Two major boxing cards will be available for your television viewing tonight, each promoted in a very different manner and offering a very different appeal.
In Las Vegas, junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico will defend his belt against Ricardo Mayorga, a former welterweight champion known more for his trash talk than his ring skills. The Showtime pay-per-view bout is being promoted by former adversaries Bob Arum and Don King, the 79-year-old legends who are using their old-school methods to build up a fight that was made primarily because of name recognition.
Meanwhile, at Foxwoods, recognized middleweight champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina will test unbeaten 154-pound champion Sergiy Dzinziruk of Germany in a meeting of two boxers looking to increase their name recognition.
In Vegas, Cotto, the popular Puerto Rican, might be on the downside of his career and the fowl-mouthed Mayorga might be near the bottom. But listen to Arum and the flag-waving King talk, talk, and talk they will convince you the Nicaraguan has a chance to win despite being an 8-to-1 underdog. The old-school collaboration of Arum and King, once bitter enemies, is drawing as much attention as the boxers.
“Distrust is always more powerful than trust,” King said.
The card includes an NFL player in Ravens safety Tommy Zbikowski; a future rabbi in former junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman of Brooklyn; and a bout for the IBF lightweight championship between champion Miguel Vazquez of Mexico and Lenny Zappavigna of Australia.
“If people want real value they should buy this,” Arum said of the pay-per-view card.
The pomp and circumstance in Las Vegas is in contrast to the HBO offering at Foxwoods where the selling points are the recent performances by Martinez and the curiosity surrounding Dzinziruk. Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs) was named the Boxing Writer’s Fighter of the Year for 2010 for his victories over Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams, but is still seeking the kind of name recognition that makes the Cotto-Mayorga worthy of pay-per-view.
It hasn’t helped that virtually no one in the U.S. is familiar with Dzinziruk (37-0, 23 KOs), who is fighting for just the second time in the States. But this was a matchup HBO pushed for, hoping for a competitive battle that will elevate both fighters’ profiles.
“When you put the best middleweight in the world against the best junior middleweight in the world, you should never apologize, and we don’t,” said Kery Davis of HBO Sports.
Also part of the HBO double-header will be a “Celtic War” showdown between middleweights Andy Lee (24-1, 18 KOs) of Ireland and Craig McEwan (19-0, 10 KOs) of Scotland.
What the Foxwoods show might lack in promotional pageantry, it hopes to make up for with competitive boxing.
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UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar of Toms River, N.J., will face Gray Maynard for a third time on May 28 in Las Vegas at UFC 130. The two fought to a draw on New Year’s Day after Edgar barely survived several knockdowns in the first round. Maynard won the first meeting in 2008. . . . UFC 128 featuring light heavyweight champion Shogun Rua of Brazil defending against Jon Jones of Rochester, N.Y., is set for Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark. The final press conference will be held 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall. The public is invited.
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Upcoming: Havoc Boxing Promotions will hold an event April 2 at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn.
Light heavyweight Elvir Muriqi (38-5, 23 KOs) will headline. On April 13, junior welterweight Dmitriy Salita will headline and promote a boxing card at the Oceana Theater in Brooklyn. Former welterweight champion Lou Collazo will fight in the co-feature.