Scared Money Don't Make Money

By: Steven Ngati

        We were lied to. It wasn’t the first time, nor will it be the last, but boxing fans around the world were lied to. Following an explosive knockout victory over Amir Khan, the stage was set for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KO) to finalize a deal to take on arguably the most dangerous boxer on the planet Gennady Golovkin, better known as “GGG” (35-0, 32 KO). Some in the boxing community had questioned why Alvarez was even fighting a lighter defensively challenged opponent in Khan. Most of us let it slide though, because Khan was big name and we figured it would be a decent matchup even though anyone with an ounce of boxing knowledge knew that Khan would get knocked out because of his glass chin. Well, Cinco de Mayo came around and Canelo blasted Khan with a beautiful right cross to land the signature knockout of 2016. After the fight, Canelo and boxing fans alike were on cloud nine as it seemed the next big super fight would finally get done. Canelo immediately called out GGG sitting ringside and proclaimed that he was ready for the ultimate challenge. Canelo didn’t just call out GGG, but he announced himself as the face of boxing. Canelo and Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya said negotiations for the Canelo-GGG fight in September 2016 would begin immediately. It was music to our ears, unfortunately I and other boxing fans across the world bought what Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions sold us.

Canelo Alvarez may be the best Mexican born fighter since Julio Cesar Chavez. Photo Credit: (LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS)

To understand the problem here is to understand the politics that has drowned the sport of boxing. I was raised in a boxing household. My father came to this country as foreign exchange college student in the early 1980’s and actually trained to become a lightweight fighter. He fought in a few amateur bouts before realizing he needed his brains to be intact if he wanted to become an attorney. His love of the sport was infectious and I grew up watching all the fights he recorded on VHS tapes. He taught me about the sport by dissecting classic bouts such as Hagler-Hearns, Leonard-Duran, Pryor-Arguello, even bouts as early as Ali-Holmes and the tragic Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini vs. Duk Koo Kim fight (Kim passed away five days after the fight and it led to boxing going from 15 round fights to 12). Why no one has made a major biopic film of this historical title fight is beyond me. A lot of these fights were on CBS at the time, so anybody could afford to enjoy them live. Unfortunately, as the years went by promoters flooded the business and made big name fights harder and harder to come by. Their intentions of driving up the demand for certain fights are noble in theory, but with so many crooked hands in the pot the sport has become a political battleground that has turned away fans by the masses over the last 30 years. We waited six years for the last mega fight, Mayweather-Pacquiao and it while it was a massive disappointment for boxing fans, Mayweather took home an estimated $300 million dollars (the most money ever for a professional athlete for a single event) and Pacquiao pocketed over $160 million, by far the most he had made for a single fight. We sacrificed seeing the two best fighters in the sport face one another in their prime so a small group of people could have a massive payday. Making as much money as humanly possible has outweighed doing what’s best for the greater good of boxing for too long. What’s even crazier to me is that greed is keeping everyone in the sport from making even more money! Nobody I know wants to see Mayweather-Pacquiao II and while it could still happen the public has such a bad taste in their mouth from the first fight that the PPV buys would be nowhere close to the records they set for that fight last year. I believe had they fought when they were both at their peaks they would’ve made even more money because that would’ve been an epic trilogy that could’ve potentially grossed well over $1 billion based on the quality of the fights. Mayweather and Pacquiao would’ve been beloved by the public, because the best fought the best, which is the number one thing fans want. Happy fans means more fans, increased popularity means more money. In my scenario everyone wins, but unfortunately this isn’t reality.

GGG's dominance has been a blessing and a curse. He is now marketable and popular amongst fight fans, but other fighters are scared to get in the ring with him. Photo Credit: USATSI

