This Saturday night Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez face off the third time in seven years. It will be showcased on HBO PPV; the fight also has the highly successful HBO 24/7 series to help build up for the fight. This time around the fight has some great back stories and interesting twists between the new strength and conditioning coach for Marquez and his questionable past.
However, as much hype and build up the fight is getting, there is something that I have been watching and paying attention to. A while back I mentioned that the UFC has an event planned for the same night on FOX cable television. UFC has carefully only placed one fight on the broadcast; the Heavyweight Championship between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos. It’s a great fight between two young and powerful heavyweights both of whom bring great action to the cage. Dana White is not only being smart about showcasing one fight on FOX but he is also very clever in his interviews about his UFC cable debut.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports White stated “This is a throwback to the old days of boxing, we are putting a big fight – a huge fight – on free TV to expose this thing to a new audience. Our goal has always been to bring big fights back to network television. We are thinking long-term for the future of this sport. It is an investment in the future of the UFC.”
Initially, I thought that UFC would have a stacked card with not only popular fighters but also fighters that were fan friendly action bouts. Perhaps White realized that no matter how great of a card he put on FOX, it would not compare to the highly anticipated Pacquiao-Marquez bout. In the end White and the UFC are staging one fight and using the rest of the broadcast as their advertisement for UFC. The UFC fan will already tune in, but now with the free broadcast on the major network, White is banking on a new set of fans to view a fight that should be on PPV. It wouldn’t be a surprise if throughout the FOX broadcast White and the commentators will continue to announce how the Velasquez-Santos fight should be on PPV and why fans need to start paying attention to UFC. Perhaps even a subtle jab at boxing or two.
Another take UFC and White may have with their FOX showcase is Cain Velasquez. On the same night Juan Manuel Marquez is fighting, White will be banking on a huge Latino population tuning into the PPV; I believe that White may be showcasing the Heavyweight who happens to be Mexican to the masses. UFC is a popular sport but it seems that it has not tapped into the Latino market as much as they would like. Cain Velasquez and his “Brown Pride” tattoo on his chest will get many non UFC fans to tune in to see who Velasquez is and how good he is.
As a boxing fan, I am interested in seeing the telecast and curious to see what type of programming the UFC will have on network TV. The thing that UFC does well is how they keep a live event moving, between bouts with the music and ads on the big screens, UFC is very good at keeping their fans entertained. Top Rank President Todd DuBoef may have even took a page out of UFC with mentioning how Top Rank may pay the fighters for having the best fight of the night, something UFC has regularly done for a while now. It may be a good move, typically for undercard fighter, who is paid a lot less than the main event fighters. Perhaps knowing that they could earn a bonus of $10,000 for knocking their opponent out would be a great incentive. These guys get in the ring and put their lives on the line every fight they are in; a bonus would mean a lot to these guys. I for one, hope that boxing takes this page from UFC.
And then…
Boxing has lost a great one. “Smokin” Joe Frazier passed away at the age of 67 on Monday night. Rest in Peace.
Joe Paterno, head coach of the Penn State football team will finally step down after 46 years as the face of Penn State Football. It was not the way anyone expected Paterno to leave his position. Paterno is leaving largely due in part to the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State and the State College community. While Paterno is not being accused of anything improper, Paterno informed his Athletic Director and no one else. However, Paterno failed to do the “morally” correct thing of going to the police with the information he had been told after a Graduate assistant saw an older man identified as Jerry Sandusky, a long time defensive coach at Penn State in the shower with a minor. Sandusky is now facing charges of child molestation-charges that span more than 10 years and who knows how many victims.
Having lived right outside the State College area for the last year, I have had the chance to be in State College numerous times, had season football tickets last year and up until Monday, never heard anyone talk bad about the Penn State football team or Paterno. However, all that goodwill seems to have left. Overhearing conversations and speaking with some people from State College, many are torn apart. The people that live in State College and have been in the area for years are defensive and quick to come to JoePa’s defense. However, people who are not from State College and have not seen the past 46 years and how Paterno helped the community and the university, see a man who overstayed his welcome- many feel that Paterno should have left a while ago. However, most people who are for and against Paterno agree- he failed to do what should have been done. Protect a child.