There’s a new kid on the boxing pay-per-view block and it’s … ESPN! That’s right, the same folks who bring you SportsCenter and Friday Night Fights have decided to go head-to-head with HBO and Showtime. The network’s first PPV card is scheduled for Friday, April 23 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and it looks like a good one. All four bouts on the card involve quality fighters and could go either way – a nice change for fight fans who have become accustomed to accepting just one – or possibly two – decent fights on a PPV card (or zero, as was the case with the April 9 card “highlighted” by the Marco Antonio Barrera-Mzonke Fana mismatch). Equally refreshing is the price tag – “just” $29.95 rather than the now typical $39.95 - $49.95. Let’s just hope this is not a teaser price for ESPN’s debut, but rather an attempt to provide better value for the boxing fan’s dollar.
So here are the match-ups:
12 rounds, WBO welterweight title: Antonio Margarito (31-4, 22 KOs) vs. Kermit Cintron (24-0, 22 KOs). Margarito is an underrated champion who is still looking for his first mega-fight. Cintron is an undefeated power-puncher who has stopped all but two of his opponents to date. Both men tend to be involved in action-packed bouts so expect fireworks. The winner of this bout has a good chance to get a shot at one of the division’s superstars: Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley or Zab Judah.
12 rounds, WBA lightweight title: Juan Diaz (27-0, 13 KOs) vs. Ebo Elder (22-1, 14 KOs). At 21, Diaz is the sport’s youngest active world titleholder and he’s still getting better. Elder went 6-0 in 2004, including a memorable 12th-round knockout of tough Courtney Burton in December. This fight also promises to feature virtually non-stop action.
10 rounds, welterweights: Sugar Shane Mosley (39-4, 35 KOs) vs. David Estrada (18-1, 9 KOs). This is a must-win fight for Mosley, who’s only 1-4 with one no contest in his past six fights. Granted, all four losses were against top quality opposition (Vernon Forrest twice and Winky Wright twice) but Mosley still needs to look impressive to start working his way back into the pound-for-pound mix. Estrada, trained by Hall-of-Famer Angelo Dundee, is not expected to win this fight but is far from just an “opponent”.
10 rounds, heavyweights: Jameel McCline (31-4-3, 19 KOs) vs. Calvin Brock (24-0, 20 KOs). McCline is a giant at 6’6”, 270 pounds but doesn’t always make good use of his size and punching power – most recently dropping a spilt decision to Chris Byrd in a November title fight. Brock had a great amateur career, highlighted by representing the U.S. in the super heavyweight division at the 2000 Olympics. However, his best win as a pro was a third-round TKO of Clifford Etienne in January so it remains to be seen if Brock is ready to step up and face a legitimate top ten contender.
There’s no such thing as a sure thing – especially in boxing – but ESPN’s first pay-per-view offering looks to be a good bet to provide an entertaining evening of competitive world class boxing … at a price that won’t hurt quite as much as usual when the next cable bill arrives.
