Meanwhile, up and down the coast, unbeaten WBC lightweight champion and former Olympic medalist Shakur Stevenson was fighting in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey, broadcast live on ESPN, with Joe Tessitore setting the stage for a spectacular knockout.
This was the future of boxing.
On the opposite coast, a couple of former mixed martial artists, both approaching their 40th birthdays, were trying to rekindle a rivalry born in the UFC five years earlier — but in a boxing ring.
Nate Diaz entered the fight in Anaheim, California, on pay-per-view with a 0-1 record as a professional boxer, the loss coming at the hands of former YouTube star Jake Paul. Jorge Masvidal was 1-0, but that win was 19 years ago. Was this true?
This was the tricky thing about boxing.
One was a boring one, in front of a less than sellout crowd, with fans booing and walking out in the final round due to a lack of action.
The other was a loud, wild scene with two fighters trying to take down the other, exchanging multiple punch combos and erupting screams from the packed crowd.
Even if you haven’t watched one or both, if you know anything about the current state of boxing you’ll know which is which.
This is not a “boxing is dead” column. Boxing is far from dead. A boring, uninteresting fight can happen to anyone at any time. There are plenty of talented, exciting fighters, including the 27-year-old Stevenson. There are always great rivalries and charismatic stars making a comeback.
That being said, Saturday was a particularly tough night in a string of tough nights.
Diaz and Masvidal once again proved why they could not only draw 18,000-plus fans to the Honda Center, but even host their own one-off event, co-sponsored by Diaz’s Real Fight and Masvidal’s Gamebred Boxing. They fought, they took risks and they entertained the crowd.
The two men landed a combined 1,394 punches (Diaz won by Masvidal with 720 by the judges) in a thrilling, action-packed battle, while Stevenson and Artyom Harutyunyan landed just 869 punches (Stevenson landed 446 by the judges) and corners begged their opponents to throw more.
Stevenson is a much better boxer than Diaz — in fact, he lands more punches simply by aiming them better (170 vs. 151) — but that’s not always the point.
At some point a fight is a fight, even if the skill level or championship stakes aren’t really there.
Diaz and Masvidal know how to get results, which is why they have such a loyal fan base, why their events attract big names and why this entire one-night event worked so well. Had made It works.
They were both looking to knock each other out and were willing to dare each other to do it. It wasn’t always like that with Stevenson.
In the end, having watched both, there was no debate as to which was the better watch, let alone which one I’d be willing to pay more for in the future.
For Diaz, it was a resurrection of a career that could have ended in defeat, but there’s a reason he remains popular: his genuine personality and ability to generate excitement (something that seemed lacking when he said he wasn’t motivated to fight Paul).
There could be a rematch with Paul, or the UFC could still have the Conor McGregor trilogy, or there could be something else.
There will be plenty of WBC lightweight title defenses and fights for Stevenson in the future — he’s not going anywhere — but this was a really good opportunity for him personally and for traditional boxing in general.
With few sports shows on Saturday nights, ESPN went all out to promote the game and its potential star. This was a chance to sell Stevenson to a mainstream audience with a highlight reel that would resonate on social media.
Instead, the fighter tried to ignore the boos from a bored crowd, saying it was because he felt Harutyunyan was being too defensive.
“It’s a little hard to prove. [yourself] “Without a fighter trying to fight back, he’s just trying to survive,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson is right philosophically, but how much does it matter to the fans? It doesn’t matter who the fans’ frustration was directed at. It was a rational reaction to what was happening, or more importantly, what wasn’t happening.
For old-school boxing fans who deserve better, the Newark bout was expected to showcase the sport in its truest form, far removed from the so-called California sideshow.
In fact, the sideshow could be a lot of fun, especially with Nate Diaz once again being the ring leader.
