• by Karl Greenberg , November 4, 2010

This month and next are shaping up to be big for the sport of boxing in the U.S. Despite a year in which the "sweet science" lost some sugar when Floyd Mayweather and his handlers dribbled away a chance to fight Manny Pacquiao (for reasons so psychologically convoluted that neurologist/author Oliver Sacks could probably write a book about it), the last two months of the year have bouts that promise to apply EnSwell to the lumps the sport took from that and a few other elbow shots this year (Arthur Abraham knocking out Andre Dirrell when he was down comes to mind).

The timing is good for Mexican beer brand Tecate -- as most of the main events coming up feature Mexican or Hispanic superstars, and boxing is, after soccer, the second-most-popular sport among U.S. Hispanics and Mexicans. Tecate will back the fights with "Tecate Knockout Month."

Efforts put the brand on the ground at bouts this month: Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Mexico's Rafael Marquez in Las Vegas on Nov. 6; Zab Judah's bout against Lucas Matthysse in Newark, N.J., on the same night; Juan Manuel Marquez (Mexican future Hall of Famer) against Michael Katsidis (Nov. 27); and the biggest fight, coming on Nov. 13, when Manny Pacquiao takes on Antonio Margarito, a Mexican fighter hoping to redeem himself after having been banned for a year for letting his trainer tamper with his gloves.

Tecate is doing a month-long national grassroots campaign that includes mail-in rebates, ticket upgrades, boxing-themed giveaways and promotional events at local retail sites. At this weekend's "JuanMa" Lopez vs. Marquez fight, Tecate will have a mobile boxing ring visiting 10 retail locations in Las Vegas. For the Judah/Matthysse fight the same night, Tecate will paint the Prudential Center in Newark red with promotional display materials.

Tecate is saving the biggest program for the Nov. 13 Cowboys Stadium Pacquiao/Margarito superfight, where the brand will have a roster of famous boxers signing autographs at the stadium and a live concert by the popular Mexican band, "Banda MS," an appearance from the popular radio personality Piolín, interactive boxing games and text-to-win and text-to-upgrade ticket promotions.

A national POP program includes a $25-off HBO PPV deal with the purchase of 12-packs. For the Thanksgiving weekend fight between Marquez and Katsidis, Tecate is extending event access to residents in several states with a $20 mail-in-rebate toward two months of HBO Premium Cable.

Tecate will also sponsor early-December fights between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and fellow Mexican Alfonso Gomez, and a bout between Pacquiao stable mate Amir Khan and WBA light-welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana.

The first boxing match at the new Cowboy's stadium was the Pacquiao versus Joshua Clottey affair in March this year -- a fight that didn't live up to expectations because of Clottey's unwillingness to let his hands fly. But Carlos Boughton, North American brand director for Tecate at White Plains, N.Y.-based parent Heineken, says the match definitely lived up to Tecate's expectations.

"We took a bit of a 'let's wait and see what happens' attitude in the beginning of the year when Pacquiao fought Clottey and were pleasantly surprised," he says, adding that over 50,000 people were in the stadium for that fight. The latest tally on the upcoming Margarito fight is 65,000 tickets sold. "There was a sizable Hispanic audience for the first one, and for this one, the Hispanic audience will be dominant," he says.

Speaking to Marketing Daily from Chicago, where he is reviewing a raft of new ads for next spring, Boughton says the company ran one boxing-specific Spanish-language TV ad this year, but that TV advertising for the upcoming bouts will be tailored from the current creative. The company -- the only beer brewer marketing in the U.S. exclusively to Hispanic consumers -- has been running several Spanish-language ads under its "Con Caracter" banner this year, all around the brand positioning of Latinos as hard-working, hard-playing family men.

As for the upcoming fight, Boughton notes that Margarito's hand-wrap issues have, if anything, built interest in the fight among his customer base. "I think that this will be one of the biggest fights in four to five years in terms of Hispanic interest," he says. "And part of that is because of the baggage Margarito brings. It will also be huge because Margarito is someone who could actually win."

The other draw for this fight among Hispanics is the non-Hispanic fighter: Pacquaio is very popular among Hispanics who like a boxer with an aggressive, rather than cagey, style. "Hispanics, as connoisseurs of boxing, understand that," says Boughton, "and have a great degree of respect for him."