Golovkin vs. Alvarez - This Fight is Worth the Price

It’s here! The day has finally arrived!  For the first time in a long, long time, an actual fight of the century that isn’t 100% manufactured hype. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is squaring off against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in Las Vegas tonight.  It’s the best birthday present a semi-regular boxing writer could ever hope for.

I’m not here to tell you how to spend your money. If I was, then I would say - just send it to me. However, if you were to splurge on just one pay-per-view event this decade I would say this is the one. This is what boxing is supposed to be about. Two world-class fighters meeting up in their relative primes.  They’re fighting not just for some belts (although I guess some of them are on the line) but because they want to show who is the better boxer.

The only thing boxing related these two aren’t great at is promoting a fight. This bout should be headlining ESPN, CNN, Sports Illustrated, all of the traditional media outlets. Your grandmother should be posting about this on Facebook. Yet, there is just a mild interest outside of boxing circles. That is just unfair. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is a despicable human being, but he knows how to sell a fight. Neither fighter involved is a natural showman. They just quietly go about their business.

In street clothes, Golovkin looks like a guy that your friend set you up with because he’s nice and has a good job. Inside the ring, he is a 160lb emotionless wrecking machine.  He’s like a shark in the sense that he is constantly moving forward finding weaknesses.  Early rounds are used to set up later rounds as he probes for an opening. Eventually he finds it and buries a left hook.

No one is ever ready for his power.  They say they are, but they aren’t.  He has quiet power. What’s the tell-tale mark of quiet power? The left-hook delay.  It’s the three or four seconds after his punch lands that it takes for his opponents to realize that it is no longer in the body’s best interest to continue taking punishment.  

The look of someone punched in the stomach by Gennady Golovkin

Golovkin lands the punch, the crowd gasps, his opponent looks like he is ok, after all his hands are still in a defensive position. As GGG reaches back to throw another shot, the man in front of him just crumbles to the ground. That’s quiet power.  Honestly, it’s easy to see why people think they can handle it. A body shot knockout isn’t as glamorous as knocking someone out by punching them in the face. Not that he has any trouble doing that as well.

He has spent the last decade knocking people out. That is not an exaggeration.  Since 2008 only two men have made it to the final bell against him, Amar Amari in June of 2008 and Daniel Jacobs earlier this year. In between those two, twenty-three other men ended their fights against Golovkin on their backs. So why is a knockout machine only a -160 favorite?

First off there is his opponent. Alvarez is no slouch. The big Mexican fighter has a 49-1-1 record and has never been knocked out. And it isn’t because he shies away from contact. He can be hit and he’s proven that he can take a punch.  Granted, he hasn’t been hit with someone of Golovkin’s power, but so far he’s shown a fairly strong chin in his career.

The main reason that Golovkin isn’t an overwhelming favorite is that in addition to facing Alvarez he is facing the undefeated opponent - time. He is 35 years-old, an age at which, unless your name is Bernard Hopkins, skills start to deteriorate. One of the first skills to erode is power.  Knockout punches become knockdown punches and knockdown punches become regular punches.

Was the fight against Jacobs a sign that the Kazakh native is starting to slow down? The cynical critic would say yes. Not only is he starting a decline, but the relatively bad showing, at least by Golovkin standards, is the only reason Alvarez agreed to the fight. It’s a fairly harsh view to have, but if you spend more than two weeks in the boxing world, cynicism becomes your standard default.

Even with a slightly depleted Golovkin, Alvarez is going to have his hands full.  A lot of casual fans only know Golovkin for the highlight reel knockouts, they might fast forward through the rounds where he sets up those devastating finishes. By doing that they miss out on how good of a technical fighter he is. His balance is phenomenal and he can outbox pretty much everyone in the ring.  

This fight is just as important to Alvarez as it is to Golovkin. With a convincing victory over a stone-fisted knockout artist, Canelo can win over the critics who say that he is media creation who has cherry-picked his way to almost 50 wins in the ring. How will he do it? By walking through a thunderstorm to land his punches. He knows he’s going to get hit, he is just betting that he can take the punishment and dole more.

