We never learn our lesson, do we?
Caleb Plant vs. Jermall Charlo was the latest marination project to blow up in our faces last weekend. One would think that we would learn from our mistakes and make the fight. Instead, both men fought different opponents on the same card. Charlo scored a sixth-round TKO of Thomas LaManna in his first fight in 18 months, and Caleb Plant, fighting for the second time in 26 months, lost a split decision to unheralded journeyman Armando Resendiz.
Why is it so common in boxing to have these tune-up contests? And why is the selling point always the same? ‘Well, if both fighters win, there’s a deal in place.’ How many times has that backfired? This isn’t just a PBC issue; it’s a problem throughout the sport, and boxing fans have a right to be disgusted.
The adamant refusal to just make the fight has caused many bouts to be either delayed for several years or not happen altogether. Below are some examples.
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Gervonta Davis
This has to be the most frustrating example because Lomachenko, a three-division world champion, announced his retirement on Thursday. Fans have clamored to see him fight Gervonta “Tank” Davis since 2017, but it never happened.
The fighters weren’t to blame. It was Floyd Mayweather, who stated in 2017 that Loma, who was 30 then, would have to wait for his then-pupil. “There’s no rush. Lomachenko has to rush because he’s 30 years old, so he has to rush,” Mayweather said.
“This kid [Davis] is still young, so we’re going to take our time. We’re not ducking and diving any opponent, but we’re not focused on any other opponents right now.
“We’re not throwing any names out there, but whoever takes the fight, Gervonta has an equalizer that can change the fight.”
Not only was Loma a threat to the investment, but he was Top Rank’s starfighter at the time and exclusive to ESPN. Mayweather worked with PBC and Showtime. The former five-division world champion would eventually say he was only interested in making fights “in-house.” In other words, that meant Davis taking on fighters in his stable rather than doing business with other promoters. Once Davis left Mayweather’s shadow, he tried to make the fight with Loma last fall, but it was too late.
Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder
This fight should have taken place in 2018. We had an opportunity to witness two undefeated heavyweights clash for the undisputed world championship. Instead, promotional egos got in the way. Eddie Hearn offered Wilder a 90-10 split, which the American was right to turn down. Both fighters would call each other out when they had already signed contracts to fight other guys, and then Deontay Wilder turned down a $100 million offer in 2019 to face Anthony Joshua.
However, it wasn’t an offer to face Joshua outright. The deal called for both men to fight other opposition first before meeting one another, followed by either an immediate rematch or another interim fight leading up to the second fight. It was never, ‘Hey, let’s make the fight.’ It was, ‘Let’s make this as difficult as possible because we don’t actually want to fight you.’
What ends up happening? Andy Ruiz knocked out Joshua, and Wilder eventually got stopped by Tyson Fury in their February 2020 rematch.
Joshua and Wilder finally agreed to fight in 2023. It was a two-fight deal, but once again, there was a caveat. Both fighters would be placed on separate cards first. You can guess what happened after that. Some fans will tell you, ‘Well, Wilder should have won that fight, or Plant should have done a better job.’ You would be correct. No one is exactly blameless in these scenarios, right? But what’s being ignored out of the equation are the promoters who are trying to milk everything out of the fans to maximize profit. And more often than not, it backfires on them, and the fans suffer the most.
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Mikey Garcia
Although this fight was a dream matchup, it was never realistic at the height of their primes due to the egos of their respective promoters. If Turki Al-Sheikh were around in 2018, this fight would have happened. Again, Lomachenko was exclusive to ESPN, and while Top Rank worked with other promoters on various events, their top fighters always fought on ESPN, and there was no further discussion.
Furthermore, Mikey Garcia was a Top Rank fighter before their bitter split and aligned with Al Haymon and Premier Boxing Champions, which had deals with Showtime and FOX. Not only was there a promotional issue, but they also didn’t have much time. Garcia was a big 135-pounder, and it was only a matter of time before he had to move up in weight, and that’s what ended up happening. It’s a shame because Garcia was the only fighter from 126 to 135 pounds who would have given Lomachenko a run for his money during the ‘No Mas-Chenko’ era.
Of course, it would also be nice if the sanctioning body overlords mandated fights that the fans wanted and appropriately enforced their rulings. But that’s common sense, and that’s not exactly visible in boxing.
Sergey Kovalev vs. Adonis Stevenson
This would have been a tremendous, light heavyweight title unification. Unfortunately, Sergey Kovalev’s promoter, Main Events, and PBC, Adonis Stevenson’s promoter, couldn’t come to terms for the bout. Main Events CEO Kathy Duva decided to bail on a WBC-mandated purse bid and took a lot of heat for it. But that was only a part of the problem.
Kovalev and Stevenson, at one point, both fought on HBO. But in a move engineered by Haymon, Stevenson bolted from HBO to sign a deal with Showtime, which made a fight with Kovalev even more unlikely to occur due to the latter having an exclusive contract with HBO, which stopped doing business with Haymon altogether before exiting boxing entirely in 2018.
Aside from the skills of both fighters, Kovalev had also made racist remarks about Stevenson, which certainly would have been a part of the promotion and the buildup. Kovalev went on to lose a pair of bouts against Andre Ward, while Stevenson was forced to retire after suffering a brain injury in a 2018 loss to Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
Alas, history repeats itself, and boxing continues to become increasingly irrelevant in the modern landscape. As for PBC, there’s no more CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, and Spike. Reminiscent of the network with a similar name, it appears Amazon has also been rumored to “Bounce.”
Boxing fans are exhausted from the narratives and seeing great fights not take place. Marinate your steaks, not the fights.
Sincerely,
Anyone with a brain.
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