Morales, Maidana, and Credit Where Due: Action Heroes Lives Up to Hype

If you’ve followed boxing for the past few decades, you’ve certainly witnessed the transformation that Pay-per-View (PPV) has gone through.  Originally designed to feature only the absolute mega-fights (the first of which, reportedly, was Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Tommy “Hitman” Hearns back in 1981), it nevertheless devolved into a joke, with wretched fights involving the likes of Butterbean, Mia St. John, and recently the 15-years-too-late fight between senior citizens Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. 

Along the way, the value of PPV became essentially zero, where you could expect three terrible fights leading up to a ho-hum main event.  The first fight would involve a heavily hyped prospect taking on an unemployed janitor, which would last roughly long enough to open your first beer. 

The second bout would involve some unentertaining titlist (a la Steven Luevano) that demanded more money than an ESPN2-level fight could pay, taking on some mis-mandatory challenger or the likes.  If you were lucky enough to still be awake by the time that dreadful affair ended, you would be treated to the co-feature, which usually meant a guy with self-inflated worth that couldn’t garner any premium network interest, fighting a guy whose own mother had never heard of before.

Give Us Your Money and We’ll Give You Crap

Case in point:  think back to June 28, 2008, when Manny Pacquiao fought David Diaz on a Top Rank PPV, and the co-feature was Humberto Soto against Francisco Lorenzo, in a fight that ended in a fourth round DQ when Lorenzo started flopping around after a supposed foul.  Joe “Unfair but firm” Cortez bought the con, and awarded the win to Lorenzo.  Forget about the ending for a moment, and ask yourself, “why the hell was Soto-Lorenzo the co-feature to begin with?” 

This card also had the coma-inducing Luevano yawn his way to a draw with Mario Santiago, and the most overhyped “prospect” of the past century, Tye Fields, getting waxed by Monte Barrett in the first round.  However, this pales in comparison to the fact that Pacquiao-Diaz was on PPV at all.  I mean, c’mon, David-freaking-Diaz?

The point is, with cards like this, PPV had become an insult to consumers’ intelligence, and fans were right to not only be critical, but highly suspicious of any comments from promoters attesting to a potentially great PPV card. 

Trust Us, We’re Promoters Looking to Make Money

It was with this in mind that a July 31, 2010, “fight freak” PPV card, featuring the rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and  Juan Diaz, was roundly criticized by people like me.  This card was offered by Golden Boy Promotions, and nicknamed the “fight freak” card to indicate that true fight fans would enjoy it. 

Personally, I thought the card stunk before it started, and still felt that way afterward.  Diaz was coming off a loss to Malignaggi (some argue it was two losses in a row to Malignaggi), and to most fans the outcome against Marquez was not in question, owing to the fact that Marquez had brutally stopped Diaz the first time around. 

The co-feature was Robert Guerrero moving up a weight class to challenge an ancient and ultra-boring Joel Casamayor.  The other two bouts featured such highly sought after (sarcasm alert) fighters like Jorge Linares, Rocky Juarez, Daniel Jacobs, and Dmitry Pirog.  Forget about the fact that Linares had gotten iced in the first round by a no-name fighter two bouts prior, and Juarez was coming off a draw followed by 2 straight losses (and was 3-5-1 in his last 9).  Not to mention, Jacobs was an untested hype-job fighting a guy who could’ve worn a nametag and fans still wouldn’t have known who the hell he was. 

What’s more troubling was Golden Boy’s insistence that this was a card for the true fans.  Seriously?  True fans should’ve been insulted by this nonsense, both in terms of the lineup and the public comments.  Couple this with Top Rank’s checkered past of offering highly suspect PPV shows and you can understand my initial reticence towards endorsing this past Saturday’s PPV offering from Golden Boy, nicknamed “Action Heroes.” 

Golden Boy Failed His Word Association Quiz

For starters, any card involving Malignaggi should not be called “Action Heroes.”  To put him in against a fairly boring guy like Jose Cotto, a slower, natural lightweight, and to have it at welterweight (where Malignaggi recently moved), didn’t increase the appeal factor any. 

Next up would be James Kirkland fighting a relatively unknown Japanese fighter, Nobuhiro Ishida.  This wasn’t exactly the type of bout I was looking forward to, even though I’m a big fan of Kirkland.  Why not?  It just didn’t seem like Ishida, with all of 7 knockouts going into the bout, would be able to offer any resistance to the steamrolling Kirkland, who had stopped 24 opponents on his way to a perfect 27-0 record. 

The co-feature of Robert Guerrero vs. Michael Katsidis looked good on paper, and most likely caused a lot of fans to buy this card, so I didn’t have a problem with it.  Instead, the planned main event of hard charging Marcos Maidana against the badly faded Erik Morales seemed, on paper, to be a horrific mismatch, one in which many people feared for Morales’s wellbeing.  By my count, three of the four bouts on this card were suspect, which for you math majors out there, equates to an unhappy consumer.

