“Next date? They want
nothing to do with him,” was the incredulous reply I got.
This past week, Bob Arum
told ESPN's Dan Rafael that every time Rigondeaux's name was brought up to the
network, their reaction was to “vomit.”
It seemed that after
thoroughly outboxing Nonito Donaire back on April 13th, the network
was basically doing everything short of blowing up a raft for this Cuban stylist
and kicking it back toward the Atlantic Ocean and Havana.
Has Rigondeaux been exiled
by HBO?
Bob Arum stated on Thursday
afternoon to Maxboxing, “Nobody exiles any of my fighters. I'm working with HBO
to get a spot for him and I'm optimistic that he'll be in the ring sometime
this fall and be on HBO.”
The veteran promoter said in
this article (http://www.maxboxing.com/news/sub-lead/setting-up-a-showdown)
that Donaire and Mikey Garcia would now be getting separate HBO dates and Rigondeaux
would be the co-feature with Garcia in November. So what changed? Did the
network change its mind? Was it public pressure?
“No,” insisted Arum, “it's my pressure. I've talked with them. I
explained to [President of HBO Sports] Ken [Hershman] and to [Director of
Programming for HBO] Peter Nelson and they agree with me that Rigondeaux's a
major talent and I think the public will be interested in watching him fight.”
When reached for a
statement, an HBO Sports spokesperson explained that they don't give comments
on fights till they are made. It's still not clear if Rigondeaux will actually
be back on the “Network of Champions” in the fall. What seems unfair about this
original hard line taken by HBO is they were the ones who really pushed for
Rigondeaux to face Donaire (clearly one of the network’s pillars, having
appeared on the HBO four times in 2012 and his last seven outings broadcast by
them).
It seems Rigondeaux
committed the cardinal sin of beating one of HBO's favored fighters. And he did
it in a fashion that was less than exciting to many viewers. But can you name
the last time a fighter won a fight as the main event on a “World Championship
Boxing” telecast and was not brought back by the network?
The Donaire fight wasn't
exactly Ward-Gatti I. But what did anyone expect? Most of the blame has been
unfairly put on the Cuban, who is a master class boxer and counterpuncher. If
you re-watch the fight, after getting hit hard early on, the “Filipino Flash”
seemed very reluctant to engage Rigondeaux for much of the night at the Radio
City Music Hall, where they danced a duet. Sometimes it takes two to tango (and
let's be honest; in four of the last five Donaire fights, there were boos and
catcalls that could be heard. There were fans who flat-out left in the early
rounds of his bout versus Toshiaki Nishioka after the barnburner that was the
first encounter between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado at the Home Depot Center
last October).
For all the pound-for-pound
hype Donaire had received, truth was, he could be accused of being every bit as
dull as Rigondeaux. That combination was simply a terrible mix of styles. In
boxing, two negative styles rarely make a positive.
To some, Rigondeaux is a
brilliant boxer, who is the very definition of the “Sweet Science.” To others,
he's a complete, safety-first bore. What some people fail to realize is HBO is
not necessarily in the boxing business; they are in the
entertainment/programming business. This means that while Rigondeaux might
appeal to the hardcore purist, what they are trying to attract is the more casual
viewer, more inclined to stick around to see a tussle like Tim Bradley-Ruslan
Provodnikov.
(And those who think Golden
Boy and Showtime would welcome Rigondeaux with open arms are being illogical
and naive. As if they would be in some sort of rush to pair him with the likes
of Abner Mares and Leo Santa Cruz as they are in the process of having these
two eventually meet next year: http://www.maxboxing.com/news/sub-lead/setting-up-a-showdown.)
This wouldn't be the first
time HBO has jettisoned a boxer. Remember the Klitschko brothers? For a stretch
of time, they were a staple on HBO but several years ago, as they kept racking
up one dominant victory after another, Wladimir and Vitali disappeared from HBO
as if they were “Deadwood.” And mind you, these guys were heavyweights who did
strong ratings and drew well in cities like New York and Los Angeles.
