Popcorn and Punches further update
By: Andrew Harrison
Category: bernard dunne, brian dennehy, evander holyfield, floyd mayweather, indio, juan manuel marquez, kelly pavlik, manny pacquiao, marvelous marvin hagler, paul williams, poonsawat kratingdaenggym, ricky hatton
I’m back in the blogging business after a brief sabbatical completing some ‘serious work’ for submission to one of the UK mags (fingers and toes crossed for that one) and back with an update of sorts on the “boxing in cinemas” riff which I was on in a previous post.
I’ve mithered National CineMedia for some figures on box office results for the Mayweather-Marquez venture so that I can feed these back to UK cinemas (who seemed interested in giving boxing a pop on the big screen) however it wasn’t looking good by all accounts pre-fight.
Here’s a report from Josh Slagter from The Grand Rapids Press:
GRAND RAPIDS — The ticket sales at Celebration Cinema North to watch Saturday’s fight between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez have been slow.
As of Thursday evening, 42 seats out of 560 available were sold, a representative said.
It’s hard to say why the sales are slow, since the event has been promoted, and ticket prices are lower than they were for the Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight in May 2007,” said Steve VanWagoner, vice president of marketing.
A ticket for Saturday’s fight costs $15. The Mayweather-De La Hoya fight sold out at Celebration Cinema at a cost of $20-$25. For that fight, just 123 seats were available since a bigger theater already was booked.
VanWagoner said he has heard speculation that the fight is not generating a lot of interest. Also, he said, many people still have not decided where they will watch the fight, so there may be a number of people waiting until Saturday to buy a ticket.
Even worse than this, the fight was a stinker and unless you’re a sucker for defensive boxing, which lets face it, wouldn’t have been the reason any unconverted boxing fans had turned up to a showing with a bag of popcorn at the ready. Thanks to the pre-fight marketing, those poor souls will have been hoping to witness the equivalent of a rematch between Perseus and both Medusa and the Kraken for the love of Princess Andromeda (Yo Androooooomedddaaa….I DID ITTTT)……..which Money-Dinamita plainly wasn’t.
Looks as though I may have to switch my sights a little lower if I’m ever going to see a prize fighter on the silver screen of my local cinema. Maybe I’d be better off lobbying them to show this B Movie oddity I stumbled across……..
Firstly, why haven’t I seen this fantastically awful looking Rambo rip off and secondly, did the director actively pursue Brian Dennehy to play his heel (he played the ’king shit cop’ in Stallone’s First Blood) and then amazingly, Charles Napier as stooge in the sequel “Indio 2″ (he played the Dennehy replacement in Sly’s ropey sequel)?
I half expected Richard Crenna to pop up in a Frank Spencer special to put his arm around “his boy” Marv.
Here’s the link for the sequel, which looks…….even better!! Let’s hope Evander Holyfield doesn’t go to these lengths in his new role as eco-warrior.
http://www.flixster.com/movie/indio-2-videos
Taking up Hagler’s boxer turned action star mantle these days is Manny Pacquiao (oddly linked to a script written by the king of dodgy actioners mentioned above, via his Wikipedia page, imagine that concoction). Pacquiao is set to star in a super hero flick titled “Wapakman” which is a bit of a comeback for him after his last film, 2008′s “Anak ng Kumander” was reportedly panned.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it really a welterweight? Stay tuned.
There we go, an almost adequate post to ease me back in and not a Mayweather-Pacquiao reference in sight……….ahem…..
- Gotta feel it for Bernard Dunne after his crushing loss to Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym or Chalermwong Udomna as he changed his name to pre-fight on the advice of a buddhist monk. The name apparently translates to ‘honour for family’ and certainly did the trick for the Thai…….if only Marquez had thought of it, he’d have saved himself the bother of downing all of those ‘dirty pints’. Alarm bells started to ring when I saw a quite drawn looking Dunne at the weigh in, (very similar to how Hatton had shaped up before the Pacquiao mangling) whilst his diminutive challenger looked as strong as an ox.
- It looked as though I’d be getting a bonus viewing of Tyson Fury this weekend on the Murray-Thaxton undercard, however a busted mitt looks to have ruled him out-pity.
- Great news for fight fans this week with the announcement that Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams and Kelly ‘The Ghost’ Pavlik had signed on the dotted line for December 5th. It looks like more poor matchmaking from Pavlik’s team to me however, Williams is a fantastic fighter and should be far too speedy and active for Ring magazine’s middleweight champ. Where did it all go wrong for Pavlik eh?
- Look out for my ringside fight reports on Eastside boxing this month. Firstly to see if I can get them in before anyone else and secondly, to see if you can spot just how inebriated I was when I posted them.
