Ringside With Raymundo 12.17.09: Kim's 'Anywhere But Vegas' Refreshing Journalism

Posted by Raymundo Dioses on 12.17.2009

This week, Raymundo implores you to read Max Boxing and says goodbye to his prizefighter grandfather who passed away last week...


Photo by Hoganphotos.com / Golden Boy Promotions

Some media take light of opinion and instead lean towards the mainstream, keeping articles as light and fluffy as possible. When a star fighter is in a fight with a lesser known, some writers build up the underdog, tell his sobbing heartfelt story and neglect to bring to the light that fighter "A" hand picked fighter "B" and will make a large purse for little effort. These situations, as well as many others are routinely written about. Plainly put: some writers just don't bring it.

Not at 411.

As you, the reader has noticed, there is no fluff here. There are no ‘soft as a warm sweet-tart' written articles on this site; us boxing scribes at 411 pull no punches.

There are a few other fight writers out there who tell it like it is, damned a guaranteed press row seat or not. The truth is more important to them than a promotional company friendly article.

Just off the top, there is Ron Borges and Kevin Iole. Borges is quick to point out the mishaps of network HBO, then will go anchor for them at a live event. Then there is Iole, who at the moments notice that Oscar De La Hoya would fight career featherweight Manny Pacquiao at welterweight instead of facing a boxer in his own 147 pound division, chastised DLH, and rightly so. He was picking on a smaller guy. Iole wrote that ‘De La Hoya needs to know that a loss to Antonio Margarito would be more meaningful than a win over Manny Pacquiao'.

There is also Ring Magazine and Ringtv.com's Doug Fischer, who pulls no punches when speaking of ‘Money May'.

However, it was Fischer's former colleague who stopped the presses with his latest effort.

Maxboxing's Steve Kim wrote a practical, concise piece about the major debate ensuing as to where in the United States to put the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight.

Kim's title said it all: ABV. Translation: anywhere but Vegas.

In Kim's piece, he deftly details the reasons why the fight should not be limited to an arena which can only hold up to 16,000 people, and that a large fraction of that number are not die hard boxing fans, but the casino's high rollers, celebrities and people that know people that know people that got them tickets but they are there for the main event then on to Vegas' other attractions.

It is a fascinating article, and can be found on www.maxboxing.com.

Kim brings up valid points and stances on why the fight should not be in Sin City, rather a stadium setting somewhere else in the country so 100,000 people can keep their ticket stubs and say they went to the biggest fight of our generation.

And that is absolutely correct. Just because Vegas and the MGM Grand Casino were the venues for previous bouts that involving both Mayweather and Pacquiao doesn't mean it has to be the spot for such an important and potential blockbuster of a fight that can change the face of boxing. By expanding the amount of fans in the building, boxing can grow from the people who perhaps cherish it the most: the fans.

Kim also brings out another solid point, which I will attempt to paraphrase: boxing made Vegas, Vegas didn't make boxing. Think about that.

The powers that be need to see the bigger picture in what this fight could do outside of Vegas, and make their decision based on where they would like to see boxing in the next five years. There are at least five major stadiums who have expressed interest in hosting the mega bout in the cities of Los Angeles, New Orleans, Dallas, Georgia and Florida. To choose either one would make it able to five times as many people to watch the fight live and say that they were there.

If my early prediction becomes true, which was that it would be 2010 before an official announcement will be made concerning the proposed mega-match, there will not be ample time to extra-hype the already hyped fight.

Because of all the possibilities and probabilities, to this point, one thing is sure: the clock is ticking on the fight. At this juncture, any planned press conferences would be rushed. Golden Boy Promotions has held highly publicized pre-fight conferences from the Statue of Liberty in New York to the star lined streets of Los Angeles. Yet to this point, the fight has yet to be inked by both fighters or officially announced by either promotional company. A 10 to 12 city media tour would most probably be out of the question, due to the busy schedules of Mayweather and even more so, Pacquiao, who due to tax rules can only be in our beloved States for a limited time only before Uncle Sam hits him for nearly half of his purposed $25 million dollar purse.

Some could say that this fight sells itself, which is very true in a sense of itself. The mega bout is being compared to Hagler/Hearns and Frazier/Ali I, and the moment referee stepped in to stop the carnage that Miguel Cotto was receiving from Manny Pacquiao, people started talking about the match up of the number one and number two fighters on the planet.

Yet the whole reason to have big city media tours is to maximize profits. The glaring stare downs, Michael Buffer announcing the fighters to the crowd, the jib jab comments at the podium, the signing of autographs, all of that hub bub helps sell more of those ‘PPV's, which the fighters themselves receive dividends from on top of their purses.

Perhaps this delay is a testament that all involved are taking the location into perspective. It has been reported that both fighters have already, in part, agreed to terms. So the final straw would be the location at this juncture. Hopefully it's not so big an issue that it brings a stall to negotiations, because this could be a very important fight not only for 2010, but the future of boxing as a whole.

It's obvious that this fight needs to be done. Neither fighter would make more money or increase their legacies fighting anyone else, yet the most important issue is that there is no bigger fight for boxing. The sports last three years have seen an upswing as of late, beginning with De La Hoya/Mayweather, to Pacquiao vs. anybody. The momentum should not be stopped at all.

Boxing ended the decade on a good note, and can start 2010 with a great one.

Raymundo Dioses, AKA "The Spoiler" dies at 85

My grandfather, Raymundo Dioses , passed away peacefully at his home in Chino , California last week. He was 85 years old.

The person with whom I share a namesake was a middleweight in the 1940's and 50's, and fought regularly at the Olympic and American Legion in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in exhibition bouts in the Air Force during the World War II era, and fought Irish Bob Murphy on two occasions. Of his many nicknames developed by fighting, one was "The Spoiler", due to his penchant for upsetting his favored opponents.

My grandfather and I spent many a time watching and discussing fights, and he would tell me tales of his fights. With his passing, I've had the unique opportunity to comb through his boxing items, and I've been able to look at his boxing license, various boxing contracts from his fights, and a host of pictures with him during fights and many newspaper clippings in which he was the subject.

The passing of my grandfather leaves my family at peace. Suffering from Parkinson's disease and a fractured hip, my grandfather pressed on and lived a full life. For that we are happy. Now, my grandfather is throwing punches in the skies above us.

R.I.P. Raymundo Dioses 1924-2009