By Jake Donovan

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, boxing watched itself sputter down the stretch, with three consecutive weekends of showcase bouts concluding a dismal 2006 campaign for HBO, the industry leader for all intent and purposes. The throne was available for the taking, but none of the other networks seemed terribly interested in stepping up.

The best fights that could be made in the ring were to never be, unable to overcome such obstacles as feuds between promoter and fighter, or promoter v. promoter, or promoter v. network. Fighters reserving one date, only to pull a bait-and-switch for a lesser product while further mulling premature retirement plans.

A lot of that changed for the better in 2007, though the industry still has a long way to go. Many will exit this year believing the last 12 months to be a better stretch than any other since the start of the 21 st Century. It was a year in which boxing managed to make so much out of so little, after years of exploiting the lacks of checks and balances, running rampant in an arena that remains self-policed. Attendance was up. The sport generated record PPV numbers, per event and for a single year.

Yet it still wasn't enough for the mainstream.

For the second consecutive year, ESPN's annual Top 100 sports moments list dedicated only one slot to boxing, even managing to bungle several facts in such a small space (not that anyone outside of hardcore boxing fans would notice, anyway). Sports Illustrated still covers the sport as if its not a sport at all, but a mere sideshow.  

Newspapers? Major news outlets? Please.

So while boxing fans offered similar reaction to that of a rescued castaway presented with real food and beverage for the first time in years, the message sent by the mainstream was loud and clear: it's still a long way from the old days. Where major fights didn't require full-length bios going in; you already knew the major players, which of course was what made it a major event. Where the best not only fought the best, but also fought often, and didn't disappear from the public eye in between fights.

It was a very good year, indeed. But not one where the power players can pack up their bags and say, "Our job is complete, there's nothing left to be done here." Networks, promoters and fighters made the right moves in 2007, and will hopefully use the success as a springboard for continuing improvements in 2008 and beyond.

This being the time of the year where tis better to give than to receive, a single stocking stuffer for each of the networks, as well as promoters and fighters as a whole.

To HBO: Boxing After PPV

In May, HBO PPV presented the highest grossing boxing PPV telecast of all time in Mayweather-de la Hoya. In December, the same PPV arm offered the year's second highest grossing event in Mayweather-Hatton, one that more than doubled any other PPV telecast this year not previously mentioned.

On both occasions, HBO offered no live boxing the following week.

We hear enough studio analysis from the HBO crew before, during and after a given telecast. We don't need an entire week-after segment dedicated to dissecting what we've already seen. We don't need a state-of-the-game analysis. What we need is more boxing.

It can't be a budget issue. Not when one event far and exceeds industry expectations, setting records in the process. It can't be a scheduling issue: you know when the PPV fights are going to happen, and you know that boxing in some capacity will be offered the following week.

It also can't hurt to reshuffle the order a bit, maximizing your greater investments, while also garnering attention for the lesser-known fighters.

In a perfect world, HBO's November 2007 schedule was the template to which most networks should be able to follow. Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler as a lead-in to the Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley PPV the following week should've brought out the best results for both. Instead, Cazlaghe-Kessler went largely unnoticed by the American public, perhaps to be expected in an all-Euro clash taking place in Europe.

Had it been offered as a one-off fight accompanying the Cotto-Mosley replay, who knows? Perhaps more people would be raving about the dominant champion that is super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe, rather than complaining about Joan Guzman's perceived win-today, look-good-the-next-time fighting style, as suggested following his decision win over Humberto Soto.

It's unclear as to whether or not HBO is atoning for such oversights with their 2008 schedule, or if they're merely getting back in the heavyweight business. Opening their 2008 Boxing After Dark campaign, in the week following the Roy Jones-Felix Trinidad PPV circus next January, most American boxing fans will get their first glimpse at 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist and undefeated Russian heavyweight prospect Alexander Povetkin, who takes on fellow unbeaten up-and-comer Eddie Chambers.

The following month, heavyweight titlists Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov attempt to unify their alphabet straps, in a bout that will be packaged with the week-delay PPV replay of the rematch between Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor which, barring injury or other unforeseen circumstances, will have taken place the preceding week.

