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Should HBO pamper prospects or see if they can swim?
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Time to put some new polish on the Golden halo of Golden Quitter Ortiz (AP Photo)
Cus D’Amato, the Mike Tyson and Floyd Patterson guru, used the term “brave quitter.”
Boxing legend Big Al Braverman would say a fighter was a “cayoodle” if he thought the boxer’s heart was less than huge.
Giving up in a fight like Victor Ortiz did has long been known as “the French exit.”
For all his glorious efforts, Oscar De La Hoya knows about those, having straight out quit in fights against bigger man Bernard Hopkins and much smaller Manny Pacquiao.
Oscar may have painfully flashed back to those ignominous endings as Ortiz folded his tent against gritty Marcos Maidan.
But, above and beyond the rushed Golden Boy prospect’s loss, a larger and more important fight looms.
What is the role of paymaster cable network HBO?
Boxing is divided into two camps on this one. One, the largest legion, says that HBO’s only responsibility is to its paying customers, its viewers, and that the network suits can and should play the Teddy Brenner tough matchmaker role.
This camp says that HBO must hold teacher pet promoter Golden Boy, De La Hoya’s company, to the same exacting standards that rivals are held to. In other words, Golden Boy must get its feet held to the fire and not be given, as happened early this year, six precious TV dates as though they were blank checks with no specific matches attached.
The other camp, which naturally includes the Golden Boys, insist that HBO should have room on its airwaves for less than stringent matches so that glowing, 22-year-olds with juicy background stories such as abandoned by his parents Ortiz can be developed into stardom.
The spokeman for this group is the Golden’s favorite manager, Shelly Finkel.
It was Finkel who directed the movement of Ortiz from Top Rank to Golden Boy.
“I do not understand Gary on this,” Finkel told me Tuesday. “How does it help him if Ortiz gets beaten. Gary should be rooting for Ortiz as a future opponent for Timothy Bradley, his champion in the same weight class.
“Time will tell if the kid makes it back now but people should be sad that he lost because his winning would’ve been good for the sport.”
Finkel compared the situation to the NBA having magnetic superstars such as Michael Jordan, situations which he said benefited the entire league.
“Similarly, it was good for all in boxing when we had Mike Tyson or Sugar Ray Leonard bringing their stardom. Oscar was the same way with how he affected the sport.”
I asked Finkel if he was surprised by the outpouring of invective aimed at the young fighter.
“Look, I expect the cynicism of the business that I chose to be in but I still think it is terrible.
“When Miguel Cotto lost (to Antonio Margarito) I thought it was terrible for boxing,” Finkel said. “Cotto was a real star for our sport. He was selling out Madison Square Garden. When he lost, I thought it was terrible for everybody in boxing.”
Finkel said the absence of network boxing leaves no broadcast outlet on which to groom rising ring stars.
“There is no NBC or CBS there for these fighters to get themselves known. On ESPN, the fees are so small that promoters have to lose money. If HBO does not establish the future stars, there is no alternative.”
Finkel overlooked Showtime and its ShoBox serires but you get his point.
Finkel drew on something an older rock music promoter told him in a period when they bashing each other to get dates, take over concert territories and the like.
“His name was Frank Barsalona and he was my mentor,” Finkel said. “He said you have to look at the whole landscape. He said what is good for the music business was good for all of us. I learned that to be so true. It’s the same with boxing.”
Finallly, Finkel sees all the badmouthing of Ortiz and second-guessing of Golden Boy (and himself) as Monday morning quarterbacking.
“Where was all this concern, this outrage, before the fight? I didn’t see it in print anywhere. No one was saying then we were rushing him, we were going to get Victor knocked off.”
So the question remains.
Should HBO provide training wheels and softer touch opponents for budding stars? Or should they only seek to make the most entertaining fights possible for the at home end consumer?
This fight will last a lot longer than 12 rounds, trust me.
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