Golovkin and Alvarez squared off last September in a fight that ended in a controversial drawGETTY IMAGES
Saturday's Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez rematch at T-Mobile Arena is "sold out," but the fight's promotion this week has "sizzled at a very low flame," according to Alan Snel of LVSPORTSBIZ.com. The fight on HBO will cost $85 to buy, and it appears the promoters are "banking on the buzz from last September’s controversial draw between the two fighters to drive ticket sales and PPV buys" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 9/12). ESPN.com's Dan Rafael noted the final pre-fight news conference last night was "more business meeting than hype affair as the two fighters did not so much as look at each other or address each other." Alvarez and Golovkin "did not even pose for the traditional face off for the camera, the shot of two fighters nose to nose days before a fight that is supposed to help goose public interest and sales." It was "shocking they did not pose together" (ESPN.com, 9/12). In Las Vegas, Gilbert Manzano notes last night Golovkin "tugged on his pants and puffed his chest" as Alvarez walked toward him to start the news conference. It was a "long overdue confrontation between the bitter rivals." But the faceoff "never materialized." Manzano notes Alvarez "declined to have a press tour with Golovkin" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 9/13).
JUST HITTING THE SWEET SPOT: BOXING SCENE's Thomas Gerbasi wonders how much the buzz around the fight has been hurt by Alvarez’ "positive test for clenbuterol earlier this year, the contentious negotiations for the rematch and the fighters’ refusal to do a press conference or tour in the same room together." Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who reps Alvarez, "is projecting" 2 million PPV buys for the fight, which would be jump over the 1.3 million buys last year's first fight earned, and Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt claims Saturday's fight "is tracking better than the first fight" in terms of people watching it in movie theaters. Golden Boy President Eric Gomez believes what "really matters is what happens in the last ten days before fight night, not before it." He said, "When you do a big promotion like this, you don't want to start it off too early because it will get lost. There are so many other events happening. College football just started, you have baseball that's been ongoing, so our sweet spot is two weeks before the event, and a lot of the promotion is starting to kick in. We had close to 10,000 people there for the (fan / media) workout. So the interest is out there, and I think it's just gonna build momentum, and we can't skip a beat now. We have to be on it for these next ten days or so” (BOXINGSCENE.com, 9/13).
