Hometown venues give developing boxers a big boost

A new trend is developing in boxing, borne of necessity, that offers hope for the development of stars.

Top Rank is among the promoters to start booking fighters into their hometowns, particularly in smaller cities where it is easier to rally support, in a bid to increase their notoriety.

It's a strategy that has been highly successful with Terence Crawford, the WBO super lightweight champion whom Top Rank has promoted in his hometown of Omaha, Neb., for three of his last four fights. Crawford drew 10,943 fans for his 2014 win over Yuriorkis Gamboa.

His victory over Ray Beltran on Thanksgiving Weekend 2014 drew 11,127. And 11,020 showed up for his win in October over Dierry Jean.

Buoyed by its success in Omaha, Top Rank has three hometown fight cards in the next week. On Saturday, more than 10,000 fans are expected in Fresno, Calif., to watch hometown hero Jose Ramirez, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, face Johnny Garcia in Save Mart Arena.

On Dec. 12, 2012 Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez, who is from Tucson, Ariz., will face Ernie Sanchez before what is expected to be a crowd of more than 5,000 at the Tucson Convention Center. Budding star Felix Verdejo will face Josenilson Dos Santos on Dec. 11 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico. That venue, which is set up for 9,855, is expected to be at least 90 percent filled, if not sold out.

"Unless they're just crazy boxing fans, they're only going to come up if they have some kind of rooting interest," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. "It's no different than in college football. When Michigan and Michigan State play in the Big House, they'll get more than 100,000 in there. But if you put UNLV and Boise State in that same stadium, they'd be lucky to get 2,000. It's not that all of a sudden, those people don't love football. It's that they're fans of Michigan or Michigan State and they go out to root for the team they have the interest in."

One of the problems boxing has had has been developing stars. When young fighters are put in markets where the fans don't know them, it doesn't generate much interest and then it doesn't create a buzz surrounding the fighter.

So a lot of times, cards such as the Verdejo-Dos Santos card or the Ramirez-Garcia card would have wound up in Las Vegas, where maybe 1,000 or 1,500 people would have bought tickets. But by putting those events in the respective fighters' hometowns, the seats will be largely filled, the atmosphere inside the arena will be better and it will have a better look for television.

And if the fans who attend have a good time, not only are they more likely to support the fighter they came to see, but they can also be turned into more regular ticket buyers.

The hometown strategy is a big part of Showtime's card on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Both WBA middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs and undefeated Peter Quillin are from Brooklyn. Promoter Lou DiBella expects around 10,000 for the card.

The hometown hero strategy can be done in big cities like New York or Los Angeles, but it's much harder. There are many major league franchises in those markets and they take choice dates and much of the available sports media placement.

"To get into the press to reach the local audience, it's very, very, very hard in Los Angeles, and almost impossible to do in New York, unless you put an extraordinary amount of time and effort and expense into it," Arum said. "And then there are no guarantees."

It's a wise strategy to do it in smaller towns where there is a sense of community and pride in seeing the local boy do well. When Crawford fought Gamboa, it was the first world title fight in Omaha since 1972. The media was all over it and when Crawford walked to the ring, the roar from the crowd was deafening.

The hoopla a fighter receives at home can then help attract media attention from elsewhere. It's a win-win on many levels for the promoters and the boxers.

"The people were going nuts," Arum said of the fans in Omaha. "That was one of them, their guy, and he was moving up to become a star and they recognized that. It makes a lot of sense to do it that way."