Promoters’ latest big fight is one against PPV piracy
LAS VEGAS — Boxing promoters believe dampened pay-per-view sales are a byproduct of piracy by live-video platforms such as Facebook Live and Periscope.
Golden Boy Promotions is seeking to aggressively address the issue before Saturday night’s Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight at T-Mobile Arena.
“Along with HBO, who’s hired an anti-piracy company, we’ve invested additional money and hired a different company that concentrates solely on Facebook and Periscope,” Golden Boy president Eric Gomez said. “We have all the precautions in place.”
After the negative reaction to the disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr.Manny Pacquiao fight two years ago, which drew 4.6 million pay-per-view buys at record prices, no boxing payper-view has exceeded 1 million buys.
Alvarez’s November 2015 bout with Miguel Cotto had 900,000 buys, but his September victory over Liam Smith for a junior-middleweight belt had less than 300,000 buys, according to HBO.
Finding pay-per-view action on the live video outlets has been an easy pursuit, furthering the interest in avoiding costs like Saturday’s $59.95 pay-per-view.
An all-Los Angeles title f ight?
Joseph Diaz Jr.’s payper-view-opening fight Saturday night on the AlvarezChavez undercard could generate one of the most intriguing Southland battles this year.
South El Monte’s Diaz (23-0, 13 KOs) meets unbeaten Manuel Avila (22-0, 8 KOs) of Fairfield, Calif., in a featherweight bout that can enhance Diaz’s lofty World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council ratings.
Unbeaten Oscar Valdez, who resides in Lake Elsinore and trains in Carson, is the WBO featherweight champion. On April 22, Valdez successfully defended his belt in a gritty pay-per-view main event against Colombia’s Miguel Marriaga at StubHub Center.
“We’re going hard after that” with a victory, Diaz promoter Gomez said.
Diaz said a bout with Valdez is a natural.
“That’s what I want. If I get Valdez, we could sell out StubHub Center,” Diaz said.
Matthysse returns
The last time Lucas Matthysse fought, his dream of becoming a world champion went black along with the vision in his left eye.
Knocked down in the 10th round by Viktor Postol ina World Boxing Council juniorwelterweight title bout 18 months ago at StubHub Center, Matthysse didn’t rise from the canvas, feeling as if his “eye exploded,” then opting to take an extended break and heal.
Matthysse, 34, comes back to boxing Saturday, moving up a division to fight welterweight Emanuel Taylor (20-4, 14 KOs) on the undercard.
“I started training around September, but wanted to make sure I was rested. I’ve been in a lot of hard fights,” Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs) said of bouts including the 2014 fight of the year over John Molina and the April 2015 war with Ruslan Provodnikov.
Matthysse said he chose to move up in weight because “after 16 years of making that weight, being 34, it was giving me a lot of trouble.” Will his power remain? “I’ll find out Saturday,” Matthysse said.