2008: The Boxing Senior Tour

Boxing has a problem. Of course, if you believe those secondary writers on the sport (the football writers pulling double-duty when a big fight comes around), MMA promoters and ESPN magazine covers then the sport is dying: ‘TheFight to Save Boxing’ and such. Yet pay-per-view figures (2.1 million for De La Hoya/Mayweather, 850,000 U.S for Hatton/Mayweather) were greater than UFC and WWE’s highest (so who will ‘save’ them?).

As I write this, the recent Pacquiao/Marquez rematch was announced at having pulled 400,000 buys: a record for a fight below welterweight. Let us also not forget that in 2007 boxing sold out Vegas, Madison Square Garden and Calzaghe/Kessler drew over 50,000 in Cardiff, Wales. So let’s clear something up: boxing is not dying, nor does it need saving. Ironically, it is only those who write on boxing that seem to comment on its decomposing state. If anything, boxing suffers from low self-esteem: neurotic, like a pugilistic Woody Allen lamenting its state amidst the bright lights of Manhattan.

And, after the success of ‘07, I had even higher hopes for 2008. Last year created many fresh scenarios. New stars like Miguel Cotto (who took the step up to superstar last year) and Kelly Pavlik emerged. You see, in order for new stars to shine, generally, they have to beat the old stars. In wrestling they call it ‘passing the torch’. That way, there is a logical progression for the fans; like when De La Hoya beat Julio Cesar Chavez or Larry Holmes beat Muhammed Ali. One could argue part of the reason the heavyweight division is in the state it is in because its last two genuine champions, Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko, retired without losing to a guy who could carry the torch after they had gone.

Of course, one can’t make justifications if the younger guys had their shot and simply weren’t good enough (Michael Grant and Kirk Johnson) but at least those fights were made and the opportunity was there.

This year, though, seems set up for the Boxing Seniors Tour, where old names from the 90’s and the star of this decade fight each other to settle scores that really should have been settled by now. We had Roy Jones/Felix Trinidad in January, we have Hopkins/Calzaghe in April, a likely De La Hoya/Mayweather rematch in September and Mosley/Judah at the end of May. Boxers like Chad Dawson, Lucian Bute, Sergiy Dzindziruk and Edwin Valero (now cleared to fight in America) remain in the background waiting for a decreasing shot. Cotto and Antonio Margarito are more likely to face each other than Mayweather or De La Hoya. Not that any of them would definitely beat the ‘old guard’ or to say those of Roy Jones’ generation aren’t worth watching any more, but it would be nice for some of the younger guys to be given a shot. Stars are dead long before we stop seeing them, my brother tells me. The fact is Hopkins/Calzaghe, De La Hoya/Mayweather et al. will sell. In an age where fighters are businessmen themselves, they know they can create a nice little earner for themselves before they retire with less risk of being embarrassed by a younger guy.

So, fights I was looking forward to at the start of the year, Mayweather/Cotto, De La Hoya/Margarito, Pacquiao/Valero, seem destined for 2009 instead, if at all. Whilst a fresh fight like Hatton/Junior Witter or a much-wanted Pacquiao/Marquez rubber match are also far from certain. But we’ll always hope and debate whether they do or do not come off.

Boxing is the eternal tease, Tantalus, and that is why it will never die as long as we have something to reach for. And who knows? It’s an Olympic year: maybe then there will be some new stars to follow after the current ones finally fade.