By Norm Frauenheim-
The news hasn’t been good. More like lousy.
On the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin front, nothing is happening. On Wednesday, there was news – more like non-news — that they have agreed not to agree, meaning the fight will probably happen in the fall of 2017. That’s when public demand is supposed to peak. At least, that’s the bet.
If television ratings in free fall are a trend, however, the source of that demand might not be there. PBC’s last primetime telecast, featured by Joe Smith Jr.’s quick stoppage of light-heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara last Saturday on NBC, approached the infinitesimal, dipping into the fractions at .8, barely a heart beat.
So, why am I feeling optimistic? Not sure, other than to say that the boxing is back at the perilous place where it always seems to be at its best. Beneath all the scars, there’s defiance.
It explains the resiliency, which within the ropes is personified by the fighter who gets up from a devastating knockdown to win. It explains how the business has survived the obits, of which there are many right now. Yet, that stubborn defiance, double-edged and chaotic, always pushes the game to the brink, too. Nothing is safe, not even – or perhaps especially — prosperity.
It’s back at that brink, all over again, for well-documented reasons, starting with the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao dud in May, 2015. The litany of bad news — an eroding fan base and falling revenue, sets the stage for another comeback.
One might already be underway with super-featherweight Orlando Salido’s dramatic draw on June 4 with Francisco Vargas at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
The next chapter might be played out Saturday night in the welterweight clash between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on CBS (9 pm ET/6 pm PT). Potentially, it’s a classic match of power (Thurman’s) against speed (Porter’s) between fighters just entering their primes.
Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) is 27; Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) is 28. There might be better welterweights. There’s the UK’s Kell Brook, who scored a majority decision over Porter at StubHub in 2014. There’s emerging Errol Spence, who a couple of years from now might be the best in the division.
In the here-and-now, however, there is Thurman-Porter on a big stage in a bout with enough elements for enough drama that for one night can make everybody forget about whether Canelo-GGG will ever happen.
“You got two young fighters in their prime, fighting on primetime,’’ said Thurman, who calls himself One Time. “I mean, this is the time. This is the primetime. Mayweather is gone. Pacquiao is gone. There is no better time than this time, you know, for this fight to go down and for each one of us to showcase our skills and our talent to the world and take it to that next level.
“So nothing – there should be not one ounce of hesitation from either fighter. It should be a great night of boxing. I’m definitely looking forward to it.’’
Stephen Espinoza, of CBS subsidiary Showtime, is hoping for what Thurman has promised.
“Boxing takes criticism for not making the right fights at the right time,’’ Espinoza said Thursday at a news conference. “One of the bad habits we have is that we spend time thinking about fights that might get made. But now we have the right fight, at the right time and at the right venue. It’s a disservice to not recognize that what is going on Saturday is very special.’’
Very necessary, too.
