Mayweather- De La Hoya Undercard

[SweetPea]

Obviously we've had a ton of threads discussing the main event, but I want to discuss the undercard of this fight.
First, I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows what fights might be on the undercard. I've done some searching, but haven't been able to find anything.

I think the undercard of this PPV is very important. For years, HBO and Showtime have been screwing over boxing fans by forcing us to watch boring, drama-less, one-sided undercard bouts, usually featuring some undefeated prospect against a completely overmatched opponent. These are the absolute worst fights to watch in the entire sport. We put up with it though, because we're willing to sit thru horrible undercard fights, as long as the main event is worth it.

But Mayweather-DLH will draw lots of fans who are casual fans or who are new to the sport. Boxing has a chance to win over a lot of new fans, if they are able to provide 3 or 4 competitive, entertaining fights. If these new fans have to sit thru 3 mismatches on the undercard, why would they want to come back and spend $50 again to watch a fight?
I was very excited when DLH formed Golden Boy, Inc., because I thought it was great to have a fighter running a company, not some corrupt promoter who didn't care one bit about the sport. I believe Golden Boy is in charge of this entire card. It's up for Oscar and the company as a whole to show that they're serious about being a better promotional compnay than the other's out there. If they can't come up with an entertaining card, then they're failing the fans.

Since the undercard doesn't appear to be set yet, let's try to come up with some realistic matchups that could make for an exciting undercard. When I say "realistic," I just mean, let's not post fights that we'd want to see in a dream world, but fights that would actually have a chance to be on this undercard.

[BoxingGorilla]

Good thread. I'm hoping for three undercard fights but have no idea who they might be or who I even want them to be... maybe Pavlik vs. or Casamayor Vs.

Last night's undercard was piss poor.

[SweetPea]

To add to my original post, I think there are two types of fights that we should be trying to pick fighters for:

1. A fight between two highly-regarded prospects.
Something like Miranda-Pavlik would be perfect for this undercard. I'm not saying those guys specifically, because they're already locked into another date, but a fight like that.
Instead of having a prospect against a no-name, put another prospect in the ring against another top prospect.

2. A fight between two veterans, where the style matchup will produce an exciting fight. You don't need two guys with great records to have an exciting fight. Mickey Ward and Emanuel Augustus had a combined 27 losses when they fought in 2001, and they ended up winning Fight of the Year.

[Terp]

Last night's undercard was piss poor.

I disagree. The scoring was questionable in both fights, but they were both entertaining, intriguing fights.

[Taeth]

I think they should have fights like
Cotto-Judah
or
Winky-Hopkins
or a Pacquaio fight

this is how big the fight is, and what they need to win boxing fans.

THe reason why UFC does better is they put 3-4 unified champions into a card, and they hype up their fighters. It's a mystery to me why boxing isn't trying to get on Spike.

[SweetPea]

I think they should have fights like
Cotto-Judah
or
Winky-Hopkins
or a Pacquaio fight

No offense Taeth, but this is what I meant in terms of coming up with "realistic" suggestions. Cotto-Judah isn't realistic, they're headlining their own PPV card on June 9.
Winky-Hopkins isn't realistic, they're headlining a PPV card in June.
Pacquiao is already signed to fight someone.

Let's come up with names and matchups that could actually happen on May 5.

[CutMeMick]

I know for a fact that 'Boom-Boom' Bautista will face Sergio Manuel Medina in the co-main event as GBP thinks hes the future of the div. they will face off in a WBO 'Eliminator' bout to see who faces Daniel P.D. Leon.....

[THE THIRD MAN]

I would have thought this would be a perfect opportunity for guys like Witter or Mundine to make an impact in the States on a huge night like this.

[p4pking]

Yea good post, lots of good fights that could and should happen on this undercard, it has to be a huge event. I'll try and throw a couple out there.. Thing I start wondering is they have to have some matchups in mind... Otherwise all the undercard fights will be put together giving the fighters only a month or so to prepare... Not exactly the way to ensure great fights.


Margarito vs Williams.. Don't know what is happening with this fight but it should be very fan friendly and would be great exposure for both guys..
Maybe something like Duddy vs Mora, that would be a good scrap, not great fighters but they'd match up nicely.
I guess Marquez vs Barrera 2 isn't realistic for this date, though I'd love to see it.
Arce vs Vic I would say but I think Arce may be fighting too soon to the date?
Roy Jones vs Clinton Woods? Maybe not realistic, no reason it shouldn't be though unless the fighters don't want it..
Miranda vs Pavlik was a great call, that would be perfect, just the kind of fight they need to try and lock.

[SweetPea]

Looking thru young prospects, and remembered Andy Lee. He's the hyped middleweight prospect from Ireland who's trained by Emmanuel Steward. He KO'd Carl Daniels last weekend. He's early in his career, so he's at the stage where he's fighting every 6-8 weeks, so he could be ready by May 5.

They could match him in the first fight of the night against another stepping stone opponent. It would give a lot of people their first chance to see him, and it would give him the experience of fighting on the undercard of a huge event.

[amat]

Great topic. Tyson PPV's were always huge but the undercards were never too captivating and that hurt boxing.

Golden Boy likes to bunch there fighters on a card. The MAB - Juarez II was the best card on paper in a long time. I think we can expect something similar now although the lack of info is a bit regarding the undercard is a bit worrying.

Bautista is scheduled to fight and in all likelyhood will be fed a sacrificial lamb. Especially since a potential PDL is still in the works right? Looking down the GBP you have a lot of fighters with no dates scheduled. I think exciting fighters like Escalante, Barrios, Tackie, Prince Gabi, Juarez ect. can all be matched up competitively and make good fights. I just hope we hear something soon...

[CountryBoy]

I just hope the fights are entertaining.

[Galaxy]

The undercard definitely needs to be solid!!!

I wouldn't mind seeing a Spinks - Simms, or even a Stark - Oliver rematch type fights as the preliminaries.

[CutMeMick]

or even a Stark - Oliver rematch type fights as the preliminaries.

Stark won that fight, IMO he always brought the fight to Oliver and was the busier of the 2 getting inside and out.....
Do you know if they have scheduled a re-match yet?

[TheBESTP4P]

well realistically GBP usually showcases its GDP fighters. so the ones who are due and have not fought in like the last 3months or more will more likely be the under card.