Hugo Centeno star factor apparent even during PBC dark match

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NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06:  Hugo Centeno Jr. throws a punch to James De La Rosa during a middleweight fight at the Barclays Center on December 6, 2014 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City.  (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

It was nearly 11:30 PM by the time Hugo Centeno made his way into the ring for his scheduled 10 round fight with Josue Obando, which made it the next morning on the east coast. The fact that a 10 rounder was being fought so late, nearly two hours after the main event had passed on the card, had a negative impact on spectator interest.  Not just that, but the Centeno bout took place 90 minutes following the post-fight presser and about an hour after Omar Figueroa — a participant in that main event — was sent to a nearby hospital for a routine checkup, which was around the same time that more than half the arena cleared out.

 

But by the time Centeno made his way out to the ring there had already been two other matches — a middleweight scrap featuring 2012 Olympian Terrell Gausha and Ronnie Shields’ apprentice Justin DeLoach — and by that time, there were fewer fans in attendance. It was quiet enough that you could audibly hear the grumblings from arena workers who realized that they were going to have to potentially sit through a 10 rounder so late on the card before being able to start the process of cleaning up – little did they know there was another match after Centeno.

 

Needless to say, Centeno’s match caused more angst for the majority of the spectators left.

 

The issue was that Centeno was one of the bright spots on a PBC card that included Victor Ortiz, Chris Arreola, the aforementioned Figueroa, and a handful of young prospects such as Mario Barrios and Adam Lopez.

 

The PBC card that took place this past Saturday was televised on NBC and it was the last PBC show that was to be broadcasted on a major TV network for the remainder of the year (some undercard fights were televised on NBC Sports Net). It was also significant that the event took place in a major arena in a major fight city like San Antonio. The AT&T Center is a big arena and it is the home to the San Antonio Spurs basketball team.

 

What is so significant about the arena is the fact that PBC could’ve opted to have the event at one of the many smaller facilities in San Antonio, but instead they wanted to produce one last major card for the 2015 calendar.

 

With some many fighters in the PBC/Al Haymon stable, this card was given the responsibility of being a final spot for some of the fighters in that stable to get one last fight in before the conclusion of the year. With so many fighters needing to make their competition quota for the year, the event shaped out to be a 15-fight card, that is, a card with 15 fights on the docket.

 

Now, I’m not suggesting that Centeno should’ve received top bill or even main card exposure, after all, he was in the ring with an opponent that had 7 losses before the match started. Still, Centeno mattered much more than the design of his fight time.

 

It was back in April of this year when Centeno announced that he had signed with powerful advisor Al Haymon. The decision was somewhat of a shock, not because it was a bad move necessarily and not that most of the top talent in boxing over the past several years (specifically over the past 2 years) have been doing the same thing.

 

However, Centeno had been closely affiliated with Golden Boy Promotions for the latter part of his career, especially when it came to his most high-profile fights. Although Centeno was managed by Joel De La Hoya, brother of GBP’s Founder Oscar De La Hoya, he was never signed to Golden Boy.

 

After being without a fight for the majority of 2015, Haymon was able to salvage Centeno’s year by getting him two fights, but neither were of any real consequence, especially considering Centeno was coming off of arguably the biggest win in his career—a 5th round KO on the televised portion of an HBO broadcast.

 

Haymon is taking his time with Centeno in terms of competition, which is probably a good thing. But he needs to fully understand what he has in Centeno from a marketing standpoint.

 

Sure, there are some aspects of his game that leave a little more to be desired, but he has real skill.

 

Centeno’s last performance against Obando was spotty. He boxed well in spots, but he was hit a little too often and he could’ve moved laterally a bit more in an effort to showcase his athleticism. Instead, he moved backward to avoid a single punch but not the majority of the attack. He wasn’t able to hurt his opponent with anything solid, and the punches that did land had little effect on Obando.

 

Centeno was able to secure the unanimous decision, but one judge did see it fit to score the fight 96-94.

 

Still, Centeno is incredibly marketable even with the pop of a 50% KO ratio in his 24 win total. He has the looks, he has the style, and he has the persona that could resonate with boxing’s large Hispanic fan base.

 

Centeno is handsome, but that is not the full appeal. He maintains the kind of style that is up-to-date with today’s Hispanic culture. Women flocked over De La Hoya during his fighting career because he was exactly what the female audience desired. From the way he dressed to the mannerisms, Oscar was the perfect star for Hispanic fans in his era.

 

But in this new era, Centeno possesses all of those same desired qualities, only he is a fresh, more modern version. His current path is a modest one, but if 2016 will be the year that Haymon begins to build unrealized stars within his PBC stable then he’ll have to first distinguish which of his fighters deserve the chance to expand.

 

Centeno has real potential. He is the kind of fighter that casual fans would be drawn to based on sheer appearance. He could seemingly take another soft touch or two and that would be just fine considering the prospects of the middleweight division and how quickly you go from fighting overmatched opponents to the best 160 has to

 

I’m not sure how well Centeno can swim with the sharks that make up the middleweight division, but, if promoted correctly, then fans will at least care when that day comes.