Fights We Most Want to See on Al Haymon's New Boxing Shows
Could the landscape of boxing on TV be changing at least over the short term with the recent deals made by super adviser Al Haymon? That's a question I'm very much looking forward to having answered over the following months and years.
For those late to the party, Haymon—who has well over 100 boxers signed under his umbrella—has bought TV time on NBC, Spike TV and CBS—along with renewing a normal license-fee agreement with Showtime—to showcase what he's calling the "Premiere Boxing Champions."
On the surface you may wonder why Haymon and his investors would buy TV time and take a loss over the short term with the deals they've made. It's simple: Short-term losses for long-term gains.
They'll recoup some of their losses from the sale of commercial time during those broadcasts, but the plan has to be to create a market where there wasn't one before and then make tremendous profit on the next batch of TV deals.
What I mean is that Haymon is probably thinking that if he puts out an entertaining product that gets fans excited and produces good ratings, then the major broadcast networks that weren't interested in boxing before will then be willing to pay him licensing fees like Showtime does currently to continue showing fights.
If that's the case then he and his investors will make their money back on the second deal and revive a previously dead market that they haven't made money off in decades. It's a gamble, but it's one with great upside and worth the risk.
So far all of that is good news for Haymon and his investors, but what's in this deal for boxing fans starving for good fights on TV?
In order to produce ratings good enough to get that second deal that I mentioned, Haymon will need to book great fights between his top fighters to get fans interested. After a dead 2014 schedule that saw his guys take mostly tune-up fights, we should finally get to see the matchups we've been waiting for.
Not to mention those fights will take place on free TV instead of premium channels that cost fans around $15 per month. We haven't had regular quality fights on free TV since the 1990s, so you have my permission to get excited.
With that thought and hope in mind, here are five fights I'd love to see during this new TV deal.
Quick note: You won't see Floyd Mayweather on this list because his fights will obviously continue to be on pay-per-view and not free TV. You also won't see fighters who are promoted by Top Rank or other promotions who don't work with Haymon.
Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares
1 of 5
Many fighters have been criticized over the last couple of years for taking soft matches under Al Haymon's guidance, but few have taken more heat than junior featherweight titleholder Leo Santa Cruz.
Golden Boy Promotions owner Oscar De La Hoya wanted to make a big fight between Santa Cruz and fellow titleholder Guillermo Rigondeaux, but Haymon wouldn't allow it which along with other issues eventually led to Santa Cruz leaving Golden Boy recently.
Even without making that specific matchup, there were several other interesting options available, but Santa Cruz and his team decided to take multiple fights against glorified sparring partners and take it easy instead.
Like with most of his other top fighters, it's probably safe to assume that Haymon wanted to protect his top guys and make sure their drawing power was intact for his new TV deals. Hopefully now that those TV deals have become a reality, Santa Cruz might pick on someone his own size so to speak.
A fight against Rigondeaux isn't likely at this point, but one possible option that interests me is a match against former champion Abner Mares.
Mares has a career record of 28-1-1 and has won belts in both the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. He's also won big in each of his last two fights since his only career loss, a 2013 first-round stoppage to Jhonny Gonzalez.
Santa Cruz and Mares are arguably the two biggest TV draws under 130 pounds for the American audience, and both have had great careers, so matching them against each other should be a no-brainer.
Adrien Broner vs. Lamont Peterson
2 of 5
With Danny Garcia soon to depart for the welterweight division and Lucas Matthysse signing an extension with Golden Boy Promotions, there's only one choice left for the key fight to be made at junior welterweight between guys exclusively on Haymon's roster: Adrien Broner vs. Lamont Peterson.
Peterson has a match against Danny Garcia coming up in April as one of the early marquee matchups for the new TV series—which ridiculously is a non-title match—but will need another top-level opponent after that for a possible fall fight.
With Garcia soon to drop two belts for his move up in weight, a match between Broner and Peterson for either vacant belt would make a lot of sense and should draw a good TV rating.
