Hello boxing fans and dedicated haters. Here’s another week’s worth of my bulbous sack, bulging with gooey, salty truth, in your face. Enjoy. This week, I have an especially bulging sack with comments/questions regarding Teofimo’s Fail, Teo Lopez-Sandor Martin, BLK Prime, the top lightweights chances at 147, and Michel Rivera-Frank Martin.
BLK Prime?
What's up P Mag? Hope all is well with you and the family. You're that "Truth telling" guy and don't ever stop. Secondly, it seems that BLK is trying to make some headway in boxing. Crawford confirmed that the 10 million is real he received for fighting David Avanesyan. Broner, whose money was not revealed, also confirmed that his cash is real as well. Someone posted that BLK is worth 17 billion dollars so they are okay with giving out big cash. Do you see them becoming like DAZN in terms of their business model?
--Robert Elmore
Hey Robert.
First, I do NOT think BLK Prime is worth anywhere near what you’ve heard. If they had a value of $17 billion, that would put them at roughly half the worth of NBC/Universal and that’s clearly not the case. I do, however, think that the boxing money they’ve been flashing is “real.” (Btw, Broner is rumored to have received a 3-fight, $10 million deal). Where a small, niche streaming service with under 10K downloads in the Play Store got that money has been a source of debate. But without a definitive answer to that, let’s assume that they presented a business plan to their hedge fund investors and the money was allocated for the push into big-time boxing.
They appear to be following the DAZN business model. They’re clearly less ambitious with their launch, which is smart, and also more willing to work with traditional PPV broadcast outlets. DAZN, on the other hand, came bulling in and then collapsed under the weight of their own ambition when they just couldn’t find the fighters or attract the subscribers needed to keep their plan moving. BLK Prime is dipping their toes in the water and working like they want to be part of the scene and not THE scene. Again, that’s a smart way to do things.
There’s no way they made money on that Crawford fight, but they surely expected for the event to operate in the red in an effort to get their name out there to the public. That’s what new businesses sometimes have to do in order to get their foot in the door of a new market. It’ll be interesting to see where they go next, beyond Broner’s upcoming bout with Ivan Redkach, which will also be a money-loser. There aren’t a lot of big-name free agents left out there and if the BLK bossmen have to keep spending well above market value to attract second tier pairings that won’t come close to turning a profit, there won’t be much of a future for them. If they get modest, keep cost to the consumer low, and provide some well-matched second and third tier bouts, they can find a spot in the crowded market and stay there until the chance comes to expand. We shall see.
Teo’s Fail/Rivera-Martin
Hello Paul
Part of me believes in boxing Karma, the only guy who has proved me wrong so far is Floyd Mayweather. There is a point when a fighter who trash talks a lot gets what they had coming, a good beating. Teofimo did get his rear handed to him by Kambosos about a year ago, but it seems he never learned his lesson, he was flamboyant and arrogant against Pedro Campa this year and then he ran into Sandor Martin, who I believe is a pretty good fighter. Do you believe this as well or do you believe Teofimo is not that good?
Things that I have seen so far in him is that he relies too much on his speed and power, he only potshots and does not use combinations. This guy needs a new team urgently, because he has not adjusted any of these and he even is hesitant about this seeing how he asked that [Do I still got it?] in front of ESPN cameras.
One fight I am pretty interested in is Frank Martin vs Michel Rivera. Both seem to be really good but one fighter is methodical (Rivera) and the other is more physical. How do you see this one playing out? I am rooting partially for Rivera because I believe in Latinos needing to stick with our guys, but I also root for Martin because he is from Indiana and I currently reside here. Hopefully he can bring a fight to the state :)
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
– Miguel
Hey Miguel.
Merry Christmas.
Teofimo has elite-level ability, but his head is all over the place and he’s definitely regressed in terms of development since he got “big.” It could very well be the case that the kid’s been reading his own press clippings way too much and basking in the comfort of yes men and hangers-on who make it their job to blow smoke up his ass. As I wrote for another site: “It’s almost as if he’s lost sight of what got him to the top and is now just stringing together bits and pieces of what people say he’s supposed to be.” Teo needs to be grounded-- and fast-- or he’s in for another fall. I wrote about him being headed for “a humbling tumble” after the Lomachenko fight, when he started giving interviews, lumping himself into the same category as legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and Mike Tyson. His humbling will be even uglier the next time around. And I don’t really think he learned much of a lesson following Saturday’s showing. He’s been on social media talking about how he faked being insecure and self-doubting after the fight, just to throw the haters off. His team of enablers have apparently already convinced him that nothing, really, was wrong with his performance.
