Cotto vs. Margarito: A Great Fight but will it be a Great Event?

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Doug Fischer - Hardcore boxing fans have been treated to some great fights this decade – including Barrera-Morales I, Castillo-Corrales I and this year’s instant classic Vazquez-Marquez III. On a few occasions during the last 10 years, general sports fans have witnessed boxing matches that could be categorized as great events, such as De La Hoya-Trinidad, Lewis-Tyson and last year’s live-gate and pay-per-view record-breaker, De La Hoya-Mayweather.

It’s a pity that the recent high-profile showdowns, for all their crossover appeal and mainstream media coverage, did not produce compelling bouts. It’s even sadder that the thrilling toe-to-toe slugfests of recent years have been witnessed by relatively small live crowds. [details]

[The_Italian]

I think this fight will follow suit of vasquez/marquez, corrales/castillo, etc. by feeding strongly to the hardcore fans but will fail to bring in the casual fans and thats one thing that hurts the sport.

Events like Mayweather v. De La Hoya break ppv records however some of the best fights we've ever witnessed (corrales v. castillo, etc.) get little to no attention from casual fans.

The casual fans buy ppv's maybe once a year (3 times at absolute best) and only tune in for the big names but 9 times out of 10 the most hyped events never deliever and de la hoya v. mayweather was one of those fights.

Margarito v. Cotto could very well be fight of the year (it has all the potential to achieve that) but majority of the casual fans havent heard of cotto (maybe with the exception of the mosley fight) and far fewer casual fans have heard of margarito so this is another fight i expect to fly under the radar.

For us hardcore fans its one of (if not THEE) biggest ppv's of the year thats created buzz (buzz is an understatement in my opinion) among hardcore fans on internet boxing forums across the world and the big talk in general (not just only) but the excitement of this matchup and the excitement between hardcore fans doesnt reach to the casual fans.

And even the casual fans that all of the sudden hear about this being a big deal more than likely wont purchase the ppv or attend it live and i will tell you why; they dont want to spend $50 and get cheated for their money...

thats why guys like floyd, oscar, bernard, tyson, etc. always (well almost always) do great ppv numbers is because the casual fan views them as greats and feel like they cant lose spending the money on fighters they see as the sports best but more than likely it wont deliever...just like in the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc...the world series/nba finals/superbowl (9 times out of 10) isnt the best game of the year but they get so much attention from the general sports world because its percieved to be the two best teams of the sport going at it...

and sometimes the two best teams dont deliever...thats what happened with floyd v. oscar...winky v. bernard...etc...

and the fans will miss out in boxing once again as (argueably) two of the most exciting current welterweights in the world go at it which promises high energy; multiple knockdowns, even knockouts (all things the casual fan loves)...

[Sin City]

I think this fight will follow suit of vasquez/marquez, corrales/castillo, etc. by feeding strongly to the hardcore fans but will fail to bring in the casual fans and thats one thing that hurts the sport.

Events like Mayweather v. De La Hoya break ppv records however some of the best fights we've ever witnessed (corrales v. castillo, etc.) get little to no attention from casual fans.

The casual fans buy ppv's maybe once a year (3 times at absolute best) and only tune in for the big names but 9 times out of 10 the most hyped events never deliever and de la hoya v. mayweather was one of those fights.

Margarito v. Cotto could very well be fight of the year (it has all the potential to achieve that) but majority of the casual fans havent heard of cotto (maybe with the exception of the mosley fight) and far fewer casual fans have heard of margarito so this is another fight i expect to fly under the radar.

For us hardcore fans its one of (if not THEE) biggest ppv's of the year thats created buzz (buzz is an understatement in my opinion) among hardcore fans on internet boxing forums across the world and the big talk in general (not just only) but the excitement of this matchup and the excitement between hardcore fans doesnt reach to the casual fans.

And even the casual fans that all of the sudden hear about this being a big deal more than likely wont purchase the ppv or attend it live and i will tell you why; they dont want to spend $50 and get cheated for their money...

thats why guys like floyd, oscar, bernard, tyson, etc. always (well almost always) do great ppv numbers is because the casual fan views them as greats and feel like they cant lose spending the money on fighters they see as the sports best but more than likely it wont deliever...just like in the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc...the world series/nba finals/superbowl (9 times out of 10) isnt the best game of the year but they get so much attention from the general sports world because its percieved to be the two best teams of the sport going at it...

and sometimes the two best teams dont deliever...thats what happened with floyd v. oscar...winky v. bernard...etc...

and the fans will miss out in boxing once again as (argueably) two of the most exciting current welterweights in the world go at it which promises high energy; multiple knockdowns, even knockouts (all things the casual fan loves)...

Isn't it ironic that they will pay for the worst fights but not the best? shame..

[KingTito]

I think it will be a fairly good event. I think it'll be above Vasquez-Marquez, and will have a good gathering. I don't think it'll be a massive event, but a pretty good one. Nonetheless, I think the fight will be much better than the event. It should be a huge event, but it'll probably draw the more hardcore boxing fans more.

[ANDROID_DOES]

it's a shame if it's not a big event but you know what who cares it's not us fans loss! Us as fans are getting all we can ask for in a fight between these guys!

[Addison]

Will it be either? That's what I'm wondering.

[The_Italian]

Isn't it ironic that they will pay for the worst fights but not the best? shame..

sad but true.

im sure many will pay $55 for oscar to fight anyone (basically) because of his name...they could have made the forbes tune-up fight a ppv event and the casual fans (not all but many) wouldnt be the wiser and buy it and say, "hey; oscar's going to have that "BIG" ppv fight...you coming over to watch it"...seriously...

but many probably wouldnt even tune into this fight if it were on free tv...

(referring only to casual fans...i know the hardcore fans would watch regardless and not be ignorant enough to pay $55 to see oscar v. alfonso gomez or anything)...

and casual fans complain about the sport...

they wont be able to truely say that until they follow the sport and see the difference between the casual fans considered, "best fights" to the hardcore fans considered, "best fights"...if that happened it would convert many casual fans to hardcore fans...no doubt. they just dont know whats the big fight and whats the gimmick.

its the media's fault as well...cotto v. margarito will get little coverage to the general sports world while floyd v. ocsar II will got coverage all over the papers; espn; etc.

[ferocity]

Good article. Surprisingly. Didn't get deep into old great rivalries as i figured he was going into. But it was a good hype article.

I too think it will be an event like type of fight. One thing im sure of is that Margarito maybe for the first time will be backed by Mexican greats who will attend the fight. And im sure the same on Cottos side. And im sure we'll see many Champions in the audience.

[dmendoz6]

If they promote it right it could be a big event, u know hbo does a little 24/7 on them make a lot of public appearences, just basically get them as much mainstram attention to the fight as possible, it depends how much money they are willing to put into it. I think it definatley CAN be a big fight

[MANGLER]

It'll ba a great fight, but as an event I ain't sure. The potential is there, but these guys ain't flashy enough to attract fans from outside of boxing to watch it. Who cares if it's an event tho? It'd be cool for these 2 to get the recognition they deserve for this fight but as long as they put on a helluva war I'm cool.