(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/PBC) By Robbie Bannatyne: In gambling circles they say the ‘house always wins’. Sadly the same could be said about the house fighter in boxing. Robberies are rife in the sport and the unheralded fighters number rarely comes up on the roulette wheel of the judges scorecards.
But the other night, the dog had its day when Aron Martinez defied the odds to overcome former two division world champion Devon Alexander.
Whilst most boxing observers are busy conducting a post mortem on Devon Alexander’s once promising career, I only want to talk about Aron Martinez. Martinez is a fighter who deserves his moment in the sun, especially after he was a victim of a highway robbery against Robert Guerrero on his last appearance on Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). I believe that Martinez was supposed to take his highly dubious defeat to Guerrero like a good little soldier and shovel the crumbs from Al’s table into his pocket before disappearing back into the shadows.
The B-side fighters rarely ever get a fair shake in the first place in my view, never mind a second chance. Miraculously, Martinez was summoned once again. This time as an opponent for Devon Alexander, someone for the name fighter to nibble on so he could whet his appetite for a big fight. Only it was Alexander who was eaten alive. Martinez mauled Alexander on the inside like a famished wolf to work his way into contention for a possible world title shot. The mere idea may seem crazy to some, but after giving Guerrero all he could handle and then beating Alexander on all three judges scorecards, Martinez’s hat must be in the ring for another bout against a big name on PBC.
I think financial imperatives of PBC possibly means Haymon must entertain the masses on free TV in order for it to evolve into a pay model eventually. The public has to buy into PBC as an entertainment product for the television networks to see it as a sustainable business model. So having action packed battles is a prerequisite for success. The Mayweather type fighting style will simply not cut the mustard for the casual fans on free-to-air TV. A pressure fighting Mexican, who throws a ton of punches, fits the bill perfectly though. That is exactly why Martinez was given a second chance: he comes to fight and gives the fans what they want to see. Finally Martinez got what he wanted, and deserved to see when his hand was raised in victory last night.
Martinez’s victory over Alexander just goes to show that the house doesn’t always come out on top, sometimes the underdog has the winning hand. That’s something this boxing fan can definitely buy into.
Thanks for reading fight fans..
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