Let the fight marinate: Good or bad for boxing?
By Anthony "Zute" George
Boxing has always been about the best fighting the best. Indeed, when the top pugilists of their time fight each other, it can do wonders for their legacies, win or lose. Case in point, Carl Froch.
Carl is a boxer who is not going to be mistaken for the best of his era, however, he is held in high regard because of his impressive resume. Win or lose, Froch fought them all. That is all you can ask for. That is all fans want.
I often kid the boxing public about their fascination with Harry Greb, but it is clear the fascination exists because Greb’s record is loaded with Hall of Famers. If the best fight the best it goes a long way.
Or does it?
I have been told I am a fool if I think boxers care about their legacy and it shows that I know nothing about the business of boxing.
Hmmm.
So, what is it all about?
Sometimes it is about when the best fight the best. ‘Let the fight marinate’ as they say. What this means is we will have to wait a long time to see the fight we really want. But let us really dissect the meaning of the word marinate.
To let something marinate, like a steak, is an attempt to have the best possible eating experience (for everyone except the poor cow, go vegan!). Because if you just devour a steak before it can soak up all the flavors to compliment it, well it is not as a euphoric experience for your palate.
Let us translate that into boxing. When promoters want a fight to marinate are they doing it to give us the best possible aesthetic experience, or are they doing it to maximize their financial gain for their company? If it is the latter it proves that boxing is a business that does not put the customer first.
Let us look at the current situation with Top Rank Boxing, Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez. By all accounts, these two fine 140-pound pugilists should be getting ready to fight each other. It would be an immediate fight of the year candidate that would generate massive social media buzz; nobody talks around the water cooler anymore.
Instead, both fighters are set to fight much softer competition.
All because Bob Arum and Top Rank Boxing feel that the fight between Ramirez and Prograis needs to marinate.
As it stands, with Regis’ plans pretty set for the next few fights, we may never get to see this fight. Which is a shame because it is the best possible fight that can be made at 140-pounds right now.
Does Ramirez vs. Prograis stand to be a better fight, let’s say a year and a half from now? Does it stand to make more money? I say no on both accounts. But only time will tell.
There is no doubt Bob Arum is a much smarter business man than me, but I think this is a clear case of him thinking Prograis is too much of a risk for his fighter, Ramirez, who does make him a lot of money, especially when he fights in Fresno.
The reason why they can get away with this is because both Prograis and Ramirez are fun to watch and boxing fans will show up regardless of the opponent. With loses being so detrimental to a prize fighter these days, I suppose it is a smart move. There is also the hope that if both fighters keep winning they will eventually have to face each other. Sound theory, but it does not always work out that way.
Even in the 1970’s and early 80’s, when there were only two world titles, there were very few unified champions. That my friends, is boxing.
Chin up boxing fans, boxing history does show us that, "let the fight marinate" sometimes works.
When Thomas Hearns thrashed Pipino Cuevas to capture the WBA welterweight championship, in August of 1980, most boxing fans anticipated an immediate showdown between The Hitman and WBC Champion Ray Leonard. Angelo Dundee, the man with the ultimate juice, said not so fast. Angelo felt that this fight needed a bigger build up, to maximize the bank accounts of everyone involved.
Dundee could not have been more correct. When the fight went down in September of 1981, it was a closed-circuit smash and one of the best fights of all-time. After his fights with Roberto Duran, Leonard was more battle-tested pugilist, and in my opinion was key to the fight. Not only was Hearns new to such a big spotlight, trainer Emmanuel Steward was under the bright lights for the first time as well, and by some accounts, Mr. Steward did not have a good night working Tommy’s corner.
With that said, the loss did nothing to taint the legacies of Hearns or Steward, and the fact that Leonard waited so long to give Hearns the rematch everyone wanted to see, turned out to be a hit for Ray. Albeit a slight one.
So, fight margination does work in some cases. But Leonard vs. Hearns did not take years to soak up the flavors. Nowadays, “let the fight marinate” can take years.
Look at Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. That fight happened about five years too late. But with all the money it made, who can say it was a bad move? Indeed, it was aesthetic agony for the fans, but what does that have to do with the business of boxing? Right? Everyone involved in that fight made out like a bandit, and the fans were left less than satisfied. Their brains saturated with thoughts of ‘what if’ the fight happened when both fighters were still at the top of their game. Keep thinking.
And that is the biggest problem in boxing. So often, we never get to see the best fight the best, or when we do it is when the fighters have lost a little, or a lot; think Ray Boom Boom Mancini vs. Hector Macho Camacho.
That is why Leonard vs. Hearns is still held in high regard today. It is one of the few times where the two best fighters of their division fought at the exact right time. Fraizer vs. Ali also comes to mind, but that fight had a lot of unique attachments to it.
What is the most clamored fight today? I would say Joshua vs. Wilder. While building up the fight doesn’t seem to be the reason why this fight might not happen - as there are constant negotiations to make the fight, we may not see it nonetheless.
Sad but true.
Rival promoters or television networks can do wonders to spoil a fight in today’s scope of boxing. Which is why when we have a situation where everyone is willing to play nice with each other, like with the Ramirez vs. Prograis fight, we do not have time to, “let the fight marinate,” we need to see it now.
Is it too much to ask from the business of boxing to give us the fights we really want? Here is a list of fights I am sure everyone would love to see:
- Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder
- David Benavidez vs. Gilberto Ramirez
- Gennady Golovkin vs. Jermall Charlo
- Jarret Swift Hurd vs. Jermell Charlo
- Errol Spence Jr. vs. Jeff Horn/Terrence Bud Crawford winner
- Jose Ramirez vs. Regis Prograis
- Mickey Garcia vs. Vasyl Lomachenko
- Gary Russell Jr. vs. Leo Santa Cruz/Abner Mares winner
- Sirsaket Sor Runvisai vs. Jerwin Acajes
- Sergey Kovalev vs. Artur Beterbiev
Within one year, how many of these fights will we actually see? I am sure you can make your own wish list and just sit and wait to see if the boxing business cares about making the fans happy, or are they just interested in bleeding us dry, teasing us all the while.
People like to say the boxing game is strong, but, if we do not get at least three of these fights (I am willing to buy low) how can it be?
And remember, if we all turn vegan there is no need to marinate.
Twitter @Zute29
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