By Tom Donelson
All over the world, boxing fans are in anguish over the lack of boxing coverage on “free television”, but the situation is for most Americans is at it’s worst level. Most boxing fans in the United States receive their “free television” as part of a pay package that includes cable and premium movie channels.
Most major sports telecasts have been redirected to pay subscription television. Only a handful of big sporting events are actually broadcast on free TV. Most fans still get to see the World Series, the NBA Finals and the Super Bowl. The only sport where the majority of the games are actually on non-subscription television is professional football.
Boxing has not been a feature staple on network television for many years. There is an abundance of boxing coverage on television, but it can only be found on pay cable channels. ESPN’s Friday Night Fights is still boxing’s best show since it broadcasts live boxing matches nearly every week and twice a week during the summer. This allows boxing fans to see upcoming stars on their way up or contenders that are still in the mix. On occasion, championship caliber fights are broadcast as well. HBO and Showtime feature competitive fights on a monthly basis and ShoBox is another one of boxing’s best series as it features younger fighters in competitive situations. HBO Latino adds to this variety by telecasting some of boxing’s best up and coming fighters through Golden Boy Promotion’s Boxeo De Oro telecast.
The big negative on televised boxing is that that HBO and Showtime do not feature enough of it on TV. Even ShoBox has taken a siesta during the summer months and has only presented a handful of cards. The weakness for the sport is the number of programs going pay per view. The pay per view prices take the fight out of boxing’s many hardcore fans. A terrible trend starting to grow in the sport is the placing of routine fights on pay per view. Does anyone truly believe that Hasim Rahman vs. Monte Barrett is worthy of a pay per view main event?
What boxing truly needs is some type of weekly exposure that is available to the general public and with the exception of ESPN, this is not obtainable. For example, Fox Sports Net and Comsat feature weekly boxing events, but many of them are taped. Some of these events are several months old and often they have little meaning to the average boxing fan.
A better strategy would be for boxing to recognize the present reality and work within them. With several regional cable outlets available, boxing has the opportunity to show off many local talents on their way up. Fox Sports Net Chicago or Comsat Chicago can feature many Midwest fighters. In Chicago, there is enough talent to feature competitive matches and regional shows to introduce local heroes to local fans.
One example of a local hero making it big before injuries cut his career short was Joe Mesi. Mesi could fill out any arena in Buffalo and gave a boost to fight promotions in upper New York. Mesi moved from being a regional fighter to a major contender. Television exposure, even on a local level, may encourage better athletes to take up the sport.
Most college athletes in football and basketball will never make it in the pros, but many boxers can receive television exposure before they reach their 21st birthday and get paid. With the NBA now setting an age limit, this gives boxing even more of an advantage. Cable television can allow boxing to rebuild regional promotions and create local heroes, who can eventually become national heroes. Use the cable system to build national heroes by building the local heroes first.
Boxing must reduce the number of pay per view events. In the short term, pay per view is the cash cow for a few boxers and major promoters, but in the long term, it can damage the sport. If you price boxing out of the market of the common fan, it becomes harder to build a new audience. How do you build interest in contenders if you don’t see them?
Boxing is one of those sports that is perfect for television. You can feel the impact of the punches landing and see the sweat leave the fighter’s face as the punches connect. You see the blood and the emotions in the ring. You can go in the corner of the fighter and see the interaction between the fighters and their corner.
Only football can match boxing in terms of television excitement and for the same reasons previously described. A football viewer can almost feel the thudding impact of the hits, but the very same viewer can never see the pained expressions on the faces of the football players. When sitting down to watch a boxing event, you can witness facial expressions of joy, fatigue, pain and anger.
Boxing has a niche and with the right promotion, it can become a factor on television once again. Obviously there are other problems that needed to be overcome, but proper marketability can once again make boxing a premier sport.