By Donavan Leonard: One thing boxing fans do better than any other sporting base is argue. In a sport that has little, and provides even less oversight, not even a clear winner can be chosen in many contests. The modern game has also changed, with champions of the past fighting frequently (James Toney fought 7 times in one year, beginning with his title-winning knockout of Michael Nunn), to on average about two times per year.
This idle time gives plenty of opportunity to speculate about the heart and ability of fighters individually. As if arguing about fighters is not enough, many fans have also chosen sides on which platform is the best. The three largest serving the United States, DAZN, PBC, and Top Rank/ESPN are vying for viewers, and the ideal formula for accomplishing that goal is by providing the highest quality product. The story behind the divide between Anthony Joshua (DAZN), Deontay Wilder (PBC), and Tyson Fury (ESPN/Top Rank) is well known. Putting aside the cacophony of “A-sides”, money splits, ducking, and disappointments of bouts longed for and not made (such as a mix of those above, plus Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence, Jr.), the picture of who is delivering so far in 2019 is pretty clear.
Through March 24th, the PBC checks the boxes more often than the others.
Entertainment: There have been entertaining bouts on both DAZN (Jesus Rojas vs Can Xu, Jaime Munguia-Takashi Inoue, Tevin Farmer-Jono Carroll, Brandon Rios-Humberto Soto) and ESPN (Ray Beltran-Hiroki Okada), but PBC has provided not one but two legitimate fight of the year contests. In what should be the clear front runner, Sergey Lipinets knocked out and retired Lamont Peterson. Their other entry could be Omar Figueroa’s decision victory over John Molina Jr. Boxing is the entertainment business, and at this point PBC has an early lead.
High-Level championship bouts: There has not been a lot to get excited about when it comes to top-level bouts so far this year. Top Rank has arguably the leading fight in that category so far this year with Sergey Kovalev’s winning performance against Eleider Alvarez earlier this year. DAZN’s best offering, on paper, would most likely be Dmitri Bivol’s victory over Joe Smith, Jr. PBC may not have the leader in the category, but again has several strong contenders. Marcus Browne’s bloody victory over Badou Jack is at least on the same category as Bivol-Smith. Brian Castano’s coming out party, a draw versus Erislandy Lara, is on that level as well. PBC also started off the year with Caleb Plant’s brilliant, two-knockdown performance against the highly regarded Jose Uzcategui. PBC’s offerings, by virtue of number, take this category.
Moments to remember: ESPN has ‘The Takeover”, Teofimo Lopez, and his brutal knockout of Diego Magdaleno. They also have Jose Rivas’ last round wizardry, kayoing Bryant Jennings. However, DAZN has the Cinderella Man, “Chango”, Andrew Cancio and his epic knockout of Albert Machado. After being down hard in the first round, the road-crew worker (who had to report to work the Tuesday after winning the belt), recovered and eventually beat down the then-champion Machado. PBC has no entry here.
With arguments flying about which platform is best, which has the best fights, etc., it is good to pause and reflect on the offerings had by each. If the season ended today, the PBC would be champ. However, April is coming, and with that the return of the World Boxing Super Series and the rematch between Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Juan Francisco Estrada. On paper, it looks like DAZN will be taking the lead in April, heading into a May that features Canelo Alvarez vs Daniel Jacobs and more WBSS action. If the PBC and ESPN respond with competitive matchups, the remainder of the year may make up for the slow beginning (sans heavies and welters). As a fan, the best part is that all three can be enjoyed without having to choose one over the other. Not every bout offered on every platform is going to be the viewer’s “cup of tea”, but the variety is there. It needs to be savored, as there is no guarantee for how long this ride will last.