By Michael Marley
Showtime’s erudite boxing bossman Ken Hershman isn’t playing it cute or coy in terms of the prime cable network’s interest in a continuing relationship with Manny Pacquiao.
Hershman hopes to go beyond a one night stand with the Pinoy Idol.
I spoke to the Fordham Law School graduate and veteran TV executive before Wednesday’s classy Edison Hotel Ballroom press conference hyping Saturday night’s Atlantic City super middleweight tournament bout between UK’s uber confident Carl Froch and stoic “Road Warrior” Glen Johnson.
I mentioned to Hershman that word on both Broadway (Showtime offices) and on Sixth Avenue (archrival HBO) was that Top Rank president Todd DuBoef made the rounds last week to open up discussions as to who will land Pacman’s Nov. 12 Chapter 3 against Juan Manuel Marquez. HBO did a string of Pacquiao bouts but it was upstart Showtime which handled the dreary May 7 Pacman-Sugar Shane Mosley welterweight title bout.
“I don’t want to get into all that right now,” Hershman said. “But we enjoyed our experience doing the Pacquiao fight. I think it all went well and Team Pacquiao gave us all the access we needed for our Fight Camp 360 shows. Other than Manny being late a few times, there were no problems.
“We know Manny’s first job is to do his training, we respected that.”
Hershman admitted that Mosley’s dismal effort was a downer.
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“It was the knockdown by Manny in the third round, I think,” Hershman said. “I think that was the turning point of the fight for Shane, he was not his usual self after that.”
Hershamn and his staff came up with a “scoop” for the final airing of Mosley-Pacquiao Fight Camp 360 which airs at 8:45 pm Saturday just before Messrs. Froch and Johnson go at it for the right to face unbeaten American Andre Ward.
Producer Earl Fash, writer Jody Heaps and the rest of the production team placed a lavaliere mike on Mosley trainer Naazim Richardson and they have audio and video of Mosley pleading with his coach to put a stop to the mismatch late in the bout.
An adamant Richardson refused to comply, telling his charge, “You’re cut from a different cloth.”
This coverage after the big event really underlines the Fight Camp 360 name as being a program that blankets a PPV TV event all the way through.
It will be interesting to see who wins the next Pacman event, HBO or Showtime, and the result might be a portent as to who lands the Floyd Mayweather-Pacquiao “dream fight” if it ever gets made.
Suddenly, those scrappy underdogs from Showtime, aided by their CBS relationship, are trading blow for blow with longtime TV boxing ruler HBO.
