Dec
21

Devon Alexander vs Timothy Bradley bout hits Silverdome

By Admin // Alexander vs Bradley // No Comments

Not that its promoters are likely to pay much attention, but there is probably a cautionary message implicit in the fact that the roof at the Minneapolis Metrodome caved in less than a week after Gary Shaw and Don King announced that the Jan. 29 Devon Alexander vs Timothy Bradley live fight would take place at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.

We’re not exactly comparing apples and oranges in pointing out that the principal differences between the two venues is that the onetime home of the Detroit Lions is slightly older and has an even more sordid history of weather-related calamities than its sister dome in Minneapolis, which was one reason the Lions considered it a smart business move to pay $26 million not to play there once Ford Field was completed eight years ago.

King has a well-documented history of fleecing would-be entrepreneurs hosting his fights, but in this case The World’s Greatest Promoter was occupied with the funeral arrangements for his wife Henrietta, who passed away the week before last, and it was Shaw who struck the deal with Andreas Apostolopoulos, the Greek-born Canadian financier who bought the Silverdome at auction earlier this year. He then offered Shaw and King a site-fee deal in which the Silverdome actually outbid a couple of Las Vegas casinos, as well as sites in St. Louis, Southern California and Atlanta for the right to host the fight.

“He’s bought this place dirt cheap, and it’s zoned so that he can’t do anything else with the property,” said a boxing promoter with no vested interest in the Bradley-Alexander bout. “Whatever he paid for this fight is a cheap advertisement that says to the world, ‘Hey, I’ve got a domed stadium here ready to host your event.’ ”

The Silverdome will be configured to seat 15,000 on fight night, but with HBO bankrolling the bout to the tune of $3 million, actual paid attendance is a matter of scant consequence to either of its promoters.

Although it has not officially been labeled a tournament, Bradley-Alexander was envisioned as the other bracket in a junior welterweight series, the first half of which was last weekend’s Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana

Victor Ortiz-Lamont Peterson card. Plainly, the hope had been that with sufficiently strong showings, Khan and Ortiz might establish themselves as credible opponents, if not for the Bradley-Alexander winner, then for each other. Khan, after scoring a quick knockdown, had to weather a late Maidana barrage in which he was all but knocked out himself, and was fortunate to squeak out a win. Ortiz, after having Peterson all but KO’d, escaped with a majority draw. The upshot is that all Khan and Ortiz probably deserve is rematches with Maidana and Peterson.

The Key to victory

Breidis Prescott, the author of Khan’s lone professional defeat, has been added to ESPN2’s Jan. 14 card in Key West, Fla. A pair of New Englanders — Peter Manfredo of Providence (vs. Daniel Edouard) and Worcester’s Edwin Rodriguez (vs. Aaron Pryor Jr.) fight in the principal bouts on what will be the second “Friday Night Fights” telecast of the new year. …

Irish middleweight Andy Lee remains the leader in the clubhouse as the next challenger to WBC middleweight champion (and likely 2010 Fighter of the Year) Sergio Martinez. Martinez promoter Lou DiBella had the match all but made 10 days ago, but encountered some resistance from HBO, which would presumably televise the March 12 bout. DiBella countered with a proposal to stage Martinez’ mandatory (vs. “interim” champion Sebastian Zbik) on the same date, with Lee-John Duddy in the co-feature) but HBO was even less enthusiastic about that idea, putting the Emanuel Steward-trained Lee back in the lead. Martinez is not under contract to either network, so DiBella could in theory shop the title fight to Showtime, but if he does he’ll probably have to find a new date and DiBella said that Foxwoods and even Boston remain possible venues. …

Don’t know if you were paying attention, but the date penciled in for Manny Pacquiao’s next fight has quietly shifted from April 16 to May 7. Ostensibly the date was changed because Freddie Roach thought Pacquiao needed more time to rest up from what was a taxing performance against Antonio Margarito, but it’s hard to see that three weeks makes much difference. The name most often bandied about is still Shane Mosely’s, but May 7 happens to be the weekend of Cinco de Mayo, leading us to suspect that Pacquiao’s next opponent could turn out to be old amigo Juan Manuel Marquez. …

While the overall selection process for the International Boxing Hall of Fame is still a work in progress, this time the system worked. No one will quarrel with the three inductees — Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez and Kostya Tszyu — elected from the “modern” category last week. We would question the wisdom of the decision to include Sylvester Stallone in the Class of 2011 that will be installed next June.

We’re not saying Stallone doesn’t belong. Some will say, “If you’re going to put ‘Rocky’ in the Hall of Fame, what about Joe Palooka?” Stallone isn’t being honored as a fictional character, but as the screenplay author of an iconic boxing film. The late Budd Schulberg, who wrote “On the Waterfront,” is in the Hall. “Rocky” debuted 35 years ago. Stallone could have been inducted last year (when his presence would have augmented a comparatively weak group of moderns) or next year (though Thomas Hearns’ name will appear on the ballot for the first time). …

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