Amir Khan's body told him it was time to take a 10-second nap

It’s not a bad bet. Canelo Alvarez throws no small punches. Not in practice and not in a fight. Every punch the unleashes has energy behind. There are no tap-tap-tapping jabs to gauge distance. He wants to hurt someone every time he lets it go. He will be the biggest puncher that Golovkin has faced. If Saul can absorb the shots, he will put himself in position to do damage.

So the big question, and the only reason why you’re still reading this, is who is going to win this fight?

Two outcomes are most likely:

Golovkin wins by knockout.  Alvarez is not going to be hard to find. He will eat a lot of punches in order to get in position to throw his. If GGG connects with a couple of clean blows, this fight could end early.

Alvarez wins on points.  If he can get inside on Golovkin and smother the smaller man, he can limit the amount of space the Kazakh has to throw his power punches. Not too many fighters have crowded Golovkin for an entire twelve rounds, mainly because it requires getting punched a lot to get in. Despite both of them weighing 160 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in, Alvarez is going to be the much bigger man after he rehydrates up to about 170. He will use that size to bully GGG around a bit. With the bigger man in close, leaning on him, it will be hard for Golovkin to get the space he needs to throw big punches.

It’s unlikely that Alvarez wins by knockout. While Amir Khan and James Kirkland can attest to Saul’s lights-out power, neither really has the chin that Golovkin has.  Gennady has been tagged cleanly a few times in his fights and brushed them off fairly easily.

Golovkin could win by decision. He is the technically superior boxer in this fight. Even if he fails to land the knockout shot, he could do enough damage to convince the judges that he won the fight.

No matter what happens it should be a hell of a fight. The kind that generates long think pieces cleverly  titled, “Don’t Count Out Boxing Just Yet”. Both fighters want to fight and they want to win by knockout. That means they’ll both be coming forward and meeting in the middle of the ring. Both have knockout power and a somewhat casual disregard of defense. Big punches will land. Do yourself a favor and just watch the fight.

The Hopeful Chase Prediction - Golovkin wins a split decision.  Rematch booked for the first weekend in May.

Alvarez vs. Chavez - More Than a Convenient Narrative

Boxing is a wonderful sport to cover for a lot of reasons.  One of those reasons - plenty of time to find (or create) a narrative for the big matches.  Headline contests are usually announced months before they happen so that the two contestants have enough time to recover from their previous bouts and to prepare for their new opponents. It also allows the scribes following the fights plenty of time to find their angles on how to cover a fight.  

Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs- Unstoppable Knockout Machine vs. Underdog Cancer Survivor.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. - Popular Man of the People's Champion vs. Arrogant Undefeated Pound For Pound Champion

Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston - The Loudmouth Showman vs. The Angriest Man in the World.

Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko - The Next Great Heavyweight vs. The Aging Great Heavyweight.

Many times those narratives are true, but often they are built to sell tickets.  After all, who wants to see two guys who like each other fight. Based on all of Timothy Bradley’s pay-per-views - no one.

Fights are more interesting when there is a story driving them. Luckily, this weekend there is a tailor-made storyline.  On May 6th, in Las Vegas, the battle for the soul of the Mexican boxing fan will be fought.  At least that’s what the promoters and writers would lead fans to believe.

In one corner, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., progeny and prisoner of his father’s legacy.  A talented boxer who mixes flashes of brilliance with periods of sullen indifference. While gifted he seemingly lacks the one thing we’re told is most revered in Mexican boxers - the warrior spirit.

In the other corner, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.  A beast of a middleweight. A powerful boxer who throws all his punches with the illest of intentions. He stands in front of his opponents and slugs it out. There is little obvious finesse in his game, just raw power.  Yet, while he demolishes all of those placed in front of him, there is a sense of artifice surrounding him. His detractors claim that he is a TV champion, racking up knockouts and wins against has-beens and never-will-bes while avoiding the one true test - Golovkin.

