By Lyle Fitzsimmons

It’s not your father’s TV title fight.

Though Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko’s weekend encounter at Wembley Stadium will resemble their previous 86 outings when it comes to in-ring machinations, it’s by no means par for the course in terms of outside presentation.

Announcements last week from cable rivals Showtime and HBO staked out their respective claims to the heavyweight blockbuster’s U.S. broadcast rights, thanks to a multi-pronged deal with the trio of entities promoting it – namely Matchroom Sport, Klitschko Management Group and K2 Promotions.

The layered agreement means Showtime will televise the bout live in the afternoon at 4:15 p.m. ET, while HBO has a separately-produced tape-delayed primetime slot at approximately 11:00 p.m. ET.

The arrangement was necessary because Joshua is the exclusive U.S. television property of Showtime, while Klitschko has a similar stateside agreement with HBO. 

Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza said the complexity begat creativity.

“The promoters (fielded) offers from both networks,” he said.

“But because each network had a last refusal right on its respective boxer, it soon became clear that a traditional bidding process would not work – since it is impossible to simultaneously give two different networks a right of last refusal on the same event. Consequently, the networks opened a direct line of communication to figure out a compromise in order to allow the fight to be shown in the U.S. With more than 90,000 fans expected at Wembley, this will easily be the boxing event of the year.”

It won’t be the first time the networks have worked together, but it is a unique situation.

Showtime and HBO co-hosted the record-breaking Mayweather-Pacquiao pay-per-view show two years ago, and found common compromise ground on the Lewis-Tyson extravaganza in 2002 as well.

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This time, though, it’s not a PPV event, which mandated a solution where each network would get its own broadcast slot enabling it to avoid showing the other’s brand and announce teams.     

Espinoza, too, conceded his employer’s interest in a Joshua win – and HBO’s desire for a Klitschko victory – but insisted there’d be no danger of a partisan-sounding fight night program.

“Networks often stand to benefit from certain outcomes of the sporting events they televise,” he said. “A dominant Tom Brady-led Patriots team usually generates higher TV ratings. Same for a winning Dallas Cowboys team. American Pharaoh winning the Derby and the Preakness made the Belmont Stakes much more valuable as a TV property last year. Boxing is no different – but whether it’s boxing or any other sport, it is critical that the network’s business and marketing interests do not bleed into the telecast. 

“Nothing is as transparent and distasteful to the viewer than a biased announce team. Fortunately, it’s relatively simple to avoid. You hire a team of knowledgeable, fair-minded professionals, and you stay out of their way. You keep marketing and business considerations completely separate from the editorial content of the show. Otherwise, all credibility goes out the window.”

Saturday’s fight will also be the heavyweight division’s latest step toward regaining a traditional perch atop the boxing mountain. Klitschko collected four title belts and made 18 combined defenses over nine years before an upset loss to Tyson Fury in November 2015, but his reign was pockmarked by stagnant TV ratings and a dearth of truly competitive and recognizable opponents – particularly American ones.

These days, the English-born Joshua has recorded violent KOs in three IBF title fights since last April, and his WBC counterpart – Alabama native Deontay Wilder – has stoppage wins in five straight defenses since capturing his belt from Bermane Stiverne 27 months ago.

Klitschko, now 41 years old, is slotted first in the division by the Independent World Boxing Rankings, which list all fighters regardless of where they’re placed by the sport’s sanctioning bodies.

Joshua, 27, is sixth in the same rankings, three slots beneath Wilder, who’s 31.

“As much as potential as Anthony Joshua has, what’s just as meaningful is what the Joshua-Klitschko fight represents: the potential reinvigoration of the heavyweight division,” Espinoza said.

“The heavyweight division today – with Joshua, Wilder, Joseph Parker, Luis Ortiz, Tyson Fury and Jarrell Miller, among others – is significantly more interesting than it was even just 18 months ago, and that’s great news for boxing.”

The deal with HBO was announced within minutes of Showtime’s release of its full spring boxing schedule, which began with inside-the-distance wins by Shawn Porter and Jermell Charlo this past Saturday night in Brooklyn. The Joshua-Klitschko show this Saturday will be followed by a pair of May 20 broadcasts featuring title defenses by 130-pound champion Gervonta Davis from London and 126-pound claimant Gary Russell Jr. in the Washington, D.C. area.   

A week later, Kell Brook meets Errol Spence Jr. in an IBF welterweight title match in Sheffield, England, to be followed another week later by an Adonis Stevenson-Andrzej Fonfara rematch in Montreal.

“It gets easier each time we do it,” Espinoza said. “Now that we’ve made a couple of these quarterly announcements, it’s easier to get people to cooperate. Fighters, managers and promoters now understand that announcing a slate of fights and an actual schedule is more meaningful and powerful than announcing single fights on a piecemeal basis, so now it’s not as much of a struggle to keep the schedule under wraps before it’s announced.”

* * * * * * * * * *

This week’s title-fight schedule:

FRIDAY

IBO flyweight title -- Cape Town, South Africa

Moruti Mthalane (champion/Unranked IWBR) vs. Genisis Libranza (Unranked IBO/No. 54 IWBR)

Mthalane (32-2, 21 KO): Third title defense; Unbeaten in nine fights since 2008 (9-0, 6 KO)

Libranza (11-0, 8 KO): First title fight; First fight against foe on three-fight unbeaten streak

Fitzbitz says: Mthalane has been off for a long time and is more than a decade older than his opponent, but he’s also far more accomplished and should be able to defend on familiar turf. Mthalane by decision

SATURDAY

Vacant IBF flyweight title -- Cebu City, Philippines

Donnie Nietes (No. 3 IBF/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Komgrich Nantapech (Unranked IBF/No. 50 IWBR)

Nietes (39-1-4, 22 KO): Sixteenth title fight (14-0-1); Held WBO titles at 105 and 108 pounds

Nantapech (22-3, 15 KO): First title fight; Lost three of four fights outside Thailand (1-3, 0 KO)

Fitzbitz says: Nietes isn’t getting any younger, but he might be getting better and he isn’t likely to get a serious challenge from a Thai without a single substantial win on the elite level. Nietes in 7

IBF/Vacant IBO, WBA heavyweight titles -- London, United Kingdom

Anthony Joshua (IBF champion/No. 6 IWBR) vs. Wladimir Klitschko (No. 3 IBF/No. 1 IWBR)

Joshua (18-0, 18 KO): Third IBF title defense; Never fought beyond seventh round

Klitschko (64-4, 53 KO): Twenty-ninth title fight (25-3); Nineteen KO wins in title fights

Fitzbitz says: I know Joshua has youth, turf and massive appeal. Still, I don’t believe Wlad is in London simply to be a crash-test dummy. He’s too good for that and too big a jump for AJ. Klitschko in 10

Vacant IBO featherweight title -- Las Vegas, Nevada

Claudio Marrero (No. 12 IBO/No. 23 IWBR) vs. Carlos Zambrano (Unranked IBO/Unranked IWBR)

Marrero (21-1, 15 KO): First title fight; Second fight in Las Vegas (1-0, 1 KO)

Zambrano (26-0, 11 KO): First title fight; Tenth fight outside of Peru (9-0, 3 KO)

Fitzbitz says: Zambrano has a gaudy record and used to hold a cheesy sanctioning body title, but he’s been off more than a year and is in tough when it comes to return bouts. Marrero in 9

Last week's picks: 6-0 (WIN: Charlo, Valdez, Magdaleno, Ramirez, Ioka, Tapales)

2017 picks record: 27-9 (75.0 percent)

Overall picks record: 849-283 (75.0 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.