As you know Haz, I always feared the worst for Dunne as soon as this fight was signed. Just felt it was too soon after the Cordoba war to go in there with a fighter as tough as Poonsawat. Although I had tipped Dunne on points, I knew if he got knocked down and hurt he wouldn’t have the same recuperative powers he showed in the Cordoba fight. Just too soon.
Kinda similar to Michael Brodie’s rematch with Injin Chi. Brodie battled toe to toe with Chi in their classic first meeting. But in the immediate rematch, Brodie just didn’t have it in the tank to go through that war again. And I think that explains how Dunne fell apart so spectacularly against the Thai.
But let’s not make any mistake, Poonsawat was a level above Dunne. I’d love to see a fight between himself and Lopez. Given their respective styles, it can’t fail to be a barnstormer however long it lasts.
It was also a horrible night for my ex stablemate Jamie Power, who was blown away in three rounds by the highly promising Michael Sweeney. Both men were undefeated going into the contest, but Sweeney was a class apart and dropped Power three times en route to a stoppage due a nasty looking gash underneath Power’s left eye.
Fight of the night honours, yet again, went to Oisin Fagan. After being dropped in the first round, Fagan went on to stop Juris Ivanovs in the second. Get this man on TV now! Every fight he’s in is always a must see event.
The same can’t be said of Tyson Fury, who was simply ABYSMAL against Czech Republic no-hoper Tomasz Mrazek. Fury did damage his hand in I think the second round, but in truth he was in rather poor condition, just like his fight in York Hall last July. Good job it was only a six rounder, as Fury was breathing heavy as early as the fourth round. By the way, Mrazek’s record was 4-22-5!
All in all, it was an enjoyable show but the Dunne and Power results made it a downer for me personally. Looking forward to seeing more of Poonsawat though. He’s going to be one tough S.O.B. to beat.
Who’s your tip for Prizefighter tomorrow night Haz? Have a feeling that good ol’ Audley might sneak this one. Think the format will suit him and I expect him to pick-pocket the rounds and win the tournament. Looking at Danny Williams at the weigh-in today, I don’t think he can last the course. He’s too heavy and extra weight has never suited him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he fell at the first hurdle.
I was hoping you’d be right about the Thai not being a good traveller Dave but he looked confident all the way through the build up. Dunne has nothing to be ashamed of though, he took on a right tough cookie, some you win some you lose, better that than hiding behind your belt fighting hand picked fighters. I also heard nothing but good things about the Dublin crowd and their conduct towards Poonsawat, was it a good night then despite the disappointment in the big one?
Fagan’s the kid who Khan came back against isn’t he? Didn’t he fight Spadafora? I see Spaddy’s back, interestingly still unbeaten.
I have an inkling Audley might pull it off as well, there isn’t a lot left after him and Williams now Sprott’s out of it. I can’t believe Hughes is fourth favourite, he has absolutely NO chance, which can’t say much for the others!!I’ll go with Coleman Barrett as an outsider, might have a couple of quid on him for a bit of value. I have mates who aren’t that into boxing wanting to watch it down the pub!! Very odd.
Not sure what’s happening with Fury, is Hennessey just sticking him on cards in nothing fights to fill seats? He was rumoured to be fighting on the Murray Thaxton card but has now been shifted to The Froch Dirrell one. It’s a shame he seems to be drifting down the wrong path.
Great news about Maloney signing Price and Groves, looking forward to seeing them both this month. Groves looks a real prospect.
A lot of guys putting money on Barrett. Maybe they know something?
The Dublin crowd were very respectful. It’s very rare you get trouble at a boxing event in Ireland. I remember one idiot started booing during the British national anthem at the Dunne v Pickering fight and was promptly told to shut it by myself and a few others around him. We don’t stand for that football-esque nonsense.
Yep, Fagan’s the guy who fought Khan. He was never in Khan’s class but in fairness to him, he broke his ankle in the first round. He was hard done by against Spaddy. I always like Spadafora and it’s a shame he went off the rails the way he did. He was rumored to have given Mayweather fits in sparring a few years ago.
Groves looks exceptional. I raised my eyebrows when he was put in there with Paul Samuels in only his 3rd fight but he hammered Samuels and looked the business. What’s the story with Hayemaker Promotions now? Have they gone bust or are they still looking for a new TV deal?
Think Hayemaker were reliant on Setanta and when they went down the gurgler it left them without the all important TV deal. Groves, Price and Derry Matthews all had to go elsewhere.
Barrett’s the lightest but he’s quite quick compared to the others, might be able to get enough work done over the short distance to nick a couple. Big ask though for him.
I reckon Groves has the beating of DeGale and Jeffries, time will tell I guess but nice little three way rivalry there for Maloney and Warren to build up.