These are the two men that HBO, Golden Boy Productions, and Corona want us to believe are fighting to become the next great Mexican champion, to take up the mantle of Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Carlos Zarate and Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. Is it fair to either fighter stepping into the ring to have that kind of pressure added to the fight? Was the fight between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter a contest for the legacy of Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns?

No.  Then again, not much about boxing is fair.  If they want to cash the multi-million dollar paychecks (Alvarez is reported to be guaranteed $8 million and Chavez, Jr. $2.5 million) that they will be earning for the fight, then they have to take on a little extra pressure. The questions is, will it matter to boxing fans, Mexican or otherwise?

Chavez, Jr. has much more to gain from this fight than Alvarez.  With a victory he can shed the lackadaisical label that has followed him over his 54-fight professional career. Gone would be the questions about his training habits or his failed drug tests.* Even a long, bloody decision loss could gain him supporters.  As long as he ends the fight on his feet and doesn’t dance around the ring for 36 minutes he will gain respect, much in the same way a too-young Alvarez gained respect in his loss to Mayweather, Jr.

On the other hand Alvarez, he of the cinnamon-tinged hair and Sylvester Stallone commercials is in a bit of a bind.  While this is a good sell for the Cinco de Mayo weekend, it’s not the fight that people really want to see.  They want Canelo vs. Triple-G. Especially now that Golovkin struggled, in the sense that he didn’t render Jacobs incapable of movement for 10 seconds, in his last fight.That tint of vulnerability makes for an intriguing future match-up.  That’s the mega-fight that will get the ever-elusive casual sports fan to plunk down $70 for a pay-per-view.

So, while another notch on his championship belt and the subjective King of Mexican Boxing label would be nice, he stands to lose much, much more than this challenger.  A loss would most likely delay, if not completely, derail negotiations for an Alvarez/Golovkin fight, it would it also prove all of his doubters right.  He’d be unmasked as a made-for-pay-per-view matinee idol. Or at least that’s how it would be spun.

Oddly enough, Alvarez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya faced the same problem almost 20 years ago. The Golden Boy faced many of the same criticisms that Alvarez does today.  It took two bloody beatings of Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. to earn some credibility from a lot of Mexican fans.

Adding to the storyline is the subplot that neither fighter particularly cares for the other. Alvarez feels that Chavez, Jr. has disrespected him his entire career (see this post from 2011 where Chavez, Jr. basically says that Alvarez hasn’t earned his respect). Promoter Oscar De La Hoya has done more than his fair share of selling the animosity. For example, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

““There’s animosity toward each other. I can’t really explain it. There’s a lot of pride at stake. They have many years around each other, and you have to go back. Something happened. I don’t know if Chavez triggered it or Canelo triggered it, but they don’t like each other. They genuinely despise each other.”

If there is actual substance behind all of this talk, it could make for a great fight.  Pride is a powerful motivator.  Fighting for something other than a paycheck (which both fighters briefly agreed to bet on the outcome before cooler heads nixed the idea) can keep a fighter going when there is nothing left.  The thought of earning the mantel of his father’s legacy could drive Chavez, Jr. to keep going when normally he would throw in the towel.

Could it happen? Of course.  Despite being the heavy favorite, it will be one of the few times that Alvarez won’t be the bigger man in the ring. Chavez has brought in legendary trainer Nacho Beristain to change his preparation. Reports out of his camp are that he is in great shape and has been dedicated to training, something that hasn’t always been the case.

His weight issues in the past have been such a problem in the past that for this fight a clause was inserted in the contract fining either fighter a million dollars for each pound they are over the 164 ½ catchweight.The public seems to think he has a chance, he started as 10-1 underdog and has seen the odds creep into his favor as he was 6-1 underdog as of Wednesday.

Alvarez doesn’t exactly dodge a lot of punches.  He walks through punches in order to land his own, relying on his power to win out during the exchanges.  That works when fighting smaller opponents, but he’s going to be in a ring with a fighter who may weigh up to 175 or 180 pounds on the day of the fight.

