Bodogfight show on Ion...Lee vs. Alvarez
Matt Lee and Eddie Alvarez squared off in July for #1 contender status in the bodog welterweight division, whatever that is. I know, I know, it's 170lbs. I just have trouble giving "bodog welterweight champ" a lot of...err...wieght. I watch Nick Thompson whup the living hell out of Eddie Alvarez to take his belt, though, rebroadcast from St. Petersburg, Russia.
Sam Caplan attended this show and reviewed it after the fact. I didn't get to see any of the card on accounta me being several thousands of miles away and also po.
Well, they showed an hour-long episode of bodogfight last night, and it was all build-up to Lee-Alvarez. I'm serious. about half an hour at least of just showing fighters working out, talking about their backgrounds and families....I was deeply pleased I had it on DVR. I'm sorry guys, I didn't listen to all of that shit. Less talky, more punchy.
From what they're announcing, it seems that they're going to show all of the fights from their Trenton NJ event on separate TV shows. Yves Edwards-Jorge Masvidal, Trevor Prangley-Yuki Kondo, etc.
The fight itself, for all the buildup, was a decent one. The crowd was mostly Alvarez supporters, and from what Sam reported they were barely through the card 4 1/2 hours after starting. The announcers seem to be under orders to really RATCHET UP THEIR REACTIONS to every single thing. Alvarez would throw one or two looping punches, connect with one mildly, and Lee would shove him away (since Alvarez apparently represents the Lollipop Guild). Then, the annoucer, at the top of his lungs, declaims "Alvarez stunned him with that right hand! He's stunned him! But Lee is game! He's got granite in his chin!!!" and I'm sitting there thinking....err....that was a mild exchange, no one got hurt. Lee looked shaken up once or twice, Alvarez has decently heavy hands, but he didn't appear to be in danger of a KO at any moment. Lee threw some strong hands, and except for a couple minutes of the first round this one stayed on the feet the whole way. Lee had one huge problem, in that he was considerably slower than Alvarez. Nick Thompson showed what happens to Alvarez when he's in against a bigger fighter who's as fast or faster than he is, and Lee showed a bigger fighter who's slower.
To Lee and Alvarez's credit, it WAS a good fight, lots of hands, some exciting moments, some in-fight trashtalking, sportsmanship at the bell. It's just that when the announcer is going out of his mind, and what I'm watching is good, not great, and when I have to wait (well, fast-forward) for thirty minutes to actually get to a fight, I react badly. Like beer in green bottles exposed to the sun, it left a bad taste in my mouth. which sucks since the fighters left it in the ring.
Bodogfight has some good fighters. But only half a card's worth, in my opinion. Trevor Prangley is the real deal at 185. But who does he fight? He's made mincemeat of the 185lbs div in bodog. Yuki Kondo, Kayce Uscola, Anthony Ruiz and Andrei Semenov. He's got a five-fight run going. They'll have to sign someone. Matt Lindland is available for a price. Babalu fights at 205 (they fought in a tournament, in 2003. Babalu won the whole thing, beating Prangley, Shogun, and Jeremy Horn in one night. That's one reason I'm a fan of Sobral's, even though he's on the downturn right now).
We'll see. I think they need to divorce the "bodog brand" from the fight division a little bit, to let it stand on its own. Either that or get back into sports booking and leave the fight promotions to other people.
