RSS
Home
Darchinyan-Agbeko fight marooned in South Florida
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
What in the name of Shawtime on Showtime is the Joseph Agbeko-Vic Darchinyan IBF bantamweight title bout doing in Sunrise, Fl., on July 11?
I will tell you one thing that Agbeko-Darchi will not be doing and that is any ticket selling at the Bank Atlantic Center, the spiffy new arena which is the home of the ice hockey Panthers.
I guess it sometimes difficult for mere mortals to recognize business genius, especially in the confounding thumble world of boxing, but pray tell why this venue for this IBF bantamweight title bout?Maybe Shaw wanted to visit his parents who live nearby. Maybe Don King, who handles the champion from Ghana, is having a backyard barbecue the night before.
Or maybe all the arenas in Siberia are fully booked on the date.
.jpg)
Again, I just do not get it. I realize there are no site fees to be had from Vegas or Atlantic City for a fight between an Australian and a Ghanaian especially when they are in the jockey weight divisions.
But this is patently ridiculous. South Florida has an undeserved reputation as a solid area in which to stage boxing cards.
Nothing could be further from the truth. There are too many competing attractions, including the warm weather in the winter, and unless you can develop some Cuban ticket seller good luck in drawing real crowds.
Since King moved his offices from New York to Florida, the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale has become his dumping ground for fights that cannot be placed anywhere else.
The shame of it all is this could be a good, competitive fight witnessed by seven people, two of whom will be Shaw and King and they do not pay to get in.
So come fight night the arena will be as quiet as a small town library but with less pulsating excitement.
As I recall there is no big Aussie expat community in South Florida nor is there any base of Ghanians.
Maybe Joshua Clottey can go down to the fight and then they can say he alone is the Ghana support group for his fellow Bronx resident.
The bottom line is that no fight can go homeless.
But putting this kind of a scrap in a place where nobody knows and nobody cares is a prescription for box office blues and boredom come the night.
These two fighters deserve more of an effort from their promoters really.
Do the promoters think that anyone who has Showtime will leave their house in the unbearably humid weather to go to the arena to see these two perform?
Maybe they can hold the rematch in Siberia.
It would draw more attention and sell more tickets there than in Sunrise, that is for sure.
Related Articles:
Comments