So, I was determined to save my money, wait for the results to hit Twitter, and then mock those that purchased it.  But as the days approached fight night, and more and more articles were written, I got bit by the same bug that bites all diehard fans, and I was compelled to purchase it. 

I started thinking that Morales wasn’t as far gone as he appeared to be; maybe Kirkland’s unknown foe would survive a few rounds with him; and perhaps Malignaggi would say something entertaining in the ring after his win on points.  Yeah, I thought, maybe I should buy this thing.

A Sucker Born Every Minute?

To be honest, I went into it expecting very little, and I even did a slight head shake prior to pressing the “buy” button on the remote, as if to acknowledge my own doubt with a self-deprecating “nice job, dummy.”  I’ve been highly critical of past PPV shows, both on my weekly boxing show and in my previous articles and blog postings, and I figured this would just give me more ammunition.  And since I’ve been so critical, it’s only fair that I give credit where due, and admit when a PPV delivers, as “Action Heroes” clearly did.  In fact, I’d argue that this was the best overall PPV show, top to bottom, that I’ve seen in many years.

Mea Culpa for This Guy, Right Here!

Malignaggi, looking stronger and healthier than he used to at junior welterweight, fought well.  He pressed the action against the slower, harder punching Cotto, and did his best to make it an entertaining fight.  Cotto hung in there but really didn’t do enough to ever put the fights outcome in question.  Regardless, it was not a bad start to the show, and given that I’ve always liked Malignaggi as a person, I was happy that he won.

Now, Kirkland getting dropped about 30 seconds into his fight with Ishida, by something that I wouldn’t quite classify as a power punch, was beyond shocking.  It was as if the crowd was shocked into silence, as were announcers Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman.  I figured Kirkland would get up, dust himself off, then destroy Ishida like fate had predetermined.  The only problem was, Kirkland got up, and was subsequently dropped two more times, the last of which prompted our friend Joe “Unfair but firm” Cortez to stop the fight, even though the three knockdown rule was not in place. 

Kirkland didn’t appear to be hurt, just dazed, but I still don’t have that much of problem with the stoppage.  Still, I would’ve liked to see if he could’ve come back to win after such a poor start, but he didn’t have his legs under him and it just didn’t seem like his head was on straight this night.  All props go to Ishida, while huge question marks surround Kirkland.  But for the second fight of the PPV, this obvious candidate for Upset of the Year didn’t disappoint.

The Guerrero vs. Katsidis fight lived up to its hype, as both men traded vicious shots in an entertaining, albeit one sided, fight.  Guerrero was on point to a degree previously unseen, and if this portends his future excellence, then every fighter between lightweight and welterweight better watch out.  Simply put, Guerrero was damn impressive. 

Katsidis is as tough as they come, but he was just outgunned here.  He took an inordinate amount of punishment but never quit, constantly walking forward trying to inflict damage.  Sadly, the same thing that makes Katsidis so appealing to me as a fan is what also makes me think his story won’t end well.  I am of the belief that he simply takes way too many flush shots to the head, as he rarely slips shots or blocks incoming fire. 

Mariano Rivera Couldn’t Close a Show like This

At this point in the evening, “Action Heroes” was 3-for-3, batting 1.000 on entertainment, and well worth the $44.99 price.  And wouldn’t you know it, the main event turned out to be one hell of a barnburner. 

The old man, Morales, written off by so many, including me, rose to the occasion and reminded all of us why he is a legend and certain Hall of Fame fighter.  The way he stood his ground, fighting practically blind in one eye from the first round on, against a naturally bigger, much harder punching fighter like Maidana, was awe-inspiring.  

I can’t stress enough how impressed I continue to be about Morales’s performance.  To be retired for a few years, then come back against three soft touches, to fight at a higher weight than normal, against a legit Top 3 (at junior welterweight) opponent, is amazing.  And to almost win with one eye shut is mind boggling.   Overall it was a great ending to a fabulous PPV show, well worth every penny.

What was to be Morales’s figurative funeral and another notch on the belt of Maidana, instead thrilled audiences and spawned as many questions as it answered.  Where does Morales go next?  Is Maidana overrated?  What does this say about Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan? 

The short answers to those questions, in order:  anywhere he wants, possibly, and we’ll find out soon enough, as Ortiz faces Andre Berto this Saturday and Khan is on track to face Tim Bradley later this year. 

So, kudos to Golden Boy and all the fighters involved.  The fans got what they wanted and deserved, and I haven’t heard anything but positive reviews from the fans or media.  My only concern is that the success of this show will somehow lead to more PPV shows, which are too plentiful as is.  But, if they are all as exciting as this one (which I doubt will be the case), then maybe it’s not such a bad thing. 

Just don’t go putting Christy Martin or Adrien Broner on the undercards.

Lee Harris co-hosts a weekly boxing podcast, In The Corner, available at iTunes or http://inthecorner.podbean.com.  Follow him on Twitter – @inthecornershow – and “like” the show on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/inthecornerboxingradio.  Please email all your questions to [e-mail].