"Last night or early this morning, depending on your timezone, we had ourselves a big boxing match. On Netflix, of all places. Canelo Alvarez vs Terence 'Bud' Crawford, a splashy marquee boxing matchup featuring two premier fighters. One in Crawford, who was punching above his weight class-two weight classes, actually-and another in Alvaraz, who has been the biggest and most successful Latin fighter in the world for a decade plus and seemed to be suddenly compelled to take on this fight by a whole lot of Saudi Arabia-backed money."
"That Saudi money, along with martial arts' Wizard of Oz, Dana White, is part of this new era of boxing, meant to revive this allegedly dying sport. Maybe you heard Max Kellerman mention it in inappropriately fawning terms. As part of boxing's comeback, they had an over-the-top spectacle, not at a Vegas casino, but at Allegiant Stadium, right where the Raiders play what they think is football. It was big and ostentatious-every kind of annoying celebrity was there with a bonus Mark Wahlberg pre-fight assessment."
"Boxing does this a lot-they have a lot of pomp and circumstance and undercard fights that need time to shine, and because it's taking place in the Pacific time zone, there is a feeling that they have room to play around. Sometimes the main card will start after 11 p.m. ET, sometimes it'll even start after midnight, but I cannot oblige what was essentially a 1 a.m. start time for viewers on the East Coast."
The Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence 'Bud' Crawford bout aired on Netflix as a high-profile matchup between two elite fighters. Significant Saudi Arabia-backed money and figures like Dana White helped shape an ostentatious return of big-ticket boxing. The event took place at Allegiant Stadium with extravagant production elements including a mariachi entrance and an LED tunnel. Numerous celebrities attended and promotional theatrics echoed large-scale sports spectacles. Undercard delays and a Pacific-time scheduling approach pushed the main event into late hours, resulting in a roughly 1 a.m. East Coast start that many viewers found unfair.
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