Chavez Jr., will be the one to dictate the style of the fight. Does he sacrifice his reach advantage to get in close and wear Alvarez down by leaning on him? Or does he keep his distance, force the champion to chase him and then pepper him with counter-rights and left-hooks to the body? Either way it should be a good fight style-wise. Neither man is afraid to stand in the middle of the ring and slug it out. The only thing that could throw a wrench into the match is Chavez, Jr.’s mental state.

Will he be the fighter who absorbed a beating from Sergio Martinez for 11 rounds before almost pulling off a miracle comeback by knocking down the Argentine in the final round?  Or will it be the Chavez who quit on his stool after being knocked around by Andrzej Fonfara. That’s the story that’s waiting to be written, and it won’t be known until the first punches are landed on Saturday night.

*Following his 2013 loss to Sergio Martinez he was fined and suspended for nine months after testing positive for marijuana. Which, honestly, is one of the dumbest things that boxing tests for. If any athletes should be allowed to smoke weed it’s boxers and football players)

Two Weeks - Two Fights - Two Stories

During the pre-fight circus of the Floyd Mayweather/ Manny Pacquiao match there was a moment, sometime after Jamie Fox’s free-style version of the American anthem and before Michael Buffer’s raspy/two-pack-a-day “Lets Get Read To Rumble” where Mayweather looked up to the sky. I don’t profess to know exactly what he was thinking, but he had the look of a man that had just pulled off the longest con in the world. He also looked like a man who, in 36 minutes, would get a check for $200 million.

The last two weeks of boxing have been pretty entertaining, if for entirely different reasons.  The mega-fight was all about the build-up. It was about the spectacle around the sport. Two adversaries finally meeting in the ring. Two fighters, who at one point, had been either the best or most exciting in the sport would finally meet head-to-head.  Of course it was going to be over hyped.

There was only one chance for the fight to live up to the madness.  And that was for Pacquiao to dial the clock back to the days when he was a relentless, overwhelming, barrage of combinations and knock-outs. In the fourth round there was a moment when I knew it wasn't going to happen.

Pacquiao landed a clean left, backing Mayweather up on the ropes. Manny unleashed a small flurry of punches, some landing, most blocked.  Then....he stepped back.  Was it the smart move? Was Floyd playing possum hoping to catch Pac-Man with a counter shot?  Maybe.  But, the Manny Pacquiao of old would never have worried about that. He would have kept throwing until something landed, consequences be damned.

Whether it was the shoulder or, the fact that some of that fearlessness was forever destroyed by Juan Manual Marquez’s December 2012 counterpunch, it was not to be.  Manny landed a few punches, stirred up the crowd a handful of times, but seemed content to chase Mayweather around the ring.

So it was with much amusement to listen to the casual sports fan bitch and moan about Money Mayweather and his “dancing” and “hugging” his way to an ugly victory.  Or the “I can’t believe I paid $100 for that” tweets and comments. What else did you honestly think was going to happen?  Did you really think that Floyd would engage and stand toe-to-toe with Manny in the middle of the ring?  Hell no.

There was a time when Floyd used his skills for offense. If a fighter was there to be hit, he hit him. Try and tell Ricky Hatton that all Mayweather did was run around the ring, I think you’ll get a different story.  As he’s aged though, Pretty Boy realized he could win fights without having to get into wars.  He could throw enough punches to win a round and then use his skill to evade any real damage.

I sent a text to someone during the fight saying something along the lines of “Floyd is a better boxer in slow motion”.  In real time, some of his counter right hands didn’t look like they were doing much damage, but when HBO-time slowed down the highlights between the rounds you could see they were landing flush.  While he may not have the show stopping power of Gennedy Golovkin, he still hits hard enough to make these “active” fighters think twice about barging in with abandon.

Floyd’s greatest skill of all, is making the boxing fan care.  He’s fought the same fight enough time that we should know better, but we still watch.  He doesn’t care if we watch to see him win or to see him get knocked out. As long we fork over the money and he gets a check cut he doesn’t care.

