Over the decades boxing has changed, although the politics have pretty much remained the same, fighters no longer have to prove themselves to get TV airtime for their fights. They have a manager negotiate their fighter’s way to the table. The most notable manager to do that is Al Haymon.
True, it is the job of a manager to have their fighter’s best interest at heart and yes they do get a percentage of the fighter’s money but not all fighters are deserving of airtime and even more main event status. Two Al Haymon fighters that come to mind instantly are Rico Ramos and Andre Berto. Ramos has seemed to have faded into the abyss but Berto; well he is still hanging on to life on the airwaves. But what is most surprising is that he is headlining an event on Showtime, courtesy of Al Haymon.
Berto has faced weak competition for a majority of his career and when I say weak I don’t mean that the fighters have no talent. I mean a majority of them were smaller guys that received a good pay check to move up in weight and take a loss against a bigger fighter. Berto should not have been undefeated for as long as he was. Luis Collazo should have held a victory over him. But when fighters who were more skilled than him stepped up against him he was outclassed and outgunned.
With the PED scandal that plagued Berto going into his rematch with Ortiz he should of faded, or at least moved to undercard fighter and no longer be the gatekeeper to a Floyd Mayweather fight for whoever beats him.
But that’s where the power of Al Haymon comes in. True the fans best interest is not always what he goes for but he does look out for his fighters. As fans we must take the bad with the good but being force-fed main events staring Berto is starting to get old. Once Berto is able to prove himself against top level competition, he should not main event anything except bingo night at the old folks home.