Counting the fight against Garcia, only two of Peterson's last four fights will have had his IBF belt on the line; Lucas Matthyssee knocked him out in the third round in the other non-title match.
Even if a vacant title isn't on the line, Peterson will need to make a defense of his belt soon, and Broner would be an excellent choice.
Having a match with one or multiple titles on the line and a personality like Broner to help sell the fight could be a hit on network television and help get Haymon that second deal.
Keith Thurman vs. Marcos Maidana
3 of 5
I would watch Marcos Maidana shadowbox, but even for people who aren't fans of him a match between him and Keith Thurman would be must-see TV.
Thurman vs. Maidana would be one of those matches where boxing fans would be more surprised if it wasn't a great fight with both guys possessing that special quality that all great action fighters have of never being afraid to let their hands go and trade shots.
Maidana's all-or-nothing approach can make any fight entertaining, but pairing it with the tremendous skill of Thurman would be captivating.
Thurman is in need of quality wins to prove that he belongs in the discussion for big fights against Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, and he'll get his first test in a few weeks against former champion Robert Guerrero.
If Thurman is able to win that match and then follow it up with a win over a guy like Maidana who landed the most punches on Mayweather ever in a single fight, then most would probably agree that should earn Thurman a major fight.
On the other hand Maidana should be in search of a signature win to move his name back up to the top of the contenders list and possibly earn a title shot against Kell Brook or at least more big cards with large purses.
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Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Adonis Stevenson
4 of 5
Both guys have spent most of the last year coming up with reasons to not take big fights, so hopefully they'll each show a little pride and take on a big test now that they're both signed by Al Haymon.
This fight probably couldn't take place until the late summer or early fall since both boxers already have a fight scheduled for the spring, but matching them up this year would make a lot of sense.
Adonis Stevenson is the lineal champion at light heavyweight and captured the boxing world's attention with a sensational 4-0 2013 campaign, while Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is a former champion, fights a very entertaining style and is one of the top TV draws in the sport.
Chavez has spent the majority of his time over recent years at 168 pounds, but he's had well-documented issues with making weight in the past, and his next scheduled fight will be against Andrzej Fonfara who knocked down Stevenson during an unsuccessful shot at his 175-pound title in May 2014.
If Chavez defeats Fonfara—whom ESPN.com's Dan Rafael has ranked as the seventh-best light heavyweight at the time this article posted—then a mega fight against Stevenson could make a lot of money for both guys and draw big ratings for the network carrying the match.
Danny Garcia vs. Amir Khan
5 of 5
Perhaps no other boxer has received more criticism and scrutiny over his recent schedule than Danny Garcia.
After a tremendous performance earned him a semi-upset win over Lucas Matthysse in September 2013, Garcia took an easier path during his 2014 campaign. I've been critical of the opponents he's faced recently, but perhaps that was due to his adviser protecting Garcia in preparation for his new TV deal.
Garcia would have been a favorite against everyone in the 140-pound division last year, but Haymon needed him to keep his belts and undefeated record to help sell and promote this deal.
Before last year Garcia wasn't known as a guy who took the easy way out, so at this point I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that it was Haymon who decided to match him up against Rod Salka.
Of course Garcia could have said no and demanded a better fight, but defying someone who is getting you great money to fight bums will never happen.
While Garcia's team has kept him away from the biggest fights, Amir Khan has actively pursued the two biggest fish in the pond, but he came up empty over the last year. With those guys now fighting each other, Khan will have to look for a different opponent.
Garcia destroyed Khan back in 2012, but since that time Khan has dominated two quality opponents in Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander, so I'm interested in seeing a rematch at a higher weight.
If Garcia does move up to 147 pounds after his upcoming fight against Lamont Peterson, then a fight against Khan as kind of a "Mayweather eliminator" would make sense. Khan needs an impressive win, while Garcia needs experience at welterweight; a win over each other could land one of them the big fight.
Follow me on Twitter for more boxing opinion and live scoring of big fights: @sackedbybmac
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