On the other hand, James Kirkland’s greatest skill is not caring about getting punched in the face.  If there was ever a polar opposite to Mayweather’s slickness in the ring, it’s Kirkland’s fierce determination to walk forward and throw a lot of punches. Thirty-two times that strategy has worked.  Unfortunately on Saturday night, it was a recipe for disaster against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

For a little while it looked like it might work.  And by little while I mean a minute or so.  Kirkland, The Mandingo Warrior” waded through a couple of big shots from Alvarez and crowded the big Mexican with some power shots of his own.  Unfortunately he wasn’t able to maintain that space and midway through the first round Alvarez landed a straight right that glazed Kirkland’s eyes and sent him stumbling to the canvas.

Kirkland was able to clear his head and got back up in plenty of time to beat the count.  He tried to keep pace with the red-haired Mexican’s flurry of power shots. The Texan survived the second round on his feet, but chances of an upset were fading as it became apparent that even the biggest shots weren‘t hurting Alvarez.  Landing just about every punch he threw, Canelo kept up a steady mix of hooks to the body and straight power shots to the head.  Still Kirkland came forward trying to smother the shots while landing an occasional blow himself.

Two and a half minutes into the third it was over.  Alvarez scored his first knock down with a huge right uppercut that landed flush on Kirkland’s jaw and dropped him.  Once again the warrior pulled himself up, but the end was near. He soon found himself against the ropes with his hands down. As Canelo pawed at his chest with a straight left, Kirkland started a left hook from his hip, but Alvarez’s right was quicker.  He hit Kirkland so flush it looked like his jaw was separated from his head.  Kirkland was out on his feet, that left hook he started still tracing it’s lazy arc through the air as his body crashed to the floor.

The ref stopped the fight before Kirkland started to move. Not that it would have mattered.  The Mandingo Warrior said something about being disappointed that the ref had ended the fight, but he should be sending him a thank-you gift. Even if he had somehow beat the 10 -count (it was at least 30 seconds before we knew he wasn‘t dead), it wasn’t like he was going to change his strategy enough to keep from being knocked down again.  Jon Schorle probably saved Kirkland a few years of dementia by stopping the fight when he did.

There has been a lot of electronic ink spilled about Kirkland dropping his long-time trainer Ann Wollfe. After this is the second time he’s fought without her and both times have ended with him getting knocked down several times.  While he is obviously a better fighter with her in the corner, he should also invest in someone who teaches him how to block a punch from time to time.

So, you want to be a boxer?  Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

If the Mayweather fight was the “Sweet Science” than the Canelo fight was the “of bruising” portion of Pierce Egan’s quote on boxing.  The brutal knockout kept him online for a match-up against Miguel Cotto and then a potential mega fight against Golovkin.

It was a nice refreshing palate cleanser to all of the negativity generated by Mayweather/Pacquiao and proof that boxing, despite reports of it’s imminent demise,  isn’t quite dead yet. Yes, the debacle two weeks ago didn’t do anything to win new fans, but boxing has been through this before.

There is always going to be another great fighter waiting in the ring.  Alvarez is proving that he’s not just a product of the Mexican hype-machine, but actually a bruising boxer who really will fight anyone at anytime. Golovkin (who fights May 16th) is probably the most exciting fighter to watch and maybe, someday someone of skill will want to step into the ring with him.

Will either one of them have the cross-over appeal that Pacquiao and Mayweather had? Will they break PPV records? Probably not.  But they are worth watching, and somewhere in a gym somewhere around the world the next Mayweather is lacing up the gloves.

The Showdown on Showtime on Saturday in Sin City...Seriously

Big fight weekend.  If there is anytime to be in Las Vegas it’s on a weekend when Floyd Mayweather is fighting.  It’s when Vegas is at it’s Vegas-iest.  Overpriced hotel rooms, mobs of people walking around the strip, bumper-to-bumper traffic, old men with 20-year-old bottled-blonds on their arms, and nary a $10 table to be seen.  So are all of those people in town to see Mayweather win and keep his undefeated streak going? Or are they there to see Saul Alvarez defy the odds and give the old man the beating people have been hoping for since “Money” dispatched a broken down Oscar De La Hoya over a decade ago?

