Weekend Boxing. Plus, the Demonstrably False Sentence of the Day

On HBO, I like the two prospects, Angulo and Gamboa, to win by knockouts (not much of a limb, I know). I also think Bunema goes down to Sergio Martínez, even though I don't know a whole lot about the latter, and Bunema's had some nice wins lately. In Saturday's middleweight battle, I'd like to see Raul Marquez win an upset over Arthur Abraham, but I don't think it's in the cards. Unless Abraham comes in totally unfocused and out of shape, I think he takes Marquez out.

On to that sentence, which comes from an anecdote-heavy, evidence-light article about how the economic downturn is affecting boxing:

Tickets for the November showdown between Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr. -- a matchup that easily could have rivaled De La Hoya-Pacquiao five years ago -- have been selling well for Madison Square Garden.

Where was the editor on this one? No matter the measure, Jones-Calzaghe could never in this universe have matched the significance of the De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight, not five years ago, not three years ago, not fifty years ago, never. Five years ago, Jones was the sport's pound-for-pound king, but even then he was nothing close to the pay-per-view draw that De La Hoya is now, and has been for a decade. In fact, his star power was in 2003 about where Pacquiao's, the b-side attraction to the December fight, is right now. And, outside of the UK, Calzaghe is nowhere near being the star that the other three are. Five years ago, Calzaghe had not yet fought Jeff Lacy and was a virtual unknown in American circles. A Jones-Calzaghe fight in 2003 would have been a fascinating matchup between two hall-of-famers in their prime, but as an event, it would have generated a fraction of the interest of the De La Hoya-Pacquaio event.