ELITEXC ON SHOWTIME VS. BOXING ON HBO

By Michael Swann

The premiere of Pro Elite’s Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC) on Showtime Saturday was a success at least from an aesthetic standpoint. Even if, like me, you are a boxing fan who has yet to master the finer points of mixed martial arts, you have to admit that the event was entertaining.

The announcing team of Mauro Ranallo, Bill Goldberg, and Jay Glazer were excellent, appropriately descriptive of the action so that we novices could keep our interest. Glazer, an NFL guy, in particular was impressive as the roving reporter.

EliteXC’s innovations get them off to a fast start. The streaming of the undercard on the internet had to appeal to some fans. I think that the idea of the 15 second stand up clock is a plus for fans who don’t always understand what the combatants are doing on the floor and appreciate pushing the action from an apparent lull. If the referee deems that the action has come to a standstill and neither man has an advantage, he gives them a warning then puts them on a 15 second clock after which he stands them up if there continues to be no advantage for either fighter.

Pro Elite had to be pleased with the potential star power generated in the inaugural live broadcast. Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett suddenly clocked K.J. Noons with a hook in the first round and it was over. Bennett is a colorful character in and out of the cage, and will be a regular, I predict. The hulking 300 pound Antonio Silva fought Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, known for his strong beard, and stopped him with a flying knee in the first round of their super heavyweight fight. Joey Villasenor dominated the better known David “The Crow” Loiseau with a brilliant display of ground control and won a decision over the former UFC title contender.

The most exciting fight of the evening was a woman’s clash between Gina Carrano and Julie Kedzie. Carrano, due to her Muay Thai skill and jaw dropping beauty is on her way to becoming a big star and won a unanimous decision. But it was far from an easy fight. Kedzie battled Carrano tooth and nail for three rounds and should be seen again.

The much anticipated main event between Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie ended in controversy when Shamrock threw three straight knees to the back of Gracie’s head while on the ground, a violation of the unified rules. Gracie suffered a concussion and was declared the winner by DQ in the second round.

Gracie had dominated Shamrock in the early going with a highly effective ground game, and despite the disappointing ending, it has rematch written all over it.

If a suggestion is to be made, it would be that the crowd audio needs improvement, in my opinion. On television the packed house at the Desoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi sounded oddly muted.

Showtime also should be credited for the excellent job done in promoting the fight. “Countdown to Destiny” was a well done feature and the event was well publicized during regular programming for weeks prior to the show.

I’m still a boxing guy, but from what I saw Saturday night there is room for another sport to enjoy.

MOSLEY’S VICTORY SWEET FOR HBO

“Sugar” Shane Mosley must have turned back the hands of the clock. Mosley, 44-4 (37), completely dominated Luis Collazo, 27-3 (13), in his return to the welterweight division. The official scores were 118-109, (twice), and 119-108 before an estimated half capacity crowd of 6,000 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

It’s difficult to believe that this was the same Collazo that last May gave Ricky Hatton such a tough fight that many ringsiders thought he should have won the fight. It not only makes you wonder about Collazo, but it creates additional doubt about Hatton as well.

Ricky has once again abandoned the IBF jr. welterweight title to fight Jose Luis Castillo for the big bucks rather than the IBF’s #1 ranked Lovemore N’Dou. It seems like yesterday that Hatton was paying the IBF $60,000 in sanctioning fees to regain his title from Juan Urango. Hatton gave up the title the first time to fight Collazo for the vacant WBA welterweight title. The only bright side in this mess for Hatton is that by returning to 140 he won’t have to face Mosley.

The 35 year old Mosley outlanded the 25 year old Collazo 200 to 87 in the fight, and scored a knockdown in the 11th round. Collazo, losing round after round, looked like a beaten fighter in his corner by the end of the seventh round. After the eighth, he was forlornly shaking his head while Mosley cheerfully told his corner, “I feel good.”

It was a Mosley clinic all the way as he simply out-worked his younger opponent, setting up lucrative fights with the likes of Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito.

The fight was billed as being for the WBC interim title that belongs to Floyd Mayweather Jr., for reasons unknown except that they surely involve sanctioning fees.

In the co-feature Vivian Harris outpointed Juan Lazcano in a jr. welterweight contest, 114-113, and 115-112 (twice). Harris is now 28-2-1 (18), while Lazcano falls to 37-4-1 (27). The sparse crowd was so quiet at the start of the fight that you could hear Colonel Bob Sheridan’s broadcast for another network in the background.

Harris had his way with Lazcano on the outside, but continually leaned in or allowed Lazcano to bull his way in to offset the advantage. On the inside, Lazcano wore Harris down and evened the fight after 10 rounds. But in the final two frames, Harris used a stick and move strategy to win the rounds and the fight. Referee Tony Weeks sealed the deal for Harris when he penalized Lazcano for low blows in the 12th, a questionable call as there appeared to be no prior warnings.

FINAL ANALYSIS

That was a good card on HBO Championship Boxing for boxing fans. Yet the fight drew less than 6,000 fans, relatively quiet ones at that. Harris got the win he needed to keep his quest to regain a title alive, a good thing for him since there is suddenly another opening in the IBF. Mosley not only won but he looked superb, and is a serious challenger for anyone at 147, and even 154.

EliteXC put on a great show in their debut. Some boxing fans still consider it a novelty, but MMA does do big box office and gets the PPV numbers too.

With my ear close to the ground, I’m hearing that the Showtime ratings were very good, and one executive said that he was “optimistic” about the ratings. But neither Showtime nor HBO routinely releases the numbers of its non-PPV programming. One executive said Monday that he didn’t consider the ratings between MMA and boxing to be direct competition. I respectfully disagree, since any programming is in a sense direct competition and there is a lot at stake here. One can only assume that EliteXC will get the few bugs out of a near flawless performance and only get better.

A Showtime Chief once said that, “100% of Showtime households have HBO,” but “less than 50% of HBO households have Showtime, resulting in a competitive anomaly.” If MMA on Showtime can outdraw boxing at the gate and be competitive in the ratings war despite a competitive disadvantage, boxing will be in desperate need of solutions to maintain and expand its fan base, particularly since HBO is still flirting with the UFC.

Contact Michael Swann at mswann4@aol.com. See you Thursday.