Keidel: Thurman-Garcia Fight Could Be A Step Toward Rescuing Boxing

By Jason Keidel
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When Keith Thurman squares off against Danny Garcia on Saturday at Barclays Center, it will represent a rare confluence of timing and talent. Indeed, Saturday night will be the first time since 1999 that two undefeated welterweight champions fight each other. The last two pugilists? Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad.

While this bout doesn't quite have the cash or cachet brought by the aforementioned boxing icons, it does signal life for a sport many thought was on life support, particularly with the retirement of bombastic champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. Perhaps Mayweather isn't entirely retired -- if you believe he will fight MMA king Conor McGregor  -- but his days as the mainstream pound-for-pound czar are quite likely over.

And unlike a bout between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, when we were not only watching great fighters but also old fighters, Thurman and Garcia are in their unquestioned primes. Both are 28, with unblemished boxing records. And both are eager to fill the financial and promotional void left by Mayweather, who may not have been the most likable person, but his talent on the canvas and for canvassing were unparalleled.

Both fighters and many pundits heap ample credit upon Premiere Boxing Champions (PBC), the brainchild of Al Haymon, Floyd's former consigliere and Harvard grad who invested millions from his own wallet to keep the sweet science on the front page. The approach, while pricey, was simple: Get boxing back on free, network TV.

MORE: Keith Thurman Discusses Clash With Danny Garcia

Millions of American boys who grew up in the 1970s and '80s fell in love with boxing by twisting the round dial on that black box to three channels -- CBS, NBC, and ABC, the old-school TV triumvirate that had a chokehold on broadcasting in general and boxing in particular.

It wasn't until the '80s that cable TV dipped its beak into the picture, and then in the '90s the burgeoning cable channels jammed their hands into the pot of pay-per-view gold. Instead of a free fight on a summer Saturday afternoon, you were soon forced to fork over an exponential premium cable fee. They started at a relatively benign 10 bucks, which soon doubled and tripled. And then it became pro forma for pro bouts to cost between $40 and $60. Particularly with Mike Tyson's volcanic rise, which became a springboard for smaller fighters with sizable profiles --from De La Hoya to Trinidad to Shane Mosley to Roy Jones Jr. to the undisputed king of cable coin, Mayweather.

For about 20 years, boxing promoters were raking in the cable quid, and we happily handed it to them. But eventually the fights, if not the fighters, no longer justified the price tag. We didn't mind Tyson decking someone in three rounds, as it satisfied our overt bloodlust. Tyson was not about the aesthetics of the sweet science, but rather barbarism and tabloid appeal.

MORE: Garcia: Thurman's 'Never Been In The Ring With A Guy Like Me'

But when welterweights and middleweights kept producing duds, 12-round pawing sessions, the PPV numbers sagged. There was no bigger emblem of the eroding appeal of PPV fights than the grandaddy of them all -- Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which was hashtagged "#MayPac" and price-tagged into the stratosphere, only to produce one of the most boring bouts in modern history.

There was an epic, emotional hangover after that bout, which made the elites rich and left the depressed masses $100 poorer. Hence, it has taken some time for PBC to find its footing, but it has posted some decent numbers lately. As Thurman told yours truly this week, his last bout against Shawn Porter on CBS attracted over 4 million viewers. If that's the ratings precedent, then this Saturday's bout, also on CBS, should generate even more robust ratings.

No one pretends that PBC will bring boxing back to the halcyon years, when the sport lorded over Saturday nights like John Travolta in that white suit. But whether it's Tony Manero under strobe lights or boxers under bright lights, there's some palpable excitement in Brooklyn. A new Saturday Night Fever, on PBC and CBS, can spread well west of the Hudson River.

Please follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel