by David P. Greisman
Nearly three months ago, Showtime announced that it had signed heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua to an exclusive deal to broadcast his fights in the United States.
The British big man had captured his world title on the network in April when he took out Charles Martin, and he defended it on Showtime’s airwaves in late June with a victory over Dominic Breazeale.
But while Showtime has a working relationship with many of boxing’s big names, a significant number of them are with boxing adviser Al Haymon, whose fighters appear on Showtime as well as on other networks that air Haymon’s “Premier Boxing Champions” broadcasts. (Joshua isn’t with Haymon but has fought two straight Haymon fighters.)
Joshua is the only fighter that Showtime has an exclusive deal with right now, according to Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza.
“It’s part of the strategy with the heavyweight division. He’s a key player. It’s also part of a long-term plan,” Espinoza said. “It’s better to latch onto someone early and ride along with him than be one of the guys who’s having to bid big dollars in a massive bidding war when he’s doing a heavyweight unification fight.”
Showtime is planning for a unification fight down the line with Deontay Wilder, a bout that could take place in the second half of 2017 due to Wilder needing time to recover and return from hand and bicep injuries. The bout would be on Showtime, CBS or perhaps even on pay-per-view, Espinoza said.
His network avoided a “massive bidding war” later on, but it wasn’t without competition in trying to sign Joshua.
“There was a bit of a bidding war,” Espinoza said. “There was definitely interest in him. But we’ve been building a relationship for quite a while, and ultimately I think we laid out the better plan and the bigger offer.”
As tends to be the case in boxing, time will tell whether it turns out to be a good investment.
“The reality is the chips are going to fall where they may. It’s a bet. Not a huge bet, but not an inexpensive one either,” Espinoza said. “And either [it will be one that] didn’t pay off or, I think more likely, [Joshua will be] someone that we’ll build on for a long, long time.”
Joshua’s next fight hasn’t been announced, though a couple of names have been floated as possible opponents before he has to make a mandatory defense against Joseph Parker.
“I’ve heard several names for his next fight, [including Bermane] Stiverne or [Kubrat] Pulev, both of whom are good step-up fights for him,” Espinoza said. “I expect he’ll be fighting in the U.S., hopefully early next year, and then from that point he’s made it clear he’s ready to take on anyone and everyone, whether it’s in the U.K. or the U.S.”
Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com
