In one of the better fighters that the boxing world has seen for some time, WBA welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) and WBC champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (33-0, 19 KOs) fight it out on March 4 on Showtime on CBS at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
What makes this fight so great is the fact that it’s not on pay-per-view. The promoters for the two fighters decided it was better to have them fight on regular broadcast television for free rather than asking boxing fans to pay to see it. The benefit of having the fight on free television is that many more fans will get a chance to see it than if they stuck it on PPV.
We’re seeing a lot of greedy promoters and fighters sticking their fights on PPV before they’ve become huge crossover stars. The fighters and their promoters are content with getting the money from their diehard boxing fans rather than fighting for free on regular non-PPV television to make a bigger name for themselves.
“In an era where some people think that PPV is a good thing, it’s incredibly important that a fight of this magnitude is on broadcast television,” said promoter Lou DiBella via Fight News. “These two champions have the opportunity to do their thing in front of a huge audience. It’s great for boxing!”
In examples of fights that are going to be televised on PPV in the near future, we’re going to see the following fights:
– Miguel Cotto vs. James Kirkland on February 25 on HBO PPV.
– Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on May 6 on HBO PPV
– Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs on March 18 on HBO PPV
– Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn on April 22 possibly on HBO PPV
Short term greed doesn’t help fighters become stars over the long term. It’s too bad they don’t understand this. I think they’re killing the PPV market with fights that aren’t worthy of PPV being put in that vehicle.