For years, the boxing execs at HBO enjoyed playing the role of schoolyard bully. The premier premium cable network often threw around its weight on the strength of its higher subscription base and sizably bigger budget than its chief competitors at Showtime. Sure, Showtime has had a few coups over the years, most notably “Iron” Mike Tyson’s post-prison prizefighting career, but overall, HBO has held the keys of prestige in the fight game.
Now, like Stannis Baratheon or Daenerys Targaryen, Showtime is making a determined run for the crown. Regardless who ends up on the ratings throne, the refueled competition is good for boxing fans.
Feuds between fighters and promoters are a part of boxing lore. Trilogies like Ali-Frazier, Barrera-Morales and Gatti-Ward represent the brilliance boxing feuds can bring. Missed super bouts such as Mayweather-Pacquiao or Tyson-Tua represent the worst of boxing’s clique-ish behavior. Still, the current beef between the Golden Boy and Top Rank promotional umbrellas has seemingly given the sport a shot in the arm.
For those who haven’t been keeping up, Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), run by Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Shaeffer, once had a very cozy relationship with HBO and built up many of its stars on the network, such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. (whose Mayweather Promotions works exclusively with GBP), Adrien Broner, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and others. As Showtime sought to re-energize its boxing programming, they brilliantly sniped several Golden Boy fighters from HBO airwaves with exclusive deals.
When Mayweather, the sport’s current cash cow, shocked many by signing a massive deal for up to six fights and $250 million, HBO said enough was enough. The network pledged to cease and desist doing business with GBP, even though De La Hoya’s stable boasts the strongest fighter roster in the world.
Since the split, HBO has been cozying up with Top Rank and Main Events in hopes to make the best available fights and do what it does best: build stars. Expect HBO to push plenty of marketing dollars to build up guys like Andre Ward, Gennady Golovkin, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Carl Froch on its airwaves. All are accomplished current or former champions with potential to become superstars. However, since most of them are still not household names outside of hardcore boxing fans, the network can’t rely on the tried and true formula of matching them against yuppies until they’re deemed pay-per-view ready. They must match them with talented opponents.
Golden Boy, who is as guilty as anyone in slowly building their fighters, has also taken a drastically different approach in matchmaking after switching networks. The company is taking a UFC-style approach and actually giving the fans the fights they want instead of the safe bouts for the promo.
Last weekend, we witnessed the most exciting fight card of the year with the impressive Knockouts II Showtime triple-header. The three televised bouts were all fan-friendly, knock out, drag-off battles that kept viewers on the edge of their seats.
In a bout between two promising, undefeated welterweights, Keith Thurman out-slugged Diego Chaves, stopping his opponent in the 10th round.
In what became an instant contender for Fight of the Year, Omar Figueroa Jr. and Nihito Arakawa went toe-to-toe in an amazing display of heart, will power and punishment for 12 rounds. The bloody and brutal battle almost seemed unreal as the combatants rarely stopped punching throughout the entire bout. While Figueroa won a comfortable decision, both men earned the respect and admiration of fight fans across the globe.
In the main event, former welterweight titlist Andre Berto showed heart and resiliency by fighting through an injured shoulder for much of his bout against Jesus Soto Karass in a crossroads type of bout. While Karass seemed to be in control of the fight, the judge’s scorecards had the bout scored as draw going into 12th and final round. Fortunately for Karass, he wasn’t content to cruise to the final bell and ended Berto’s night a few minutes early with an impressive stoppage.
The Showtime card was tremendous and exhilarating and largely mirrors the boxing scene over the past several months. Furthermore, Showtime recently announced that the highly anticipated matchup between junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse will happen on the undercard of the Mayweather-Alvarez superfight.
It seems the days of mismatched opponents and boring preliminary bouts are finally coming to an end. With parent company CBS’ financial backing and Golden Boy’s stable, Showtime has put itself back in the limelight. The network is in prime position to take over as the premier boxing broadcaster.
HBO won’t go down without a fight and is clearly making strides to make improve its product as well. The increase in quality fights is tricking down as well, as we see increased and better boxing programming on CBS, FoxSports, ESPN and more.
One thing is certain, it’s a good time to be a fight fan. From the unknowns to the undisputed, great matchups are being announced every day. Who said that boxing was dead?
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