After weeks of speculating, Golden
Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions made a long-awaited announcement on Thursday
afternoon: the junior welterweight showdown between Lucas Matthysse and titleholder
Danny Garcia is signed, sealed and delivered and has been placed on the
pay-per-view undercard in support of main event Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez, September 14th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“The big one got even
bigger,” said Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy's CEO. “Floyd is putting his money
where his mouth is, creating the single biggest pay-per-view event of all-time
by adding, after Mayweather-‘Canelo,’ the next most anticipated fight in the sport
of boxing on the September 14th pay-per-view. Yes, it's done.
“Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia versus
Lucas ‘The Machine’ Matthysse will happen. And yes, it will happen on September
14th as part of ‘The One.’ ‘The One’ got even bigger.”
The days of Simon Brown-Maurice
Blocker and Jeff Fenech-Azumah Nelson on major pay-per-view cards are long
gone, replaced by a bevy of house fights and big names being fed cannon fodder.
The belief in the boxing business is that it's solely the main event that
drives pay-per-view sales.
It's a highly anticipated fight
that could headline on its own merits on Showtime.
What's interesting is that
this promotion is already doing well. Schaefer announced that in addition to
the live gate - which will be over $19.5 million - over 12,000 closed-circuit
seats have been sold. He says he's looking to add up to 20,000 more. The
pay-per-view is expected to have in the neighborhood of two million buys.
This promotion would do
robust numbers with or without Garcia-Matthysse on the card.
Leonard Ellerbe of
Mayweather Promotions said, “Floyd made it very clear to us that he wanted to
give the fans the biggest and the best fights on his card as possible. And with
this fight being made, Garcia and Matthysse, this is going to be a tremendous
card. This fight is a main event alone and it has ‘Fight of the Year’ written
all over it. It's just another example of how Floyd has put the sport on his
back. He's trying to bring awareness to the sport with this fight, giving it
the worldwide platform it truly deserves and, in my eyes, it's just another
step in the right direction in making boxing a mainstream sport.”
A three-city press tour has
been scheduled for this bout, which will hit New York, Puerto Rico and Los Angeles.
“This is the fight I wanted
and the fight that I asked for. That is why I’m so happy this fight has
been made and will be a part of this huge event,” said Danny Garcia. “I’m more
confident than ever in my abilities and I’m going to show it on September 14. Matthysse
is a good fighter and has a big punch but I’m a talented fighter with what it
takes to be a champion and stay that way. This is an opportunity for the
world to see what I can really do in the ring.”
“I’m glad I finally get a
chance to fight Danny Garcia,” said Lucas Matthysse. “This is the fight
that the entire boxing world - especially my country, Argentina - and I wanted.
I want to thank my promoters, Golden Boy Promotions and Mario Arano for making
this fight possible. On September 14, I will show the world that I am the
best 140-pound fighter on the planet.”
So yes, it's happening. For
hardcore boxing fans, it almost seems too good to be true.
“We did not have to do this,”
stated Schaefer. “We did not have to add this to September the 14th.
The tickets are sold out; records are being broken and yet, we added this fight
to this amazing night of boxing. This is without any question, a thank you to
the fight fans and an attempt to bring new fans to the sport and show the
boxing world how great our sport is and loaded pay-per-view cards are a
hallmark of Golden Boy and Mayweather Promotions. We believe that consumers
deserve these kind of cards.
“The Butterbean days are
over.”
TIX
Tickets for the September 7th bout between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Brian Vera at the Staples Center go on
sale on Friday. Here's the info (from a Top Rank press release):
Tickets, priced at $250,
$150, $100, $75 and $50 (plus applicable taxes and fees), can be purchased
online at http://www.axs.com, by
telephone at (888) 929-7849 or at the STAPLES Center box office, Monday -
Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
THE
NEXT ROUND
Here's
the latest edition of “TNR” with Gabe Montoya and Yours Truly:
FRIDAY
FLURRIES
Schaefer
says that October 19th in Atlantic City will see the return of
Bernard Hopkins...Actually looking forward to “Friday Night Fights” when
Olusegun Ajose faces Hank Lundy and the “ShoBox” main event between Mickey “The
Juice” Bey and Johnny Molina...I like Malik Scott to outpoint Dereck Chisora on
Saturday...Would anyone object to a fight between Luis Abregu and Wale
Omotoso?...Dominick Guinn is the new opponent for Tomasz Adamek on August 3rd ...Here's a story I did on Brad Kayaa and Rudy Carpenter for CanesInSight.com: http://canesinsight.com/content/1890-Kayaa-and-Carpenter-by-Steve-Kim...So
will Adrien Broner ever go back to Charmin?...
