By Phil D. Jay
Sky Box Office have dropped world championship boxing from their schedule after a year of controversial fights as reported by WBN on July 22nd.
With the controversy of the last few bouts, including David Haye vs. Audley Harrison, Nathan Cleverly’s opponent withdrawals and Amir Khan’s undercard debacle, Sky have decided enough is enough and boxing will now be shown on the four main sports channels for free to Sky Sports subscribers.
WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion Khan’s switch to Primetime seems to have been the last straw and fans with now be happy to know that all future bouts on Sky will not come with an additional charge.
For current British world champions Carl Froch, Nathan Cleverly and Ricky Burns, who between have only headlined one Box Office event, the fighters face the prospect of smaller fees for their title defences as all three are currently signed with the satellite channel.
In a statement to The Daily Express, a senior Sky source said; “We spend too much time trying to do deals on boxing for a limited return and do not think it’s fair on our audience to ask them to pay more for boxing.
“That is not to say we will never return to pay-per-view. It’s just not right for us at the moment.”
The decision could pave the way for some fighters in the Sky stable to switch to terrestrial TV, with ITV and Channel 5 having shown live boxing in recent years.
Phil D. Jay covers boxing for worldboxingnews.net