Time is of the essence for an Alvarez-Golovkin fight
— -- "Atonement is the lock on the door you closed against the past." -- Stephen King
The right hand that flattened Amir Khan on Saturday was a thing of beauty, a masterpiece of technique, timing and torque. From an aesthetic point of view, the way the victim falls is almost as important as the punch, and Khan went down and out like a man born to the role.
But was it worth the exorbitant pay-per-view fee? As magnificent to behold as it was, Canelo Alvarez's sixth-round knockout took just a handful of seconds to unfold, a moment of greatness amid hours of undercard mediocrity and unfettered hype.
This, of course, is nothing new. Pay-per-view events lost their luster a long time ago. Under boxing's current business model, PPV is a hit-and-miss affair at best. In fact, in the past 10 years, only one PPV event (Juan Manuel Marquez-Manny Pacquiao IV) was named the Boxing Writers Association of America's fight of the year. That should tell you all you need to know.
A significant part of the problem is the endless battle between boxing's macho and business cultures. The macho part is about pride and a willingness to risk all in search of glory -- and making a lot of money.
The money pays the bills, but the glory feeds the soul. The business side has no soul.
Sadly, the value-for-money ethos has been replaced by a take-it-or-leave-it approach that pays scant attention to the sport's long-term health. Boxing is still suffering the negative fallout from the Floyd Mayweather-Pacquiao megafight last May. It soured newcomers, depressed longtime fans and gave those on the fence another excuse to turn away.
That it was such a massive financial success, shattering all previous PPV records, felt like a slap in the face. Seldom have so many paid so much for so little.
Sure, a small group of people made a killing, including Mayweather and Pacquiao. The rest of us were suckered. Most were willing victims lured by boxing's siren song but suckered nonetheless.
There's a real hunger out there for good boxing. That's why the fight generated 4.4 million PPV buys. People want to fall in love with the sport again, but you've got to give them something worthy of their affection.
Granted, Mayweather fans couldn't have been happier. Everybody else? Not so much. It was a $500 million stink bomb.
One would hope the subsequent low PPV numbers generated by Mayweather and Pacquiao's farewell fights sent a clear message to the industry powerbrokers. Trotting out elite fighters is not enough. It's elite fights that keep consumers coming back for more.
As luck would have it, boxing -- bless its resilient little heart -- has provided the ideal antidote for the epidemic of customer discontent: Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin, for all the middleweight marbles.
It's the sort of tonic that could wash away the worst of the bitter aftertaste left by Mayweather-Pacquiao. But it is imperative that the same stupid mistakes aren't repeated. It's not even that complicated.
First and foremost, don't wait! Time is of the essence. The fight is as ripe now as it will ever be. Besides, things happen, unexpected things, and before you know it, the moment has passed. To hell with marinating. Boxing is more a of a raw steak sport, anyway.
Forget the argument that "GGG" needs more exposure before being part of a major PPV card. True, he has not the proven attraction that Alvarez is, but another fight or two isn't going to change that very much, especially as they would not be high-risk fights fans crave.
Golovkin is already No. 2 on ESPN.com's pound-for-pound rankings, and a match with Canelo is what boxing's core audience is begging for. Further shilly-shallying would be foolish. The public is in no mood for half-stepping, and the boxing industry is in no position to refuse. But that doesn't guarantee it won't.
It was Alvarez who kept Golden Boy Promotions afloat when founder and CEO Oscar De La Hoya split with Richard Schaefer. The transition is over, but Alvarez remains the only bankable PPV star in his stable. Keeping him relatively safe, at least for the time being, might be the unpopular but prudent course of action.
"Canelo-GGG would be a great fight, but I think Canelo would be smart to wait," savvy fight handicapper Graham Houston tweeted. "Time is on his side."
But time is not on boxing's side. It needs the kind of fix only a great fight on a major platform can provide. And right now Alvarez-Golovkin is just the vehicle it needs to ride the road to redemption. Yes, Golovkin is nine years older at 34, but so what? Nobody should be playing it safe when selling PPV at $60 to $70 a pop.
After the Khan blowout, all parties involved in the Alvarez-Golovkin negotiations -- the fighters, the managers and promoters -- said the right things, the things we wanted to hear. Alvarez invited GGG to the fight and he showed up, ever the eager beaver, ready to go any time Alvarez was willing to accommodate him.
That was to be expected. It was when Alvarez, who has competed at his desired weight of 155 pounds for his past five bouts, said he has "no problem" fighting Golovkin at 160 that things started to get real. If he sticks to his word, the catchweight tempest in a teapot will have blown itself out.
The fight is there for the making, a chance to atone in some small way for past sins and start over. Two elite fighters, both knockout punchers, both in their primes, comes as close as boxing gets to fail-safe territory. What more could you want?
The battle lines between the fighter's supporters have already been drawn. Despite Alvarez's highlight-reel knockout of Khan, GGG's supporters still insist he would be, to borrow a phrase from retired superstar Mayweather, "easy work."
Golovkin appears invincible, and maybe he is, but he has to prove it doing something he has never done before -- facing an elite adversary and beating him.
Let's not forget Alvarez has fought superior opposition before, going 12 rounds with Mayweather (in his lone loss), and can level a man with a single punch. He's tough, knows how to box and is willing to taking a calculated risk or two.
GGG's proclaimed love of fighting "Mexican style" is an essential part of his appeal, and there's no reason to think he'll abandon it in what could be the defining fight of his career. Let's hope not, anyway, because Golovkin's normal aggression could be the catalyst that unleashes the sort of thrilling shootout the occasion calls for.
In the big picture, it really doesn't matter whose hand is raised at the end. It's about boxing providing what the customers want to see when they want to see it.
Let's hope that the suits haven't forgotten how to do their job.
The rest is up to the fighters.
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