September 19 is a big day for both boxing and MMA. Jim Lampley may be shaking in his boots. The HBO announcer has trashed MMA saying it will never compete with the biggest names in boxing. Well, it's put up or shutup time as a Floyd Mayweather pay-per-view card in Las Vegas is pitted against UFC 103 in Dallas. According to Lampley, the biggest stars in boxing will eat the UFC alive.
Mayweather also calls himself the PPV king. One problem with that, the only huge numbers Mayweather has ever pulled on PPV came when his opponent brought millions to the table. Juan Manuel Marquez is not Oscar De La Hoya or Ricky Hatton.
The other problem boxing has had recently, as its seen its PPV numbers slip down to an average of 300,000-350,000 buys, has been the depth of the cards. Give Golden Boy credit it is trying to remedy the situation and actually give fans more than one fight for their $50. It'll be announced today (in a conference call that just so happens to be going head-to-head with a UFC 102 call) that the card actually has three more quality fights. Chris John will rematch Rocky Juarez at lightweight. Michael Katsidis, who has the potential to be the new Arturo Gatti, faces 2004 U.S. Olympian Vincente Escobedo. And Zab Judah returns to battle Antonio Diaz. This card should be able to compete with a UFC card headed up by Dan Henderson Rich Franklin v. Vitor Belfort, shouldn't it? Or has so much damage been done between the dead periods on the boxing schedule and the lousy undercards of the past that the Mayweather card won't even compete with UFC 103 as far as sales go?
UFC beats Mayweather PPV hands down if they go head to head. Who are the majority of the bars and resturaunts going to watch? UFC is cheaper for them. Will be interesting if they are truly trying to remedy the crappy undercard problem boxing has. I can't stand that bastard PBF and will never consciously give him a cent.
nate787 - lol. I love watching mma fans sweating boxing and doing everything they can to make boxing sound like a thing of the past. Marquez-Mayweather FTW.
Sorry to dissappoint, but many of us MMA fans started out as boxing fans. I'm not sweating anything. I hope that the competition will encourage boxing to improve its product.
nate787 - lol. I love watching mma fans sweating boxing and doing everything they can to make boxing sound like a thing of the past. Marquez-Mayweather FTW.
Didn't Mayweather retire after he fought De La Hoya a couple of years ago? When did he announce his coming-out-of-retirement for this fight?
I don't think UFC 103 has any chance of generating higher buyrates than PBF vs. JMM. MMA purists will appreciate how balanced the UFC 103 card is and there are a few intriguing matchups, specifically Cro Cop vs. Dos Santos.
But the casual fan will not be enticed to purchase a card without a major draw. The main event fight is a decent matchup with no title implications whatsoever (neither fighter will be receiving a title shot if they win).
Mayweather vs. Marquez will be built up exceptionally well, as important boxing fights always are, with HBO's 24/7 series. Mayweather will focus less on targeting MMA with his pre-fight controversy tour and focus more on his opponent as the show builds Marquez up as his toughest challenge to date.
MMA fans will be coming off a month with 2 shows, specifically UFC 101, that were can't miss cards. UFC 103 is certainly not a can't miss card. For boxing fans, Mayweather vs. Marquez is one of the 3 most intriguing fights of the year along with both of Pacquiao's matchups. It is a very, very big deal for boxing fans and there will be MMA fans who also follow boxing who may very well prefer Mayweather vs. Marquez (myself included).
Mayweather vs. Marquez should easily receive more buyrates than UFC 103. However, I don't think it will generate much more than UFC 101 did and it will come nowhere close to UFC 100. Although boxing & MMA will be going head to head, a buyrate victory for boxing would not indicate that it is still 'more popular' than MMA. UFC 103 is a decent card, nothing more nothing less. If UFC 100 doubles up Mayweather vs. Marquez (if it generates less than $1 million, which is expecteD), that will be far more telling than any numbers that UFC 103 pulls in.
Counterprogramming MMA against boxing makes a lot of sense and is in accord with a philosophy founded in furthering MMA as a sport.
Counterprogramming MMA against another MMA event seems to go against furthering the sport and is more in line with the generic business philosophy of profit uber alles.
