I really like this weekend’s bout between Rolly Romero and Teofimo Lopez.
Romero is an underrated fighter, though he looked overrated when he came up against the marauding Isaac Cruz, and Teofimo is, well, he’s Teofimo. He’s also moving up in weight for the challenge and, skill for skill, is the better fighter.
Rolly has a weird, wild-card energy to him.
Sometimes he sounds thoughtful and considered, sometimes monosyllabic and monotonous.
Lopez is rarely anything but colourful.
In the ring, both have dazzled and both have been in fights that failed to deliver.
In the category of the former, watch Teo against Vasiliy Lomachenko or Josh Taylor.
For Rolly, watch maybe Manuel Jaimes or Anthony Yigit. That said, Rolly is ungainly, unorthodox, but clearly a handful.
He’s also benefited from a decision here or there, and you could say the same about Teo.
All things considered, it’s compelling.
What is far less compelling is the undercard.
Sure, Benjamin Johnson is a nice prospect. Yes, Yoenli Hernandez appears to be going places and Gary Antonio Russell has some traction in the US market, and he takes on WBA interim 122lbs champion Victor Santillan.
But even for me, I’d be going out of my way to want to catch up with all of that the next day.
I don’t want to say it’s a stinker of a bill, but what am I dying to see on it?
And even with the main event, there’s no way I’d consider either staying up for it or setting my alarm to wake up and watch it live.
Veterans to The Boxing Stack will know that, on Sunday morning, the dogs will be let out at around 7am. I will do a few laps of the garden after them, come inside, put their bowls down, make a coffee, and sit on the sofa to enjoy the fight ‘as live’ several hours after it’s finished – while staying off my phone to avoid spoilers.
Of course, I can’t be sure there is a fight to be made at present worth setting my alarm for, but I digress.
But if this is what I feel about the bill, what would those less-than-hardcore fans feel about it?
And I think this is where DAZN is going wrong, in part, and before I get to that, I want to talk about what they are doing right.
Firstly, they are consolidating talent, be it promotional entities or individual boxers, like Lopez and possibly Devin Haney, and stables including PBC, Top Rank, Golden Boy, Queensberry, Matchroom, Salita Promotions, MisFits and MisFits Pro.
Secondly, they now have an appealing price point for fans like me, who subscribe to their Ultimate package, and an audience that has more than a passing interest in boxing.
But this is where things get a little murky.
With all of this talent, how do we get bills like this Saturday?
And if you’re trying to attract new fans, the value proposition has to be extended into real value, onto bills that are at least three or four fights deep. And I don’t mean world title fights. I don’t mean the biggest names. I mean good fights, featuring boxers people are interested in or invested in.
This, in part, is another part of the problem. We, in the media, often hear that there are no storytellers left, but much of what is produced and wanted by platforms is clickbait content in the pursuit of views, hits and numbers.
But the real investment from fans comes when they care.
