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It’s always a sickening moment whenever you hear a young boxer eager to fight at a pay-per-view. He hopes to be as successful as the trio of PPV stars Floyd Mayweather, Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson.
PPV should not be the promised land. Because unless you have the talent and promotional ability of Mayweather, you almost certainly won’t sell many. The odds against a fighter reaching his PPV success on the level of Mayweather, De La Hoya and Tyson are huge.
Meet Terence Crawford, the best boxer in the world.
Promoters would fairly say pay-per-view is the most democratic form of sports broadcasting. If you like cards and fighters on it, pay to watch. But there is no subscription or other fee required to watch it. If you don’t like the card, don’t buy it.
But fighting PPV comes with risks. Because if one of the industry’s superstars isn’t included, the PPV card will inevitably have fewer viewers.
This leads to Saturday’s PPV offering from Showtime at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena. — Suggested retail price is $74.99.
A PPV card consists of 4 battles. The opener is his Demetrius Andrade vs. Demond Nicholson, then “Speedy” Rashidi Ellis against his Roiman Villa. Rising star Jaron “Boots” Ennis will take on Karen Chukajian in the vice-main event, while Davis and Garcia will pit in the main event.
First, let’s see what you get for your money.
Andrade is -2500 favorite over Nicholson with +900 on BetMGM. Ellis is -700 to a +450 Villa.
Fighting for the interim IBF welterweight title, Ennis is the -5000 favorite over Chukasian at +1400, and Davis is the -1100 favorite over Garcia at +650.
Clearly, bookmakers don’t expect barnburners.
You can’t ignore the domestic violence allegations swirling around Davis. Police noted that the victim’s lips were covered in blood at the time of his arrest.
The victim subsequently retracted his testimony, including the emotional 911 call, and the charges against Davis were dropped. The alleged victim may have filed the accusations first and tried to blackmail Davis.
He’s innocent until proven guilty, but there have been numerous allegations of this sort against him.
Davis is not only one of the best fighters in the world, but he is also a proven ticket seller. He’s the guy you want people to watch fights for, because his fights are action-packed and funny most of the time.
But let’s be honest. There is no competitive fighting going on here. Davis is supposedly to meet Ryan Garcia in the spring, and if it goes well it will be a great match. If they felt that, they would not have this fight and could have ruined their match against Ryan Garcia.
However, if no one is willing to pay a license fee to air it on over-the-air TV or cable, the battle will come down to PPV.
This leaves the consumer with a choice. Either pay $75 and he might not see a single game, or skip it and miss out on a spectacular performance from Davis or Ennis.
However, one thing is certain: Fighters didn’t build an audience by confining them to PPV only. And if history can tell us anything, it’s that we saw Davis’ final appearance on free television.
Hopefully, Hector Garcia, Chukajian, Villa, and Nicholson will show up and compete hard, giving the hard worker a $75 value for their money. If you don’t believe me, look at the odds.
Davis is still facing charges in Baltimore after leaving the scene of the November 2020 crash, alleging that one of the victims was a pregnant woman. He is scheduled to appear in court on his February 16th to answer his 14 charges against him.
That makes his potential fight with Ryan Garcia all the more suspect. So putting him in the PPV one last time is a way to cash out if the worst happens.
I don’t know who knows the truth, but what’s certain is that on paper we’ll have to pay a lot for what seems to be a mismatch, and what’s missing is the fans.
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