It's A Shame Friday Night Fights Is Going Off The Air

Obscure individuals will now remain obscure.

It's a shame Friday Night Fights is going off the air. There, I said it. I know, I know, ESPN is now going to be airing PBC fights with the Friday Night Fights crew still in place and that's very cool. Yet Friday Night Fights offered up the little guys - and by little I don't necessarily mean small. I mean the guys you couldn't see fighting anywhere else.

And now those days are gone. Oh, less popular fighters will still be showcased all over the cableverse. Boxing, after all, is now more ubiquitous than it's ever been. Yet the less than popular fighters you will see in small televised venues now will at least have powerful backing. Could that always have been said of the guys stepping into the ring before those ESPN2 cameras?

Call me nuts, but I enjoy watching minor league baseball. It isn't as relevant as the majors, but the whole gritty, bare boned, stripped down aspect to it is fun. Plus, you never know whether or not you're seeing the sport's next big star. There's a certain electricity generating through the whole thing.

The same can be said - or could have been said - for Friday Night Fights. Figuratively speaking, it's as if the minor league ballparks are now being shut down. Chris Algieri, Ruslan Provodnikov and Willie Monroe Jr pretty much owe their careers to Friday Night Fights. And those are just recent names. How many other careers might now find the door being closed on them?

Boxing has always been a feast or famine endeavor. Now, however, the famine may spread a bit.

And that's too bad.

Here's to Friday Night Fights. It will be sorely missed.