I almost threw a glass across my living room when I read Dan Rafael’s tweet that Canelo-GGG had been pushed to the fall of 2017. Politics in boxing had won again. Golden Boy cited that Canelo wanted to work his way up to fighting at 160 pounds since GGG has been a mainstay in the Super Middleweight division for years. That sounds all well and good until they announced afterwards that Canelo would be fighting little known, Liam Smith in September 2016 at 154 pounds. Wait, what? I thought the goal was to get ready for 160?  Weight often gets thrown around as an excuse when a fighter is trying to avoid fighting an intimidating opponent. Bottom line, scared money, don’t make money. Canelo and the Golden Boy camp are scared of GGG. K2 Promotions which represents GGG has stated that they are willing to take the B side on a Canelo-GGG card and accept a 60-40 split just to get a fight done. De La Hoya responded with saying we won’t be bullied into fighting on his timeline. With GGG being the mandatory challenger, Canelo forfeited his belt to give himself more time to wiggle out of his fight night promise of a September super fight. Keep in mind, the guy who is already at 160 pounds, undefeated with the longest KO streak in the sport is the one making all of the concessions. According to The Ring Magazine Pound for Pound World Rankings, GGG is ranked as the 3rd best boxer in the world, Canelo ranked 8th. They are currently the only two middleweights in the Top 10 rankings. Majority of the boxing insiders and publications have GGG beating Canelo should they ever fight, which makes Canelo a prohibitive underdog. The stats and rankings are nice, but none of it matters because Canelo is the bigger more established name and will drive the PPV buys. Ultimately, he and Golden Boy dictate the rules of engagement. GGG has a solid cult like following though, and he’s developed his brand since moving to LA full time, becoming fluent in English and signing endorsement deals with Jordan and Apple. In a way, GGG is living the definition of the American Dream. His story is heartwarming, but don’t let his smile and easy going personality fool you, GGG is a bad boy. His punching power is off the charts, his hand speed is underrated and he has unbelievable footwork which he uses to cut the ring off and suffocate opponents into fighting from an uncomfortable platform. As a matter of fact, only three guys have gone to distance against him, the last of which was eight years ago. Not to mention, GGG has never been knocked down in his professional career. It’s not a mystery when you look at how many guys have notoriously ducked him over the years, either opting to move up or down in weight to avoid stepping in the ring against GGG. With all this being said, GGG sounds like the perfect fighter, but Canelo has discovered a weakness, his age. GGG is 34 years old, Canelo only 25. Canelo realizes he has time on his side and it’s only a matter of time before GGG’s physical skills begin to deteriorate.

Canelo (left) and GGG (right) can help elevate the sport of boxing if they can ever get in the ring together. Photo Credit: Ring TV

 Pushing the fight out to 2017 is only the beginning. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about injuries and contractual issues as the fall 2017 date nears. Another concern I have is the fight could potentially never happen if one of them gets knocked out by somebody else over the next year and a half. As great as both these guys are, all it takes is one punch by some random underdog to alter the course of boxing history. Canelo and GGG could potentially fight as many as six fights before facing each other. Obviously, that would be worst case scenario so we don’t need to go any further down the path of them losing to other challengers. The blame for the September 2016 fight not getting done falls squarely on the shoulders of Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya. What surprises me and many other boxing fans is we thought the political bullshit was starting to leave boxing because Mayweather retired and Top Rank’s boss/Pacquiao promoter, Bob Arum doesn’t have a dog in the fight. (Mayweather and Arum’s hatred of one another was another reason it took six years to get Mayweather and Pacquiao in the ring). Oscar De La Hoya, who was extremely vocal in his criticism of Mayweather waiting to fight Pacquiao, is playing a very similar game with his most promising fighter. What disappoints me even more is that Oscar was the opposite during his own boxing career. At one point Oscar was the face of boxing himself, and what made him one of the biggest sports stars in the world was the fact that he never ducked anyone. Oscar fought every big name welterweight in the world during the 1990’s and 2000’s, win or lose he gained the reputation as an ultimate warrior, the highest honor that a man can receive from boxing fans. He has a 25 year old fighter on the brink of superstardom that already has as impressive a resume as any young fighter has had in the last 20 years. Canelo has beaten Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Carlos Baldomir, Shane Mosley, Austin Trout, Josesito Lopez and Erislandy Lara before turning 26 in July. Canelo’s lone loss came against Floyd Mayweather Jr. back in 2013 when he was only 22 years old and very inexperienced. Since the Mayweather loss, Canelo has been on a roll and become one of the biggest draws in the sport. Unfortunately, his momentum is quickly fading due to the growing public perception that he is scared of GGG. Being a Mexican champion opens Canelo up to extra criticism as the fans in his country are accustomed to being represented by guys who are fearless warriors willing to get in the ring with anyone, IE; Julio Cesar Chavez. Whether Canelo is scared or not, perception is reality in the sport of boxing and De La Hoya should understand this. Young Oscar would’ve taken this fight in a heartbeat in the 90’s and he certainly didn’t have the resume that Canelo does at the same point in their careers. If Canelo wants to be the face of boxing, he has to fight and beat GGG. Doesn’t Oscar De La Hoya want to be the guy responsible for ending the political strongholds in boxing and making the fights that the fans want to see? Maybe Oscar has allowed greed to overcome him and taken a turn for the dark side. That may sound extreme, but the sake of boxing is being held hostage by what Oscar and Canelo decide. As we learned in The Dark Knight, “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” We watched Floyd Mayweather Jr. become the biggest villain in the sport over the last decade. Now that he’s gone, are Canelo and Oscar next to fill the void? For boxing’s fate, I hope not.