Of course if you had read my last column on the Premier Boxing Champion Series, you would know that I’ve had some complaints in terms of the fights that are partaking in the months of August and September. With HBO taking time off, I felt the series could have done better to take over.
Of course, I have to be reminded that they are six months in, and maybe things like this take time. But I don’t write from a fighter’s perspective or a manager’s perspective as I don’t get a single dime from PBC or its affiliates. Instead, I wrote from a media member’s perspective in terms of the business model and fan’s perspective who just want the best fights and to attend fights that make sense.
While it’s great to hear the stories of Al Haymon getting fighters fights, paying them what they want and being in a locker room talking to them after the fights, none of it matters if the product isn’t delivering. While I don’t think the product fully took advantage of the opportunity it does have intriguing fights in August and September, mainly McDonnell-Kameda 2, Spence-Van Heerden, and of course Mares-Santa Cruz this weekend.
However, I will give PBC credit for this, it seems like they are staging fights in the fall where they belong. Mares-Santa Cruz tickets were priced correctly and for all intents and purposes doesn’t seem to be struggling at the gate.
Though Deontay Wilder’s September opponent is hoe hum, the bout does take place in Alabama where he drew well last time out and on NBC. Like it or not a heavyweight on NBC can draw huge ratings so it’ll be interesting to see how Wilder draws on NBC.
October 3rd will put Adrien Broner in a tough bout against Khabib Allakhverdiev with a co-feature on Jose Pedraza and Edner Cherry. For starters that’s a very good card. Secondly, the fight will take place in Cincinnati, the hometown of Adrien Broner. Maybe the ship has sailed on Broner but good to see the attempt is there. Rumor is the bout will be on Showtime.
October 16th, a PBC on SpikeTV a bout between Andrzej Fonfora and Nathan Cleverly will take place in Chicago. The bout is an intriguing one and also placed in the right direction.
There is also a rumor that PBC will return to Newark on a Spike TV card with the headliner being Krzysztof Glowacki. The rumored opponent is Beibut Shumenov. The co-feature according to the source would be another Polish fighter Artur Spzilka taking on Chris Arreola in a heavyweight class. Both fights are interesting, and the location is spot on.
BoxingScene.com reported that Erislandy Lara would be returning in November from Miami with a possible co-feature of another Cuban in Rances Barthelemy against Denis Shafikov. This will be a true testament of Cubans selling in Miami. Though I think that theory is flawed, at least PBC is trying to test the theory.
There are a lot of things that still need correction in the PBC model, but I’d have to say putting fights where they belong, is a move in the right direction. Let’s hope more compelling fights follow too.
