Boxing is a fringe sport with a limited number of casual viewers and a much smaller cadre of dedicated fans—those who can name more than five or six current champions out of the sixty-eight possible slots. Other barriers to following the sport include constantly changing champions, worldwide nationalities (and with it, worldwide names), lack of cohesive schedules, and most importantly, lack of coverage by the general sports media.
One of the most often-mentioned “cures” for “fixing boxing”, meaning to help keep boxing in the mainstream discussion, is that of “the best fighting the best”. What does this mean? And does it really matter?
The Best Fighting The Best–When this phrase is tossed about on message boards or in chat rooms, it carries different definitions. It can mean highly-rated fighters in the same weight class, such as the upcoming clash between super flyweights Carlos Cuadros and Juan Francisco Estrada. Another definition is fighters generally considered to be the best in the game, the pound-for-pound players, versus other respected pugilists. The recent Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev II fight is an example of two of the top fighters in the game going head to head. It can also mean the most entertaining fighters fighting other television-friendly fighters. The bout between Miguel Berchelt and Takashi Miura on July 15th fits into that category.
Does it Matter?–While followers of the sweet science can certainly appreciate these matchups, the drawback in each of these bouts is easy to ascertain. With the possible exception of Ward, who has a friendship with players on the NBA basketball team Golden State Warriors and has been “spotted” at games, they are all unknowns to general sports fans. Familiarity is far more important than ability. Entertainment value is secondary, but still well below being a brand-name. Casual sports fans will take a peek for a name, and stay on the channel for the entertainment. For all of the heart, talent, and ability that will be displayed on September 9th with Cuadros-Estrada, as well as Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs Roman Gonzalez, perhaps a million viewers will tune in on HBO (to which they already have a subscription) to watch. This card will likely get no coverage on ESPN and will be another footnote in the annals of Boxrec. Meanwhile, two weeks prior, a mismatch of epic proportions between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Conor McGregor will take place. This event will be followed by the paparazzi, hyped by the media, and will be given maximum exposure by ESPN and other sports networks. The hope is that the media can create an event in which they can be a part. This event is aiming for 4 million PPV buys–an event between the best, and an unranked total no-hoper. What about recent “best vs best” PPVs? Gennady Golovkin vs Daniel Jacobs–170K. Ward-Kovalev 150K. Ward-Kovalev II-130K. Even the most anticipated bout of the year, Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez, may only do half the PPVs of the Mayweather-McGregor event.
What Does This Mean?–Marketing and familiarity are all that matter. Mayweather will get win number 50 and a huge payday fighting a guy who has very little amateur experience and has never boxed professionally. ESPN used a full-court press on the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn bout and they were rewarded with the highest cable viewership for a boxing match in 12 years–over 4.4 million viewers for a bout that was a perceived mismatch. Although Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford are not household names, they will reap the benefits of ESPN marketing for their upcoming bouts, which will provide them an opportunity to gain more fans. In the long term, this should benefit them as they make the leap to the PPV platform for larger-payout bouts. For all the talk of “the best vs the best”, the only way fans can attempt to sway the market is by voting with their dollars, and buying only the PPVs that display that attribute. If life was fair, Golovkin-Alvarez and Ward-Kovalev would do much better business and get much more press than Mayweather-McGregor. Before fans click the “purchase event” button on their respective remote for any PPV, they need to realize that their vote, whether for “best vs best” or “familiar name”, will influence what bouts will be made in the future.