It’s nice to see a main stream, media-backed web outlet like Grantland give quite a bit of attention to the Mayweather/Alvarez tilt.  A couple of articles and a mention on the B.S. Report pod cast is more coverage than boxing has seen from basic sports sites in a long, long time.  One of the pieces, by Jay Caspian King, is a rather cynical piece delving into the hype that surrounds Alvarez - the young, undefeated Mexican boxer who has catapulted to international fame over the last year.

King posits that while Alvarez isn’t without some skill, he is more a product of Golden Boy Promotions never-ending search for the next De La Hoya than a serious fighter.  Personally, I thought the article came off a little harsh on Alvarez, making him seem little more than a red-headed puppet who can’t dance.

While it’s true that Alvarez has few world class victories under his championship belt, he has won against everyone put in front of him.  The last year has seen the 23-year-old  record his two best victories as he beat Josesito Lopez into submission in September of 2012. Then in  April of this year, Alvarez beat Austin Trout unanimously on the judges’ scorecards to earn his shot against Mayweather.

There is no question that the quiet Mexican is far from being a finished product. That’s part of the reason he is in this fight. If he was at the peak of his ability there is little chance that the aging Mayweather would have chosen to fight him.  “Money” is a master of defense in the ring, but his true genius might lie in his ability to pick opponents that match up well against him.  He knows that he has to fight someone that has the illusion of a chance against him, because no one is paying $70 to watch him whip Matthey Hatton’s ass.

Robert Guerrero was supposed to bring an elusive defense and enough hand speed to be able to counter Mayweather in the ring.  Which worked for about 3 rounds.  Still, going into the fight you could almost make an argument that “The Ghost” had a chance.  That helps sells tickets.

In Alvarez I’m sure The Money Team saw a popular fighter with power and a rabid fan base that can convince themselves Canelo has a chance.  Let’s face it, going back to the Rickey Hatton fight, most fans have rooted for Mayweather to lose, not necessarily for his opponent to win. Boxing fans like Miguel Cotto and Victor Ortiz, but they weren’t packing press conferences around the country three months before the fight to support them.

In King’s article he argues that Alvarez’s popularity is more of a myth created by Golden Boy and Televisia, the Mexican television network that has broadcast many of his fights.  I think he’s a bit off and based way too much on the lackluster showing at the Mexico City press conference.  I was at the Chicago Theatre with 3,000 other fans for their press tour.  At least 80% of that crowd was pro-Alvarez.  The same with the pre-fight weigh in on Friday night.

You can argue that some of that fame is based on his looks or the Mexican boxing fan’s unrelenting need for a hero. However, to say he isn’t popular, or that his popularity is a sham propped up by a media empire is just plain wrong.

That being said, I don’t think he has a shot against Mayweather. His hands are too slow and if by some chance he does land a few power shots against Mayweather early then there are going to be boos from the crowd later.  Floyd is smart enough, and still fast enough, to go into defensive mode.  Do enough to win a round with jabs and straight rights and then spend the rest of the three minutes dancing around in the ring.  It isn’t fun to watch, but it it’s good enough to win and cash a paycheck.

For Alvarez this is the defining moment of his young career. If he floors Mayweather with a lucky punch he instantly becomes the new face of boxing and HBO offers him 3 gazillion dollars.  The good news for him is that he doesn’t have to win the fight to gain popularity.  As long as he is willing to go blow-for-blow with Mayweather, as long as he stands in there and takes the beating that is coming his way and battles back he will earn the respect from those that think he is a paper champion.  This is the fight where he can prove that he embodies the “warrior spirit” that critics like to talk about when describing Mexican fighters.

There is little chance that the fight will live up the hype, it’s damn near impossible given the amount that has been generated over the past few months.  In fact, there is a more than likely chance that the Danny Garcia/ Lucas Matthysse light welterweight match-up will be the best fight of the night.

