by Jody Kohn
With all the talk in recent years about how the world of mixed martial arts and the UFC were primed to surpass boxing as the king of combat sports, Saturday night showed that it is still a long way off from reality. The buzz from the Mayweather fight was deafening on both social media and throughout the television networks. Meanwhile, the UFC on Fox 3 offering was met with dismal ratings and little coverage.
Of course it is easy to dismiss this as a case of the highest profile fighter going up against a lackluster UFC card, but it isn’t that simple. First off, after the final numbers are tallied, there is a distinct possibility that more people may have paid to watch the pay per view than actually watched it for free on network television! That has to be disturbing for the folks both at Fox and ZUFFA. Secondly, although Mayweather was involved, he wasn’t standing across the ring from Manny Pacquiao. Although he is well respected, Miguel Cotto was not expected to present a real challenge (although he did) to Mayweather’s undefeated streak. So there has to be a number of fans who were not willing to shell out the money to see this fight in which they felt they were not getting the proper match up. Finally, Fox heavily promoted this card. A sport supposedly on the rise appearing on free television should easily get at LEAST the same numbers as an expensive pay per view.
For all its faults, and there are many, boxing still manages to deliver. Last night somewhere around 2 million people got to see a thrilling bout between two of the best in their sport. Floyd Mayweather Jr. displayed skill that is unmatched by few if any fighters of today or ever. His precision boxing and defense are a remarkable sight whether you are a fan or not. His counterpart, Miguel Cotto, was almost his equal. Showing amazing heart and tenacity, he gave Mayweather all he wanted and more. It was an incredible fight that everyone enjoyed.
The undercard, while not living up to the standards of the main event, had it’s moments as well. Saul Alvarez showed he has a brilliant future as he dominated a fading Shane Mosley. It gave the viewer a glimpse of a fighter who may very well carry the torch for the sport once the older stars have finished their careers. Mosley had nothing for Canelo, and although he is unlikely to retire, it should mark the end of his appearances in meaningful fights.
Jessie Vargas and Steve Forbes admittedly provided the least entertaining fight as Vargas coasted to a unanimous decision. Forbes can be forgiven for a lackluster performance as he took the fight on just eleven days notice. It isn’t easy to put on a show on such a large stage when given so little time to prepare. And the enigmatic Vargas showed that he can win either by putting on a boxing clinic, as this was, or by getting in the trenches and throwing bombs as he did in his last fight against Lanardo Tyner.
The pay per view opened with Carlos Quintana delivering a devastating knockout to Deandre Latimore in the sixth round. Quintana looked very impressive in a fight he went into as a slight underdog. Although he may never reach elite levels, he will be a difficult match for anyone he squares off against.
Meanwhile, the UFC chose to compete with Floyd Mayweather by offering up a very uninspiring card on Fox. The main event featured Jim Miller, a nice fighter, but one who makes Miguel Cotto look like the life of the party. His unspectacular personality is matched perfectly with his bland fighting style. He squared off with his polar opposite in Nick Diaz. But not in a good way. Diaz is angry at the world and he wants the world to know it. He shuns the media for the most part, and when he does speak it is usually to complain about something or to let everyone know how angry he is. In the ring, he is an amazing talent. But his showboating and mocking his opponents make it hard for people to root for him.
The fight lacked all of the suspense and fun that the Mayweather-Cotto bout enjoyed. Diaz was way too much for Miller and he cruised to a second round victory that offered no suspense. The only thing left to be seen was whether or not Diaz would embarrass himself or the sport in the post fight interview. Surprisingly, all he did was thank more people than have ever been thanked following a win.
The other fights were better. Pat Barry and Lavar Johnson put on an entertaining big man fight. Neither showed much defense as Johnson got the knockout late in the first. Apparently, Barry didn’t realize that you can actually move to avoid being hit rather than just absorbing dozens of blows. It wasn’t exactly skill on the level of Mayweather-Cotto, but it was fun nonetheless.
Addition action saw Josh Koscheck lose by split decision to Johny Hendricks and Alan Belcher impressively pounding out the dangerous Rousimar Palhares. Overall, it wasn’t a horrible night of fights from the UFC, but it was a far cry from what the boxing card produced.
I think the UFC made a huge mistake in electing to go head to head with a Mayweather fight with this card. Any fight Floyd is in will be a spectacle. If you are going to compete with that, you need to offer a spectacle as well. Offering a throw away card does nothing other than make your sport look less important than boxing. A card involving the superstars of the UFC would have served them much better. Of course they want to save those fights and fighters for the pay per views, but why go head to head with the best boxing has to give when you are just going to offer less than your best?
Hopefully the UFC learned a lesson here. They are still growing and with proper planning and execution, they can certainly compete with boxing. Chalk up Saturday night as a lesson learned and move on from there.
Boxing on the other hand will still have the same problems. Things are great when Mayweather or Pacquiao are fighting. But what about when they aren’t? When cancers such as Bob Arum continue to sabotage fights in their own personal interests, there will always be problems. Without the benefit of one organization responsible for the well being of boxing, I don’t know what can be done to correct it. Let’s just hope we get more Floyd Mayweather’s coming along that will keep it relevant no matter how much the sport tries to damage itself. But for at least one night, boxing showed it is still king.
