Comments Thread For: Hershman Has Big Goals, Fresh Ideas For HBO Boxing

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Mitch Abramson - Ken Hershman smiled. He joked. He shook hands. The newly installed head of HBO Sports spoke of transparency and of eliminating mismatches and of brokering peace among the different promoters. He spoke of breathing new life into the heavyweight division and of cutting the number of PPV shows and of putting on another Super Six-like tournament at HBO.

In his first public sit-down interview with reporters since he was hired as the new head of HBO Sports in October, Hershman, who started in his official capacity last month, said all the right things, even if he did speak in broad terms, revealing little of his specific day-to-day plans.

He declined to explain how he got the job at HBO after working at Showtime running the sports department since 2003, calling it a “delicate” matter.

“It was just a great set of fortuitous [circumstances] on both companies parts in terms of when this opportunity arose,” he said. “It was the right time for HBO and now we’re moving forward.”

He's still learning on the job, he admitted.

“Everything is different,” he went on. “I was [at Showtime] 19 years. I knew the ropes. Here I have to learn the ropes. It’s going to be harder here for a while. Hopefully it will all turn out good and you won’t to be talking to someone else in this seat in a year or two.” [Click Here To Read More]

[mushahadeen]

Ugh. We don't need "new ideas" and "big goals".

What boxing needs are ---->> BIG FIGHTS <<----

These execs are always trying to justify their unjustifiable salaries with "bold new ideas".

Why?

Because they're trying parlay their current job into a better job. So they can say at their next job interview "Oh look what I did at HBO Boxing I introduced soooo many new concepts and super cool ideas and blah blah blah blah".

Instead of new ideas this dude should be on the phone 24/7 using every ounce of pull he has to put together Mayweather-Pacquiao, Gamboa-Rios, Rigo-Donaire and so on.

[ShoulderRoll]

I wonder which weight class he wants to do a Super Six tournament for? Hopefully it's not a round robin format again...takes too damn long.

[warp1432]

This was a great article. Probably the most extensive of the media day articles that have been written. The one on The Ring's website is good as well.

As for Hershman's answers, I would have liked to see more of a hardball position with ending the cold war with promoters and more of an effort of trying to do their best to make Pacquiao-Mayweather to happen before that date is up.

He did a great job of selling that they have good fights coming up and reasons to look forward to HBO boxing in the future though.

[William Blake]

Looking forward to seeing what he puts on the table- hopefully he can earn back my HBO subscription.

[daggum]

i hope his fresh ideas are giving broner more easy fights because that guy could be the next mayweather! a guy who refuses to fight the best is always needed in boxing.

[mrpain81]

This was a great article. Probably the most extensive of the media day articles that have been written. The one on The Ring's website is good as well.

As for Hershman's answers, I would have liked to see more of a hardball position with ending the cold war with promoters and more of an effort of trying to do their best to make Pacquiao-Mayweather to happen before that date is up.

He did a great job of selling that they have good fights coming up and reasons to look forward to HBO boxing in the future though.

Agreed.

I can't wait for that new show showcasing prospects.

[warp1432]

Agreed.

I can't wait for that new show showcasing prospects.

One thing I also would have liked to see Hershman see is trying to push for more activity from fighters who even aren't young. Oscar De La Hoya, at the top of his popularity, fought five times in 1997. That's crazy.

I realize that HBO probably doesn't have the money to always shell out for that many fighters, but the fighters who aren't necessarily PPV worthy yet should at least be fighting four times a year, not two.

Boxing needs to become more than just an "event to event" type sport, it needs to actually feel like the divisions and championships matter. Which I feel like is something that it has gotten away from in the past few years especially. It seemed like 2010 was the year that all these good fights to settle divisions or establish champions , but didn't happen.

Everything from great fight years like 07, really seemed to become irrelevant.

I'm not saying Boxing needs to become a one league because I know that's never going to happen, but it needs to feel like the fights actually mean something.

It starts with competitive fights, but there's still work to do after. It means marketing fighters through competitive fights, getting audiences to watch and not settling for easy TV money (this is directed to promoters like Shaw more than anything), and actually making the fights that count later on.

If you're going to have a double header like Lopez and Gamboa on the same card, don't milk it too much to where the fight can't happen anymore. This has happened so much in the last three years it's ridiculous.

It felt like we're so close to the match ups that we were supposed to watch and then they didn't happen.

To be fair, 2011 turned some of this around with Klitschko Haye being the main one to others like the Super Six wrapping up, and even lesser events like Bradley Alexander and Hopkins Dawson*

*Good times for the fights to happen, just horrible locations for them

I'd just like to see Hershman establish some sustainability and have fights that can be built upon each other is all. I really hope he accomplishes that.

[mrpain81]

One thing I also would have liked to see Hershman see is trying to push for more activity from fighters who even aren't young. Oscar De La Hoya, at the top of his popularity, fought five times in 1997. That's crazy.

I realize that HBO probably doesn't have the money to always shell out for that many fighters, but the fighters who aren't necessarily PPV worthy yet should at least be fighting four times a year, not two.

Boxing needs to become more than just an "event to event" type sport, it needs to actually feel like the divisions and championships matter. Which I feel like is something that it has gotten away from in the past few years especially. It seemed like 2010 was the year that all these good fights to settle divisions or establish champions , but didn't happen.

Everything from great fight years like 07, really seemed to become irrelevant.

I'm not saying Boxing needs to become a one league because I know that's never going to happen, but it needs to feel like the fights actually mean something.

It starts with competitive fights, but there's still work to do after. It means marketing fighters through competitive fights, getting audiences to watch and not settling for easy TV money (this is directed to promoters like Shaw more than anything), and actually making the fights that count later on.

If you're going to have a double header like Lopez and Gamboa on the same card, don't milk it too much to where the fight can't happen anymore. This has happened so much in the last three years it's ridiculous.

It felt like we're so close to the match ups that we were supposed to watch and then they didn't happen.

To be fair, 2011 turned some of this around with Klitschko Haye being the main one to others like the Super Six wrapping up, and even lesser events like Bradley Alexander and Hopkins Dawson*

*Good times for the fights to happen, just horrible locations for them

I'd just like to see Hershman establish some sustainability and have fights that can be built upon each other is all. I really hope he accomplishes that.

Good post.

DLH was the last star/superstar to fight that many times in a year, before him Chavez was killing it fighting 55 times in his championship reign from 84 through 96.

I liked the fact that Canelo was fighting 4-5 times a year but now they are saying he's only going to fight 2-3 times which is crap for his development.

[daggum]

Agreed.

I can't wait for that new show showcasing prospects.

a show that just showcases prospects beating up tomato cans is a good thing? imagine if other sports did things like boxing. hey look its roger federer and rafael nadal playing the 200th and 201st ranked players in the world. oh my god they destroyed them. surprise.......i really wish i could see federer and nadal play each other.......oh well they never will but i can't wait till they beat up some more crappy players. if we are really lucky they will play someone ranked inside the top 10. buy your ppvs folks! the excitement is overwhelming.......imagine if they had a tournament or some way for the best players in the world to actually play each other. nevermind that's a silly idea and would never work.