TIM BRADLEY-DEVON ALEXANDER: CHICKEN SOUP OR CHICKEN SPIT?
January 18th, 2011 By Pedro Fernandez
Tim Bradley-Devon Alexander
San Francisco, CA- Come Sunday morning January 30th, it’ll be the end of the road when it comes one of the undefeated as either Devon Alexander (21-0, 13 KOs) or Tim Bradley (26-0, 11 KOs) will have had his “0″ taken away after they clash on HBO. That being said, is the fight happening one year too late? Initially, this jr. welterweight (140 lbs) pairing was to be in early 2009. But after some teasing, it was apparent that their wasn’t enough money on the table for Alexander and probably more importantly his promoter Don King.
SAW TOMMY HEARNS & SON RON IN DOME
Having worked the Pontiac Silverdome for fights of non-epic proportions and ones worth remembering, they were at one time letting people into the cheap upper level seats for a couple of bucks. The theory in play was that you would make your money back in concessions. This building was once home to the NFL Lions and NBA Pistons of Detroit. Now
it collects dust!
ARENA & 127 ACRES WENT FOR A SONG TO CANADIANS!
Last year, the city of Pontiac, burdened with a $100 million debt and the annual upkeep being $1.5 million, sold the building and the 127 acres of land for $583,000 to a Canadian entity. When I went to Ticketmaster.com and the Pontiac Silverdome website, neither had the January 29th Alexander-Bradley match listed. Not a good sign of any pre-fight ticket sales.
TIMES ARE DARK ECONOMICALLY
In addition to holding this fight in a burned out economy, a nearly burned out arena, Alexander hails from St. Louis, MO and Bradley fights out of Palm Springs, CA. Does any of this make sense? Why would HBO want to put two black guys that have problems drawing friends to fights, let alone fans, neither live locally, why have the fight here? Are they bringing the brothers back to the hood to face one another before an empty arena to mimic the “empty” arena tapings of pro wrestling? Unless somebody has 15 to 20,000 people willing to come and paper the house with comps, that’s all it’ll be. Better to have a packed ballroom of 2,000, than an 83,000 seat arena with the former numbers in attendance.
IS THERE ANY SOUP TO THESE GUYS?
I’ve often said, “You can’t make chicken soup out of chicken spit.” Neither man has done much. They both turned professional in 2004 and have faced a slew of ham & eggers. If that is the case, it doesn’t matter where these guys fight or when. Bradley is slight betting favorite over the southpaw Alexander. They will be putting up the WBO, IBF, & WBC 140 lb. titles, but if Bradley wins he vacates the WBC strap. So I ask, chicken soup or chicken spit?
Pedro Fernandez
The depressing prospect of this may be the most memorable thing about the evening, but we can hope for two troupers to do their duty. And by the way, waiter, I’ll have the ham and eggs instead of the chicken spit!
“…that have problems drawing friends to fights…”
haha, great line Pedro, thanks for the laugh
I agree with Pedro. I don’t think this fight is all that great. Neither guy has faced great compition, but at least they are fighting each other now. I don’t see either as a destroyer, but I do give Bradley a little credit as he has been getting better as the years go by. When it comes to the junior welts, I have to say that khan and Maidana hold alot more respect for their competition and punching powe. They are taking the right step though. I also agree that Bradley should be the favorite and I expect him to out-work alexander over the fight. I’m also glad that Bob and Don are working together again (not that King has any good fighters right now)and maybe we will see the winner get a crack at one of the better junior welts in the future. Bradley by unam dec. Dave
Pete, the owners of the arena paid a site fee reportedly of 500,000. So if you want to know why, well thats the underlying reason. Any hogwash that Don King and Gary shaw have been saying is total BS. The Don and Shaw just aren’t real promoters anymore and rely on site fee’s and money from HBO to stage their fights. WHat sickens me is if and when HBO decides to pull the plug on boxing where will their fighters and promoters pull revenue from. This is a major question. Boxing needs to build stars and attractions because I think they take it for granted that HBO will always be there with their pocket book ready to write checks. They need to take notes on what is happening in Germany and Canada. At least they have respect for the game and try to build attractions and don’t leech off of TV executives and casino’s to host their fights.As for the fight itself It’s chicken soup(the venue chicken spit), but some chicken soup isn’t necessarily all that good. Is it campbell’s soup or gourmet chicken soup is the real question in my book.
Last I heard it was Bradley who gave up his belt to not fight Devon. I’ve never heard of Devon turning down this fight
Wow, didn’t expect that Pedro. I see this fight as the winner being closer to being the man at 140. I haven’t been this excited about two undefeateds going at it since Pavlik vs Miranda. For me, this fight is chicken soup! Two evenly matched young undefeated champs going at it trying to establish themselves as the best of the div. will make for a good fight IMO.I agree on the venue aspect though. They should have brought it to either one of the guys hometowns. Or what about the nokia theater next to staples? That wouldve sold out for sure.
I say chicken soup…gourmet chicken soup. Two technically gifted boxers, with a chance to make a real mark. I’m definitely looking forwad to this one. As far as building stars and attractions, hopefully this fight can help do just that.
1200 Techs: they could have posed them with the Oscar DLH statue across the way; it would have drawn more fans.
This would not have drawn anywhere except St. Louis and Bradley wasn’t fighting there. So the venue is no matter. No seats for sale on Ticketmaster but the venue web site sells them. Where were you looking on that site to say it wasn’t listed? Not really hard to find if you know where to look. Good for people who don’t like getting gouged by all TM’s ridiculous fees.
Neither guy are big ticket sellers but this is an important fight in the 140 lb division. I’m excited for it as you have two young talented fighters with contrasting styles. I see this as a very entertaining fight as both have a lot to gain as there are some other good matchups awaiting them
Antonino: Agreed..Don’t know why DLH got a statue there though…Didn’t he lose to Mosley at staples?..lol..One thing you can’t argue, DLH brought the fans and fought everyone..
DLATL777, I agree that tm is a monopolistic, money gouging, border line crime syndicate. If the boxing writers get behind this fight and Alexander and Bradley bring their A games, then we should have a great event. Can’t wait!!!
I’m so amped for this fight that if it moved to PPV, I’d gladly shell out the money for it.
I dont understand why u arent excited about this Pedro. I usually agree with you but I have to disagree this time. This is a damn good fight matching two of the best 140pounders in the world. This is a fight that needs to happen at 140, where the winner will be just a Kahn fight away from being the man below 147 and a potential Manny Pacman opponent in the future. I agree the venue is garbage but it is a fight that we should be praising in a boxing world we live in today that routinely disappoints the fan with horrible matchups, so come on Pedro give the guys some props for making the fight happen wether its one year late or not!!
I think this is an excellent match-up from any way you look at it. The main thing is it’s going to be broadcast on HBO and that’s how the majority of people will see it, without caring where the fight takes place. I think the fight stands a good chance of making fans.
Besides I’m glad its not in anyone’s home town, that would just add to the list of things which could taint the fight if it turns out to be a close or contoversial fight. Bradley would be insane to go to St.Louis after seeing Alexander-Kotelnik, it would be an obvious cash out, might as well offer to throw the fight for an extra $50K.