Sept.15th: If There’s A Battle Of Pay-Per-Views, Which Card Will You Choose!?

By James Slater: It could be one hot night of boxing in Las Vegas on September 15th, Mexican independence day! According to Top Rank’s Bob Arum, rival middleweight rulers Sergio Gabriel Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Junior will settle their differences that night, at The Thomas and Mack Centre. While according to Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy, Mexican star and reigning WBC 154-pound king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will meet former welterweight champ Victor Ortiz that September evening, down the road at The MGM Grand (subject to Ortiz coming though okay against the upset-minded Josesito Lopez this Saturday).

There is much scepticism that the two cards will actually go ahead on the same night in the same city. The doubters say they will believe it when they see it. But we’ve seen rival Pay-Per-View events take place on the same night before – Bob Arum had his Erik Morales-Guty Espadas II card from L.A on October 4th 2003, and on the same night in Vegas, Dan Goossen had the James Toney-Evander Holyfield card. However, to my knowledge, there have never been rival Pay-Per-View events taking place in Vegas at the exact same time.

If Canelo-Ortiz and Martinez-Chavez do both get signed for Vegas on Sept 15th, fans will have a pretty tough choice to make – both fans in town and those watching at home. Which card will you go for if you do have to make a choice in September?

For me, especially if Arum puts on a decent under-card, the likes of which he has in the past, I’m leaning towards the middleweight showdown. I really like the look of Martinez- Chavez Jr, and I really cannot decide who will win what has become something of a grudge-match: what with “Maravilla” referring to the young Mexican as a paper champion, and Chavez Jr promising to silence the Argentine by KO’ing him.

Don’t get me wrong, Alvarez-Ortiz is also an intriguing fight (and the excellent co-feature that is Jhonny Gonzalez defending his WBC featherweight crown against fellow Mexican Daniel Ponce De Leon is also very appealing), but I have pretty much made my mind up on that fight and it’s outcome: “Canelo” is too strong, mentally and physically, for Ortiz and he beats him either by late stoppage or on points. Amazingly, in contrast, Martinez-Chavez is almost a pick ’em affair!

In a common sense world, there will be no duelling Pay-Per-View cards set for the same town on the same night. Fight fans who have a limited amount of cash will simply lose out. Who cares about which star, Alvarez or Chavez, wins the lion’s share of the fans? Both fights, as good as they are, at least on paper, should go ahead on different Saturday nights.

Don’t make the fans choose, Arum, De La Hoya, Schaefer!