Garcia isn’t keen on pay-per-view
Mikey Garcia is the most likely homegrown Southland fighter to become a payper-view draw, but for now the lightweight champion would prefer exposure over a few extra dollars.
“Pay-per-view is bit of a gamble. I know people say I could be the next big payper-view star. They say that about a lot of fighters,” Garcia said. “To reach that, it takes a lot. Not just fighting skills, but marketing, good promotion.
“The pay-per-view market is different. Right now, some fighters would rather be showcased on a free network to reach that bigger audience. That’s a guaranteed success in hopes of one day fighting the right guy and turn that into a pay-perview.”
Riverside’s World Boxing Council champion Garcia (36-0, 30 knockouts) participated Saturday in the promotion for what he hopes will be his next fight when he served as a Showtime analyst on World Boxing Assn. lightweight champion Jorge Linares’ repeat victory over Anthony Crolla in England.
“His skill, flexibility, combinations and power were definitely impressive,” Garcia said of Linares (42-3). “I hope we can make a fight as soon as possible. He didn’t look cut or hurt so maybe we can fight this summer.”
Linares said last week that he “absolutely” wanted to fight Garcia after beating Crolla.
Garcia has two bouts in mind in professing allegiance to network and/or premium cable at this point in his career: the March 4 Keith Thurman welterweight title-unification victory over Danny Garcia that drew 5.1 million viewers and the March 18 Gennady Golovkin middleweight title victory over Daniel Jacobs that struggled to pass 150,000 pay-per-view buys.
“Out of the 4 or 5 million viewers who watched you for free, maybe 800,000 to 1 million will actually pay to watch you. That’s kind of what the strategy should be. Right now, a regular network is right for me,” Garcia said.
The pay-per-view market has slumped mightily since Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao put on a boring show in 2015 despite 4.6 million buys, with many fans now also providing Periscope posts of broadcasts.
“Why take the pay-perview gamble? I don’t need to do that,” Garcia said. “If anything, it probably hurts you because people [who see disappointing numbers] now think you’re not a star. Triple-G [Golovkin] is a great fighter, but his payper-view with David Lemieux [in 2015] didn’t do well and now if this one doesn’t do any better, people are going to say he’s not a star.
“So when he wants to negotiate a bigger fight like with Canelo [Alvarez], he’s the ‘B’ side because his numbers aren’t great. It … hurts him.”
Risky business
Alvarez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, met with his fighter over the weekend after recrafting an offer for a September showdown with Golovkin (37-0) that will hinge more on Golovkin’s purse to pay-per-view sales.
“Because when [Golovkin] and Jacobs does between 100,000 and 200,000 homes, it’s a big risk for me to put up a lot of money up front,” De La Hoya said of an earlier proposed guaranteed purse.
“So if we want to make this fight happen, we have to work with each other. It all depends on the pay-perview and that’s the risk we all have to take.”
Alvarez has come the closest to reaching 1 million buys since MayweatherPacquiao when his fight with Miguel Cotto that year reached 900,000. He also staged a lucrative 2013 showing against Mayweather in Alvarez’s lone defeat.
“It obviously shows you there’s only one pay-perview guy and that’s Canelo,” De La Hoya said. “People talk about Golovkin being this big superstar. Why is he selling only between 100,000 and 200,000 homes? He’s no Canelo, that’s for sure.”
L.A. cards
De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions finalized a deal to put on Mexican Miguel Berchelt’s first WBC superfeatherweight title defense against former champion Takashi Miura of Japan.
Golden Boy President Eric Gomez said he’s seeking a July date at StubHub Center.
Meanwhile, seeking to reaffirm Los Angeles as boxing’s star-making home, Ringstar Sports fight promoter Richard Schaefer is packing with prospects his April 9 card at L.A. Live’s The Novo.
The card will feature the pro debuts of U.S. Olympian Carlos Balderas, a superfeatherweight, along with middleweight Misael Rodriguez, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Mexico, and Lithuanian welterweight Eimantis Stanionis ,a Freddie Roach-trained product.
“I want to make L.A. their home base,” said Schaefer, promoting the card headlined by a bout between veteran Riverside welterweight Josesito Lopez and Mexico’s Saul Corral.