Showtime and HBO?

If showtime stops having contracts then HBO will have to eventually. If you are a fighter and your contract is up with HBO you could switch back and forth instead of being stuck with HBO only. Much better for boxing. Showtime might be phasing them out because of the new legislation that could designate them promoters if they have those multi-fight contracts with fighters. Then their network would have to follow all sorts of laws. Exactly. And while HBO invests a gazillion dollars to keep DLH and Roy Jones and Morales and Gatti and Vitali from fighting on Showtime, Showtime keeps putting up more more exciting, competitive fights.

It wouldn't be hard to get Floyd vs. Tszyu, not as hard as you'd think. Tyson and Oscar are big money tickets anyhow, the networks will fight like hell for rights on them. Tszyu isn't a big draw for Showtime. They wouldn't be too unwilling to let Tszyu fight. Actually supposedly Showtime doesn't have any contracts with fighters now except Tyson right. At least they were supposed to phase out contracts. I think its a conflict of interest for a network to have fighters signed to exclusive contracts myself. Cause what are the networks supposed to do if they've got a fighter for several fights and the fighter loses a couple times? He loses his marketability but the network is stuck with him. Gives the network a strong motive to fix fights. If showtime stops having contracts then HBO will have to eventually. If you are a fighter and your contract is up with HBO you could switch back and forth instead of being stuck with HBO only. Much better for boxing. Showtime might be phasing them out because of the new legislation that could designate them promoters if they have those multi-fight contracts with fighters. Then their network would have to follow all sorts of laws.

Or a mandatory defense...which may be the only thing the sanctioning bodies are occassionally good for. If they have the right mandatories that is. Believe me, Zab Judah doesn't like having to fight the Cosme Riveras of the world.

Zab Judah is a Don King fighter, and fights on whichever network King negotiates him with. Showtime's contracts - I don't know if Hatton is under contract. Why wouldn't they have televised any fights between Pedersen and now? They've got Tyson, Tszyu, Corrales, Lacy - not sure who else is exclusive to them. Casamayor is on HBO next; Spinks has gone back and forth, as has Brewster and Wlad, Castillo, and others. I guess the Tyson/Lewis PPV was a disaster (other than the profits, of course) from both networks' perspective. It would take a guaranteed blockbuster to get the two networks together, most likely...

Showtime commentators are as boring as fuck!

You guys are missing the point of the topic and I knew this was going to happened. The point is can they get there fighters to fight eachother besides Tsyon and Oscar

If we could get the matching making of Showtime and commentary and crew/fighters of HBO all on network television then I will have died and gone to heaven! In all honosty I have always given major props to HBO, but Showtime is actually the station that has my favorite fighters on contract (like the three below for instance)... So can they play nice is the question? My money is on no, too much competition, too much bad blood in the history...