Demise of ESPN's 'Friday Night Fights' a blow to Philly boxing

IT WILL BE duly noted for historical purposes that "ESPN Friday Night Fights" ended its 17-year run on May 22 with a telecast from Corona, Calif., the co-featured bouts won by heavyweight Andrey Fedosov and junior middleweight John Thompson IV in the finals of the Boxcino tournament.

But, from a purely emotional standpoint, the farewell show should have been on May 8 at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia, with 42-year-old Amir Mansour scoring a 10-round unanimous decision over Joey Dawejko, 18 years his junior, for the vacant Pennsylvania heavyweight championship. OK, so the emphatic putaway that both fighters had promised was not delivered; there wasn't even a knockdown to spice things up a bit. But for a capacity crowd of 1,311, it was like old times at the Blue Horizon, when the joint was jammed and jumping, and a nationwide TV audience got to soak in much of what always has made boxing in Philly such a special experience.

Had "FNF" - which will be replaced on July 11 with monthly telecasts of Al Haymon's "Premier Boxing Championship" series - gone out with Mansour-Dawejko, it would have been eerily similar to the finale of "USA Tuesday Night Fights," which ended its 17-year run on Aug. 25, 1998, at the Blue Horizon with a card headlined by heavyweight novelty act Eric "Butterbean" Esch's one-round starching of journeyman Tim Pollard. A capacity-plus turnout of 1,350, which included then-Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge and U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), turned out for that one.

Coincidentally, "FNF" was launched on Oct. 2, 1998, at the Blue Horizon with super middleweight Thomas Tate outpointing Demetrius Davis in the main event.

"Every month or so we looked forward to going there," former WBA lightweight titlist Sean O'Grady, the longtime color analyst for "USA Tuesday Night Fights," said of the network's frequent visits to the Blue Horizon, which averaged about one date every four to six weeks. "I called it the 'House of Rockys.' Those people, especially those who sat behind us and had been ticketholders for, like, forever, weren't just spectators. They became our friends."

It pretty much is like that for Teddy Atlas, who will slide over from his weekly "FNF" duties to the monthly "PBC" shows, hopefully with the continued freedom to strongly express his opinions.

"If there are any restraints put on me, then you won't see me there anymore," said Atlas, who has never worried about ruffling feathers with his pull-no-punches commentary. "ESPN has led me to believe I can call it as I see it, and I trust what they tell me. They would not want it any other way because the fans would not want it any other way."

But there are always other ways, aren't there? The Blue Horizon is shuttered and hasn't hosted a boxing card since June 4, 2010, when super featherweight Coy Evans scored a six-round unanimous decision over Barbaro Zepeda in the main event. With Haymon buying so much TV time on multiple networks, there is or soon will be more televised boxing than ever, but less so in Philly. "FNF," like "TNF," had small enough budgets to bring reasonably priced shows to club venues like the Blue and the 2300 Arena, but "PBC" likely will visit only big arenas in major markets.

"It's going to put a lot of small promoters out of business, what Haymon's doing," longtime Philadelphia promoter J Russell Peltz said of the secretive power broker's business blueprint. "I'm not sure that's his game plan, but if a guy like me develops a fighter now, where am I going with him? How am I going to get him on TV?"

Atlas, like O'Grady, came to embrace Philly's knowledgable fight fans, who gave Mansour-Dawejko that old-time Blue Horizon feel, even if the action inside the ropes was a few miles away and a bit less intense than anticipated.

"That's where you get real audiences," Atlas agreed. "That [Mansour-Dawejko] show was held before a non-sterile, non-casino audience. It was an audience of real fight fans. Real fight fans are on one side or the other. They're backing their guy. Philly is a place where you get that. There aren't too many places like that left."

The biggest draws at the 26th annual International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend, to be held June 11-14 in Canastota, N.Y., will be former world champions Riddick Bowe, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and "Prince" Naseem Hamed, none of whom have ties to Philadelphia. But that doesn't mean the enshrinement ceremony won't have something of a local flavor.

Nigel Collins, a two-time former editor of The Ring magazine, is a longtime resident of the area and will be inducted in the Observer category, while highly regarded referee Steve Smoger, who lives in Ventnor City, N.J., but who has been the third man in the ring for numerous fight cards in Pennsylvania, enters in the Non-Participant category.

On May 17, the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame welcomed 15 new members: living inductees included retired fighters John David Jackson, Anthony Witherspoon, Steve Traitz Jr., Hank Quinn and Roger Russell, and cut man Joey Eye, while posthumous inductees were fighters Tommy Yarosz, Jerome Artis, Tony Martin, "Wee" Willie Davies and; trainers Bouie Fisher, Sam Solomon and Slim Jim Robinson; manager James "Baron" Dougherty and cut man Milt Bailey.

The 2015 induction class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame will be announced sometime in July, and two fighters - former WBA bantamweight champion Jeff Chandler and the late former lightweight titlist Bob Montgomery - were on the ballot. Boxing has been a bit underserved, to my way of thinking, with just six fighters to date making the cut: Joe Frazier, Tommy Loughran, Joey Giardello, Jersey Joe Walcott, Harold Johnson and Meldrick Taylor.