HBO continues to avoid conflict with March Madness, as their March 15 PPV telecast will be preceded and not proceeded by the oft-postponed heavyweight scrap between Sam Peter and Oleg Maskaev.

In fairness, all of the aforementioned heavyweight bouts are worthy of airtime, something HBO took great issue with while the King (Don, that is) refused to make more of his heavyweight pawns while temporarily in control prior to the Eastern Bloc party that overtook the division in 2006. So let's hope the scheduling change-up is due more to quality than to continued political favors.

Leading us to…

Showtime: Stop Settling For Leftovers, and Revise Your Present Template

It was a strange year for (the self-proclaimed) America's #1 Boxing Network. It's not often your past twelve months can produce fights that remain strong possibilities for Fight of the Year (Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez II), Knockout of the Year (Nonito Donaire KO5 Vic Darchinyan), Upset of the Year (Donaire-Darchinyan) and Round of the Year (James Kirkland-Allen Conyers, Round 1), yet still be subject to so much criticism.

That's because, much like 2006, many of Showtime's best moments just so happened to come about. Aside from the pair of Vazquez-Marquez bouts and Chad Dawson-Tomasz Adamek, expectations ranged from modest to irrelevant for many of the remaining Showtime Championship Boxing telecasts.

The network offers a sales pitch of "Great fights, no rights" yet 10 of the 12 slots in 2007 involved Gary Shaw or Don King in one capacity or another. One of the two exceptions involved their November telecast, in which Golden Boy Promotion made their debut with the network, with a card (Juan Manuel Marquez-Rocky Juarez, Robert Guerrero-Martin Honorio) originally scheduled for HBO PPV, but just so happened to fall in Showtime's lap when HBO ran out of dates for the remainder of the year.

The other? The month of May, in which Showtime Championship Boxing went dark, save for a package of the network's greatest hits as an alternative to those who didn't want to spring $55 for "The World Awaits."

ShoBox enjoyed another solid year of action in the ring, though hardly anyone noticed. Several of the events, particularly earlier in the year, ran all the way up to two weeks prior to the opening bell without even a set location. Ditto for several SCB telecasts, including both Vazquez-Marquez bouts, neither of which found a home until three weeks before fight night.

Showtime was hit the hardest by the injury bug that ran rampant through September. Four network telecasts in a span of five weekend were compromised in one way or another, one being rescheduled, two opting for late replacements, and one card being cancelled altogether.

But it was also a year where they settled for table scraps rather than preparing their own meals. Of all of the major events that occurred in the sport over its final 10-12 weeks, a grand total of zero aired on Showtime. Whereas HBO attempted to market the fighters rather than the hardware, Showtime ran with storylines of obscure belts representing legitimate world championships. New stars were born on HBO, while Showtime foolishly invested in boxing's most unwanted, badly faded one-hit wonder Antonio Tarver.

Even going back to last December, influences such as Top Rank, Al Haymon   and Golden Boy used the network as leverage wheh they couldn't immediately get their way with HBO, rather than legitimately attempting to establish long-term relationships. Showtime willingly obliged, compromising their stance in order to offer boxing, merely for the sake of offering boxing.

2008 opens to mixed reviews. SCB's season debut is Paulie Malignaggi's grudge match with Herman Ngoudjo, a show promoted not by Gary Shaw or Don King, but Lou DiBella. Nor does the year's first ShoBox telecast involved either of its perceived house promoter, but instead Brian Young's Prize Fight Promotions, who offers his pair of blue-chip prospect-cum-contenders in Anthony and Lamont Peterson.

Yet it goes black in February, with its intended showcase – Sam Peter-Oleg Maskaev – instead being taken across the street to HBO., before returning in March, with familiar faces as Gary Shaw (in association with Sycuan Ringside Promotions) presents the rubber match between Vazquez-Marquez.

None of the aforementioned includes their foray into the world of MMA, which, whether they want to admit it or not, has clearly compromised their – as well as Gary Shaw's – judgment on all matters boxing. Whether or not EliteXC telecasts are worth the price of admission is irrelevant; what matters is that in establishing the series, its boxing division took a hit as a result, a statement that's soooo 2006 for the rest of the industry.