HBO has every right to
televise or showcase whatever boxers they want. After all, it's their money (and
as an HBO subscriber myself, if Rigondeaux isn't a regular part of my rotation,
it won’t be an impetus for me to cancel my subscription – sorry, Oscar). But it
has to be pointed out that Rigondeaux might be a victim of a double-standard
given that he's far from the only boxer regularly featured on its airwaves who
could be deemed less than exciting. Super middleweight champion Andre Ward, the
face of this boxing franchise, will probably never be in a “Fight of the Year”
candidate and is proud of it. Chad Dawson has never sparked any particular
passion with boxing fans, yet was fed to HBO audiences for years. Then you have
another talented Cuban in Yuriorkis Gamboa, whose last fight was so
uninteresting that the normally amiable Canadian fans actually started booing.
Rigondeaux's fans (yes, they
are out there) are a loud and vocal minority. They remind you of the person who,
when ordering pizza, insists on anchovies as one of the toppings and are incredulous
when they discover they are in the extreme minority in their taste. You keep
hearing that promoters (in this case, Top Rank) need to showcase Cuban boxers
in South Florida and Miami. Talk to anyone in the business - especially those
in that region - and they'll tell you there simply is no boxing market in that
area. You think Caribe Promotions (who co-promotes Rigondeaux with Arum) will
ever go out on its own and stage a Rigondeaux fight in the 305 area code?
There's a reason you see
cards showcasing Mexicans in Los Angeles and Texas on a consistent basis.
There's a reason you see promotions featuring Puerto Ricans in cities like New
York. And there's a reason major fight cards in the “Sunshine State” are rare.
It's interesting to note
that after Rigondeaux's victory over Donaire, Arum admitted that promoting this
quicksilver southpaw would be perhaps his toughest sell. Golden Boy Promotions
CEO Richard Schaefer, pooh-poohed Erislandy Lara after he stopped Alfredo
Angulo back in June (in what was actually a very entertaining affair). Well,
you can never accuse Arum and Schaefer of never being able to see eye-to-eye on
anything but the question is: What the hell did they think they were getting
into?
When you sign a Cuban boxer,
what you are most likely getting is a guy with an incredible amateur pedigree
but a style which may not translate to the professional ranks. Beyond all that,
he’s someone who may not have much of a constituency to draw upon.
Buyer beware.
I guess this is the tact HBO
is now employing.
There’s no doubt Arum wants
Rigondeaux on the network. The bottom line is he'd much rather have HBO's
license fee footing the bill for his services than having to stick him on a
pay-per-view undercard and have it come out of his own pocket. Looking at
Rigondeaux’s recent fights, the bout versus Donaire was the headliner on HBO
and his December fight on the network was canceled when his opponent failed his
pre-fight medicals. Rigondeaux then faced Robert Marroquin and Teon Kennedy on
the Sergio Martinez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Tim Bradley-Manny Pacquiao
pay-per-view cards, respectively. His bout versus Rico Ramos was on Showtime. A
couple of outings before that, he was part of the Pacquiao card at Dallas
Cowboys Stadium.
For a guy who, as a
headliner, may not draw as many fans as your typical Miami Marlins game,
Rigondeaux has been on big stages and been paid pretty damn well. HBO doled in
the neighborhood of $800,000 out as a license fee on Rigondeaux's end for
facing Donaire.
It's
an interesting dynamic that exists between HBO and Top Rank. HBO made it very
clear they banned Golden Boy Promotions earlier in the year. They are now
clearly relying on Top Rank to be their main content provider. And Top Rank is
clearly entrenched at HBO (and let's be clear; for the time being, they can't
take their talent to Showtime).
Matchmaking
will be key, regardless. Arum says, “You gotta get a very aggressive guy that
comes forward.”
Perhaps
HBO will employ the same strategy they did with the Klitschkos. When there is a
particular match-up they like, they purchase it. If not, it will be up to Arum
to live up to his contractual obligations to Rigondeaux on his own.
HBO
and Top Rank are stuck with each other. Because of this, they may both be stuck
with Rigondeaux.
FINAL
FLURRIES
For
those who haven't ever hear or seen the Mora “Playoffs?!” vid, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwq7BYOnDrM...Geez,
rough years for Koreans on “Friday Night Fights,” huh?...I think Edwin
Rodriguez, at the very least, earned himself another appearance on HBO by
blowing out Denis Grachev the way he did...I'll say this for Kell Brook; it
looks like he'll consistently be in good scraps...Johnny Football is gonna
Johnny Football...Is anyone ever really surprised when a world-class sprinter
tests positive for PEDs?...Good to have “The Newsroom” back....Can you believe
NFL training camps start in about a week or two? That's great...
