By Radio Rahim
Sheffield - Last month, network rivals HBO and Showtime came together on a television deal to broadcast the highly anticipated heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.
The network were forced to work with each other for only the third time in history, because Joshua is under contract with Showtime and Klitschko has an exclusive deal with HBO.
The first time around, Showtime showed the live broadcast during the afternoon, and HBO carried the delayed broadcast later that night.
Before a record crowd of 90,000 fans at Wembley in London, Joshua overcame a sixth round knockdown to rally down the stretch to stop Klitschko in the eleventh round to unify the IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight titles.
There was an immediate rematch clause in the contract.
Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport, advised BoxingScene.com earlier this week that Klitschko is expected to exercise his right for a rematch.
Showtime Sports head Stephen Espinoza has confirmed that his network will once again come together with HBO to televise the rematch in the United States.
"There is a lot to be negotiated still. And not to be vague, but a lot of it depends on where it is and how we decide to distribute it. There will be some sort of collaboration with HBO on it. It may very well end up where they do the live and we end up with the replay in prime-time this time around or it could be something totally different depending on how the schedules work out," Espinoza told BoxingScene.com.
"We will be involved with that one, and more importantly for us is that we'll be involved with Anthony long-term. Everyone sees the potential there and we're glad to be in business with him."
The two networks worked together on three major events, but it doesn't get any easier with each fight.
"I'd like to say that it gets easier each time, but it really doesn't. And that's not because there is any personal animosity - it's Coke and Pepsi dealing with each other or McDonald's and Burger King dealing with each other. There are different objectives, different ways of doing business. Each time, each side comes to the table with a strong idea on what should happen. It's a big task to get everyone on the same page," Espinoza said.