How the rest of 2008 plays out remains to be seen. If it's more of the same, then it's safe to say that Showtime no longer gets to parade around under the banner of "Great Fights, No Rights", and instead permanently settle for second place in an industry for which once upon a time they used to set the standard.

HBO and Showtime: No More Head-To-Head Dates

Normally, competition amongst the networks is a good thing. It forces the opponent to raise its stakes, rather than offer junk knowing that it's the only game in town.

But such has not been the case with boxing, particularly with the sport's leading two networks.

Sure, it's not HBO's obligation to bear in mind that Showtime almost always offers boxing on the first Saturday of every month. Nor is it written in stone that Showtime cannot offer boxing on any other weekend, particularly Saturdays where HBO already has something in queue.

But neither have yet to cite the example where their practices have served as anything other than a detriment to the sport. Until such time, focus more on maximizing what you already have, without worrying about running the other guy out of town.

To the rest of the networks: Bring back the top contender fights

It was just three years ago when we saw Martin Castillo challenge for a portion of the junior bantamweight crown against previously unbeaten Alexander Munoz on Telefutura. This year, we saw Castillo in rehab bouts.

Telefutura remains the one series that runs throughout the year, taking perhaps a 1-2 week break rather than going on hiatus to avoid conflict with any other sport. But in doing so, 2007 became more about quantity than quality. It's bee a long time since a Fight of the Year candidate emerged from the Solo Boxeo series. So long, that they've since changed sponsors.

ESPN2 focused on quality in 2007, working with far more promoters than ever before, resulting in many new faces showcased on The Deuce. Even ESPN's The Contender series managed to produce candidates for Fight and Round of the Year, both courtesy of Sakio Bika's knockout of Jaidon Codrington in their multi-knockdown instant classic of a finale.

Still, with their present budget always an issue, the number of quality pick-'em fights continues to decline. Why take a risk on ESPN2 or Telefutura for $15,000 or less when your promoter can convince HBO or Showtime to pony up possibly 10 times the amount for a premium co-feature slot.

A way to work around it and maximize your exposure - use your own in-house resources. If a fight appears on ESPN2 the night before, why not make mention of it on Sportscenter the following morning. single game of every single sport warrant a highlight reel spot? Is a light Friday practice for any given NFL team more significant than two fighters risking their lives for a modest 4-5 figure payday? How much soccer can you talk about on Telefutura without at least slipping in the latest results of boxing on your network?

To Promoters and Fighters: Take Advantage of Other Network's Shortcomings

For some series, like HBO's The Wire and ABC's Lost (which just happen to be the best two shows on television), there are enough episodes in the bank to where neither should be affected by the present Writers Guild strike. While the networks have some mid-season shows to atone for the lack of new material from their respective centerpiece series, they for the most part are looking at a winter and spring littered with reruns.

Now would be a great time for boxing to step in, and offer something new.

To Boxing Fans: Keep Supporting the Sport – But Continue to Demand the Best

For the first time in a long time, our voices were heard. 2006 was as abysmal as it gets if your boxing fix was limited to what was offered in and around the States. 2007 was well on its way until the major players were collectively thrown under the bus, forcing the industry to step up its game.

Some promoters took the fights out of the casino's, regaining a portion of its lost boxing audience. The end result was notable arenas – not casinos, but arenas - re-emerging as major players in the sport. Major cities once again became fight towns.

Fans poured out in record numbers – when presented with something worth paying for. When the sport failed to deliver, the public didn't bother showing up. Nor should they have.

Much like the White House prior to late 2006, it's what was missing for a long time – check and balances. Two sides, one keeping the other on its toes, rather than a single entity running amuck while its major interest rapidly declines.

Make the same demands in 2008. And when presented with what you ask for, continue to hold up your end of the bargain.

And finally to everyone, a happy and safe holiday season.

Jake "The Jake-of-All-Trades" Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and presently serves on the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.com. Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com