With a Main Event in place for the August 6 boxing card at the Covelli Centre, the undercard remains sketchy.  The fight will be televised on ShoBox, Showtime’s boxing affiliate.  ShoBox isn’t HBO Championship Boxing, but is a major media outlet with a loyal viewership.  To ensure a good crowd, Bob Arum and the fine folks at Top Rank would be wise to load the card with Youngstown area talent.

Jack Loew and Kelly Pavlik had their Ghost Promotions inaugural offering card in a parking lot at the Covelli Centre.  There were some competitive and entertaining fights on the card that drew about 1,500 with no fighter on the card in the Top-10 of any rankings list.  The reason why so many people showed up was because they knew the fighters, they were relatives or they were friends, and they respect the local boxing beat.  The attendance would not have been any different if the fights would have not been as good as they were.

With proven A-level talent like Pavlik, a more than fair amount of seats can expect to be sold.  However, when mixing in all of those friends and relatives of potential undercard locals, you have a better shot at packing the house.  I have always thought a good crowd made a televised event more exciting to watch.

The reality of the situation is that the television revenue will not be as high with ShoBox coverage than it would be with HBO.  There will be less money to split making it harder to bring in names of national recognition.  By employing the very capable local fighters such as Chris Hazimihailis, Marco Hall, Anthony Pietrantonio, Dannie Williams (above), and Juan Salinas, the crowd automatically doubles.  It’s not rocket science.

Tickets for the event go on sale Friday, July 15.