Tomorrow night, Olivier Lontchi (left) is the sacrificial lamb for Juan Manuel Lopez (right), a junior featherweight star with greatness written all over him. Lontchi, an unknown Canadian, at least is going to make things interesting. According to a news release the event’s promoter just sent out that was titled “Lontchi May Moonwalk Ring Entrance?”:
“Lontchi came up to me this morning and specifically asked Top Rank’s technical crew to download as many of Michael Jackson’s songs as possible to play in his locker room tomorrow night for inspiration,” said Lee Samuels of Top Rank. “Michael Jackson is his all-time favorite artist and Olivier is making his ring entrance to Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ music video which will be projected inside the Adrian Phillips Ballroom. I wouldn’t be surprised if he Moonwalked into the ring.”
The overall pay-per-view card — $39.95 worth — has been marked more by fighters pulling out than the quality match-ups that remain, with middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, pound-for-pound top-20 bantamweight Fernando Montiel and others all off the original schedule. And maybe, just maybe, this is all just a stunt to capitalize on recent headlines and shore up an event that is going head-to-head with a Showtime AND an HBO card. Maybe. That’s all I’m saying. Maybe.
Still, maybe $40 is worth seeing a guy do a ring entrance like that then get knocked out. (Assuming he actually goes through with it, since the news release tantalized only with the possibility of a moonwalk ring entrance.) I’m all about “Off The Wall” promotional efforts — it’s part of the fun of boxing. Get it? “Off The Wall?” Do you get it?
