Opening Bell: HBO's 24/7 Returns for Paquiao-Marquez
Finally found time to watch HBO’s 24/7: Pacquiao-Marquez and was pleasantly surprised by how engrossing it was after the widespread condemnation on Twitter from the usual suspects. Perhaps my taste isn’t as sophisticated as some of the film critics that cover boxing, but I found it hard to believe people who genuinely love boxing weren’t the least bit entertained by the recaps of the first two fights or the mini-tragedy starring Jorge Linares.
24/7 remains beautifully shot and edited and I would rather listen to Liev Shreiber read the phonebook than watch anything on Bravo or the CW. The show dragged a bit when discussing Pacquiao’s training regimen but since I’ve hit the gym I find myself more interested in the gratuitous workout porn. It’s one of the best half-hours of television available for boxing fans and a great showcase for the sport. There will always be critics, but then again we’re talking about the type of people that consider puns the height of wit.
The great Tim Starks has posted the first half of a two-part series examining how to fix what has been ailing big-time boxing recently on TQBR. We disagree slightly about his dismal evaluation of 2011, mostly because anything can sound bad if you pick it apart enough. As a fight fan I’ve been more than sufficiently entertained this year and I go to or watch practically every card in this neck of the woods. Sure there are problems at the top of the sport, but that’s pretty much been the case since I started following boxing. I’ll likely be more generous when evaluating the year in our Stiff Jab annual print edition.
But where Tim and I are in agreement is with regards to the dismal matchmaking for the sport’s top fighters as of late, Mayweather a surprising exception. Blame can be distributed widely but Top Rank and HBO are the main culprits; thankfully there’s buzz that new HBO boss Ken Hershman may bring skilled matchmaker Carl Moretti with him to his new gig. Hopefully that would put and end to the eight-round trot-outs for prized prospects that have no business on national TV.
The final CompuBox numbers show Edwin Rodriguez held a decided edge in both punches thrown over Will Rosinsky during his victory on ShoBox Friday night, which drew controversy for the clean sweep on the scorecards. Upon review I would have probably given Rodriguez the decision, but I stand by my assertion that the NYFD emergency medical technician deserved at least one round. When your jab is landing that cleanly and your opponent is clearly backing up from your punches, as Edwin did in the 4th, then you deserve recognition on the scorecards. Still, it was a great fight and we’d be happy to see either man back on TV.
A small programing note: you’ve probably noticed that The Fourth Judge has settled into a regular Tuesday schedule, a remarkable feat for someone so incapable of handling the mundane tasks of everyday life. Opening Bell will come to you on Mondays starting next week and we’ll be introducing a new segment called “Fresh Meat” for Wednesdays where we’ll highlight amateur and professional prospects that you should know. The end of the week will include our preview unless the weekend’s action is sparse and our regular reports on all the action both live and televised.
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