I’m hoping that Alvarez has a game plan for getting Mayweather to box. I’ll be sprinting from work to a bar and forking over a $20 cover just to watch the fight and I really, really don’t like running. Hopefully I’ll get my money worth and we see an action packed 12 rounds of boxing (I have Mayweather winning by decision). If not, then I’ll just go on with life and wait for the Manny Pacquiao/ Brandon Rios fight in November.  God knows there is no way that one isn’t a slugfest.
 

The One.....Where I talk about boxing again.

A few weeks ago I managed to get out of work at a decent time so I decided to stand in line behind some Mexicans.  What can I say, I like waiting in line. It’s definitely one trait that the Duchess and I don’t share.  If she was with me, there is no way she would have waited in line for 30 minutes, Mexicans or no Mexicans.  But I wasn’t there because I’m a big fan of waiting or because I’m a really big fan of pissing off office workers at rush hour (we were kind of blocking the sidewalk and they were forced to walk on the street).  I was there because the biggest show in boxing was in Chicago.

In order to promote their upcoming pay-per-view Floyd Mayweather and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez embarked on a cross-country promotional tour stopping in 11 cities to get boxing fans excited about the biggest fight of the year.  Since it was free it was right in my financial wheelhouse.  However, since it was free it was in a LOT of people’s wheelhouse.  When I arrived, about 45 minutes before the festivities were scheduled to kick off, the line went out the front door of the Chicago Theatre down State Street and wrapped around Lake street.

I would provide pictures, however my phone picked a horrible time to run out of juice.  Which also meant I had no way to entertain myself while I was waiting, possibly in vain, to get in.  Lucky for me, boxing fans are chatty and seem to have endless things to talk about.  Right behind me two ladies were debating the merits of Mayweather, mostly if his out-of-ring antics detracted from his in-ring performance.  They were also planning their trip to Vegas in September for the fight,

“I might not get to the fight, ‘cause I ain’t got $1500, but I’m definitely going to be on the strip for the fight. Vegas is great when Floyd is fighting” one of the ladies opined.  I too don’t have $1500 to blow on a ticket, but I would disagree with her about Vegas being great when Floyd is fighting.  Vegas is great when there is ANY big boxing contest in town.  It’s also the best time to play “Hooker, Not Hooker”.

As the 6:00pm start time neared people started to get antsy about getting in, especially since the line had barely moved.  Eventually we did start shuffling to the entrance only to encounter another obstacle - you needed a ticket to get in.  And the lady that was nearest to us had no more tickets.  She nonchalantly pointed to another worker who “might have some left” which set off a mini-stampede.  I would like to thank my youth basketball coach and my predilection for cheeseburgers for helping me box out two young kids as they tried to get past me to get a ticket.

With ticket in hand I entered the historic theatre (really, take the tour if you’re in town) where I saw A Christmas Story: The Musical (one of the best Christmas presents of all-time) and was promptly faced with another obstacle.  Seriously, Link had less challenges rescuing Princess Zelda then I had getting into this dog-and-pony show.  This time I had to choose between waiting in another line to check my umbrella or abandon it because it wasn’t allowed in the seating area.  I guess they were afraid I might use it as a weapon should a melee break out during the event.  Sorry Hambone, but your Avocent umbrella was left to its own defenses as I hot-footed it up to the balcony level.

In the end I didn’t need to be so hasty.  As I settled into my seat the show was still in its preview stage.  A couple of large monitors were looping a 5-6 minute video of show promotion all built around the theme of the contest “The One”. Mayweather was “The One” while Alvarez was “The Next One”, which during the first showing of the video I thought they said “The Mexican One,” which I thought was a pretty risqué way to advertise a fight.  Hey, I’m old and the ears don’t work so well.

The video asked various fans who was going to win the fight and why.  They went through pretty much all of the demographics and even had the couple who disagreed (something along the lines of  “if Alvarez wins we’re not getting married, ha ha ha ha”).  In the footage the opinion was pretty much split down the middle with the analysis along the basic premise - Mayweather is smarter and faster while Canelo is younger and stronger.