Sandor Martin is a spoiler, whose entire game revolves around making opposition look bad and stealing sloppy rounds. I didn’t expect Lopez to look good against Martin. I also, however, didn’t expect him to look like a rudder-less ship.
I love Martin-Rivera. Aside from being an intriguing clash of styles and temperaments, it’s also a must-win bout between two 20-something, undefeated rising stars looking to move into the upper echelon of the lightweight division. There’s no way this one won’t be good. The fight’s going to come down to Rivera’s ability to control the distance with his jab and general hand speed versus Martin’s ability to work his way inside to use his physical strength and employ his hit-and-move use of angles. I can’t wait.
Lopez-Martin Robbery?
Com'n Magno, I know you're gonna kill this sh**!!!
What in the promotional robbery was that in the Lopez vs Martin fight? Clearly an easy fight to score, but also isn't ESPN boxing known for the replays in the sport? Where was it on the 2nd knockdown? Very rarely right in, counting on boxing honesty from somewhere please sir!!!!
– FlintowntoAz
Hey “Flintown.”
I’m going to disappoint you when I say this, but I thought Lopez won. I thought it was a close fight, but that Teo edged it, even with the knockdown. Having said that, though, we all know that ESPN works to protect its network assets. Remember, this IS the network that blatantly interfered in the flow of a match to tell Tyson Fury’s corner that the cut over Fury’s eye versus Otto Wallin was ruled to be from a punch rather than an accidental headbutt. This interference informed the money fighter’s corner that what they assumed would be a go-to-the-scorecards stoppage was going to result in a TKO loss if Fury didn’t step on the gas. They are most definitely not above tilting their broadcast to “help” their own.
Perspective on Lopez and Other Upwardly Mobile Lightweights
A lot of people are bashing Teo Lopez following this weekend's performance. In my opinion he won the fight hands down. I am not surprised that it was a close fight. We've seen this play out time and time again throughout the course of boxing history. Bigger and younger fighters that are able to make weight at 130 and 135 dominate when they're young. But once that body can no longer make weight at 135 they typically have problems once they crack 140 and up. Fighters like Duran, Chavez, Pacquaio, De La Hoya, Mayweather, and Crawford are a rare breed.
As much as people rant and rave about the pack of young fighters between 130-140. I've been hesitant to crown any of them, because I know that 147 eventually awaits. The same way it awaited Hatton, Khan, and Broner and plenty of other young studs who were billed as the next great P4P fighter. However, only once, maybe twice, every generation do we encounter a fighter who dominates the lower weights and continues their dominance at welterweight. As great as Haney, Stevenson, Garcia, Lopez and Tank look right now. The question remains is what will you have against the top Dawgs at 147? By the time we're halfway through this decade each guy will settle down at 147. Maybe Tank might have the luxury of hanging out at 140 longer than most of those guys.
I really haven't seen much that leads me to believe that any of these guys stand a chance against the top 147 prospects like Ennis and Ortiz. Let alone, they'll struggle with aging 147 lb fighters. My question to you is, which young fighter out of the pack stands a chance to continue their dominance at 147?
– Nail Rahman
Hey Nail.
There’s a lot of sanity to what you’re saying. In this modern era of weight manipulation, many of the top lightweights are actually welterweights beating up on smaller fighters. So, yeah, a lot of what the top 135 lb. young guns have been doing is smoke and mirrors stuff. All of the top guys in the division are talented, but Haney, Teofimo, and Ryan Garcia, especially, are very big for 135 and their size has definitely helped them look dominant.
For me, I think Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson have the best chance of high-end success at 147, mostly because of the skills and natural ability they have. They’re also 24 and 25 years old, respectively, and will have plenty of time to add strength to their game as they move up. Ryan Garcia, if he can develop his skill set further, could also have big-time success at welterweight. The kid is huge and his frame will be easy to fill out, ala a young Oscar De La Hoya. Gervonta Davis is as good as any of them (and maybe better), but his frame will stand in the way of anything higher than 140. To compete at 147, I think he’ll have to make sacrifices in the area of speed and agility, which would take away a big part of his game. Teofimo, as he is right now, will struggle to stay near the top at 140, so, 147 is not even a thought at the moment.
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