Comments Thread For: “Fighting Words” – Vitali Klitschko, Solis and an Epix Fail

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

by David P. Greisman - The main event featured the champion defending against a challenger who, we would later learn, wasn’t fit to compete that night.

The ending came within minutes, an anticlimactic conclusion that left those in attendance jeering. Those who were watching it unfold on their screens wondered why they’d even bothered.

Those who broadcast the embarrassment were left scrambling to figure out how to make it up to their customers.

That is what happened eight days ago with Sting and Jeff Hardy on the TNA “Victory Road” wrestling pay-per-view.

And that is also what happened two days ago with Vitali Klitschko and Odlanier Solis and the Epix cable channel and website.

Sting’s 90-second pinning of Jeff Hardy – who must have either been struggling with substance abuse or some other problem – wasn’t wholly TNA’s fault. Though TNA hired Hardy and pushed a talent whose issues were well known, it was Hardy who created the trouble.

Klitschko’s 180-second technical knockout of Solis – who suffered ligament and cartilage injuries in his leg after being hit with a right hand – wasn’t at all Epix’s fault. Solis is said to have had lingering problems in his right knee beforehand.

Nevertheless, Klitschko-Solis was the selling point of the product that Epix put forth – a product that did little to inspire potential customers.

This was the first foray into boxing for the premium (subscription-only) cable channel that launched at the end of October 2009 and, according to its website, is now available to more than 30 million homes (though that doesn’t actually mean there are 30 million subscribers) [Click Here To Read More]

[mushahadeen]

EPIX deserves it 4 tryn 2 promote the klitchkos. they shud stick 2 168 and below.

any big guys w/ any talent r n the nfl, nba getting paid millions 2 sit on the bench. hell they r even going on strike lol.

[Klitschko2011]

EPIX deserves it 4 tryn 2 promote the klitchkos. they shud stick 2 168 and below.

any big guys w/ any talent r n the nfl, nba getting paid millions 2 sit on the bench. hell they r even going on strike lol.

******ed troll

do us all a favor and kill yourself

[ИATAS]

it was a solid effort by EPIX being they are new to this. It came down to they simply weren't prepared for that kind of volume on their website. Hopefully there is a next time and hopefully they learned from this and will be better prepared.

I'm just happy there was someone out there willing to show the fight. Sure it turned out to be a dud but that's not their fault.

Over 100,000 people trying to log on at the same time that's actually pretty impressive numbers if you think about it, not too many people even knew you could watch the fight on their site.

[Rocky Rode]

I hope this wasn't a one time thing for EPIX either. Did the website really crash before the fight? That alone should show them there's a market out there for Boxing. Hope they buy more fights in the future.

[Spray_resistant]

Jeff Hardy needs to go to rehab, Solis needs to say away from fast food, Epix......well they are new at this I will give them another shot.

[Ravens Fan]

This article is a little misleading only because I signed onto Epix before 4:30 and I still could not access the fight and gave up sometime after 5:30 and took another avenue. By the way my efforts to watch the fight lasted about 40 minutes longer then the fight itself.

[budhram]

Will Give Epix another look..

I signed up for Epix 2 hours before the fight. I watched a movie with no issue. Then at 5pm, EST, all bets were off. I spent 25 minutes trying to get the fight to no avail. I found another means and watched without interruption. Unfortunately, 50 minutes of trying to get the fight...and the fight ended before I uncorked my bud. But I was impressed with what I saw from Solis. He wasn't afraid of Klitschko like all the previous opponents I saw. He appeared to be landing some shots.

[edgarg]

by David P. Greisman - The main event featured the champion defending against a challenger who, we would later learn, wasn’t fit to compete that night.

The ending came within minutes, an anticlimactic conclusion that left those in attendance jeering. Those who were watching it unfold on their screens wondered why they’d even bothered.

Those who broadcast the embarrassment were left scrambling to figure out how to make it up to their customers.

That is what happened eight days ago with Sting and Jeff Hardy on the TNA “Victory Road” wrestling pay-per-view.

And that is also what happened two days ago with Vitali Klitschko and Odlanier Solis and the Epix cable channel and website.

Sting’s 90-second pinning of Jeff Hardy – who must have either been struggling with substance abuse or some other problem – wasn’t wholly TNA’s fault. Though TNA hired Hardy and pushed a talent whose issues were well known, it was Hardy who created the trouble.

Klitschko’s 180-second technical knockout of Solis – who suffered ligament and cartilage injuries in his leg after being hit with a right hand – wasn’t at all Epix’s fault. Solis is said to have had lingering problems in his right knee beforehand.

Nevertheless, Klitschko-Solis was the selling point of the product that Epix put forth – a product that did little to inspire potential customers.

This was the first foray into boxing for the premium (subscription-only) cable channel that launched at the end of October 2009 and, according to its website, is now available to more than 30 million homes (though that doesn’t actually mean there are 30 million subscribers) [Click Here To Read More]

A BIG question which David should have asked the Solis camp. "How did Solis go throgh months of training with an ailing knee. I believe it to be impossible, expecially since Solis had trained sufficiently hard to take off substantial weight.

Meniscus problems can generally be overcome by either "paring back" or /and certain exercise building up the adjacent knee muscles very successfully. but anterior cruciate ligament problems cannot be handled that way. They are far more serious and need an operation and many months of even years to become safe again. It was this very injury which caused Klitschko to retire for 4 years.

[Ravens Fan]

A BIG question which David should have asked the Solis camp. "How did Solis go throgh months of training with an ailing knee. I believe it to be impossible, expecially since Solis had trained sufficiently hard to take off substantial weight.

Meniscus problems can generally be overcome by either "paring back" or /and certain exercise building up the adjacent knee muscles very successfully. but anterior cruciate ligament problems cannot be handled that way. They are far more serious and need an operation and many months of even years to become safe again. It was this very injury which caused Klitschko to retire for 4 years.

Wow, interesting observation. And if his supposed pre-fight injury was so bad how was he bouncing around in his corner? And just curious can this injury happen to someones knee when 250 pounds fall on it? I am no doctor but I bet the answer is yes.