Now, there was no such disparity in the Chicago crowd, which was overwhelmingly pro-Canelo. There were a few folks from “The Money Team” in the crowd acting pretty much as douche-tastic as you can imagine.  While in line a couple of 20-something year-olds called their friend at the head of the line to get tickets.  Once they got them, they screamed, “That’s how The Money Team rolls, bitches!”  Yes, you got free tickets before the rest of us.  You’re a success in life, son.

Finally, the show was ready to start and the promoter introduced Alvarez first. The “Mexican James Dean” wearing jeans and a tight fitting blue polo shirt came to the stage to cascading applause and CA-NEL-OO chants from his admirers.  He was prompt, respectful and reserved.

Then it was Mayweather’s turn.  In true heel fashion he took his time, made the crowd wait, wait, and then wait some more.  When he finally graced us with his presence he was decked out in a grey sweater, flat-brim “TMT” hat, sunglasses and obnoxiously large gold chain.  He stood and smirked at the boos, because, well, he’s the best in boxing at what he does - make his detractors go ape-shit crazy. People don’t dislike Mayweather, like they might dislike a fighter like Fernando Vargas.  You won’t hear them say, “Eh, yeah Mayweather, I just don’t care for him.” They despise him, they don’t want him to lose, they want to see him hurt.  They want him lying on the canvas in pain like Danny LaRusso after his leg was swept.

After a quick stare down (where there wasn’t as big of a height/size difference as I thought there would be) he finally took his seat, his daughter on one side and his hype man Lenard Ellerbe on the other. Mayweather then proceeded to spend the rest of the show drawing something on a piece of paper.  It was awesome.  While De La Hoya, Alvarez, and the promoter all hyped the fight Mayweather sat there like a 7thgrader in algebra doodling away.

Little things like that are why I can appreciate the dedication he puts into being the “bad” guy.  It’s easy to get worked up about him betting hundreds of thousands of dollars on basketball games or lightning money on fire, but to go to the detail of acting like this promotional tour was nothing but a two-week after school detention is pure villainous genius.

Meanwhile, Alvarez sat there like the humble, leading man, vanquisher of evil that he’s being set up as.  He spoke briefly in Spanish (which I really have to learn at some point) about how he is ready to win for the people ending with the bold declaration, “I am your rooster!”  Ummm. Good for you?

De La Hoya had a few words for the crowd as well.  Thanking the crowd for coming out, announcing that boxing is alive and well, “especially in Chicago” and then dropping a little tease about some plans Golden Boy has for boxing in Chicago.  Hmmm…perhaps a big fight down the road, a pay-per-view in our fair city?  That would be awesome.  Not only for me, but also for some of the local fighters.  Getting on the under card could provide the next step for Mike Jimenez, Andrzej Fonfara or even Dimar Ortuz.

After Golden Boy was done, it was time for Mayweather to give his oral presentation.  He sidled up to the podium and stared out at the crowd and proceeded to shout out, “HARD WORK!” His Money Team was delighted to scream back “DEDICATION!” That went on for about 20 seconds before the sing-songy “CA-NEL-OO!” chants drowned them out. Mayweather stood there and smirked while the boos and derision rained down upon him (another classic heel move, he learned well during his brief dalliance with the WWE).

After some more toying with the crowd he got down to basics and thanked the sponsors (as if he gives a shit about O’Reilly Auto Parts). He pointed out that he’s been in the situation before and that while his opponent might be relying on youth, he had experience on his side. Then the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world closed with, “Chicago is a great city, Mexico is a great country, but September 14th is all about the red, white and blue!”.

They closed with another stare down for the cameras and then the crowd was dismissed while the print and video media was invited to the stage for interviews.  I was a little disappointed as I had hoped that we would be treated to that portion of the spectacle as well. I guess I should have inquired about a press pass after all.

In the end, I learned a few things:

Chicago is pro-Canelo
Mayweather plays the villain better than anyone in sports
Corona makes 10-foot tall light up display bottles.
Something is in the works for boxing in Chicago