While the majority of readers of this site will undoubtedly choose to watch UFC 103 over the Floyd Mayweather/Juan Manuel Marquez scrap I do think it is important to pay attention to the boxing card. This is a fight between two of the top three pound-for-pound boxers in the world and as such it does matter both in terms of combat sports in general and as far as what the Franklin/Belfort card is up against in the battle for PPV buys.
Scott Christ over at Bad Left Hook has done a great series of write ups of what is, in the boxing world, a very solid PPV undercard. Here are the installments with highlights from each:
Know Your PPV Undercard, Pt. 1: Cornelius Lock v. Orlando Cruz
Neither Lock nor Cruz are afraid to mix it up, so there’s a decent chance we’ll get a pretty good scrap out of this, even though it really doesn’t belong as part of the undercard that was to prove to boxing fans that the promoters actually listen and understand our problems with past PPV shows being $50 for one decent fight.
Know Your PPV Undercard, Pt. 2: Michael Katsidis v. Vicente Escobedo
Dear friends, have you yet to meet Mr. Katsidis? He likes to throw down. Rumble. Go to war. Get hit in the face. Not be able to defend. Hit people in the face. Bleed. These are his turn-ons. Turn-offs include mean people and coffee (yuk!)
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I wonder to myself if a lot of people will be picking Katsidis simply because he’s the bigger name, having been featured on American TV more often. I think that’s a fool’s bet.
Know Your PPV Undercard, Pt. 3: Chris John v. Rocky Juarez II
Chris John and Rocky Juarez first met on February 28, a disputed 114-114 draw across the board in Juarez’s hometown of Houston, a fight city whose reputation plummeted last month after building nicely with one of 2009’s best cards on that February night. I scored the bout 115-113 for John, but Juarez made an impressive late run and nearly stole a win. It was a good, back-and-forth fight, and most importantly, it finally brought Indonesian Chris John to American soil.
Check out the full pieces on each fight (they’re great) and check out Bad Left Hook for more news and analysis of boxing’s biggest show of the year.