Is Top Rank's "in house" matchmaking going to be even worse on ESPN than HBO

I still think down the road TR and PBC/Showtime start working together in some form or fashion Which will mean TR /Showtime will have Showtime/CBS / Fox /Espn with the rest of the players ( Main Events , GB, Roc , K2 ) fighting for whatever remaining scraps are left at HBo I also think Shaeffers going to be mostly doing his thing out in Europe and the UK and definitly out for traction there

Um, MLB is in full swing now, LOL. Yeah, only one major sport going on at the moment. One that many people find boring. What's going to happen when the popular NFL and college football (like MrRolltide91 mentioned) start taking over Saturdays and Sundays?

Arum may have no choice. The media will never tell you this, but Showtime/PBC has all but taken over the combat sports landscape in the US. They seem to be employing a python strategy over at FOX to block the UFC from getting that massive new FOX deal that absolutely need to stay out of bankruptcy court. If PBC is successful, the UFC will almost certainly be forced into Chap 13. HBO boxing is all but dead, holding on for the last few gasps before they probably go under. GBP is a one-fighter company that seems to be bombing on ESPN2. If Arum really only wants his fighters fighting in-house, he's probably good for 3 more fights on ESPN before he closes up shop. LOL.. Agree with everything but two things. One, I don't expect bankruptcy for UFC. Two, I think TR has enough prospects, and a keen eye for prospects, that they will remain formidable. That said, you have to be racist or dumb to not see what's happening. Unfortunately, plenty of people in the US are at least one and usually both. PBC will be around next year, likely with Fox and CBS coming aboard with cash at some point during the year. TR will have to play ball or risk being a, distant, distant second, regardless of what Arum's media minions say.

I expect this fight and the Crawford fight to do nice numbers. Will that change ESPN's attitude? You would hope so but the first three PBC cards had pretty nice ratings too. ESPN is no stranger to boxing. They aren't going to have a light bulb moment when it comes to the sport. They simply don't have many boxing people there to push the sport. I do think TR tweaked a couple things that PBC did that should help them going forward. The flip side to that is that their roster isn't deep enough to forecast long-term success and I'm sure ESPN is aware of this. The different network/promotional factions need to work together...but Arum isn't going to let his guys fight a PBC fighter unless his guy is the A-side and at some point, Haymon is going to stop his B-siders from helping out the other team. So we'll see how it unfolds. Arum may have no choice. The media will never tell you this, but Showtime/PBC has all but taken over the combat sports landscape in the US. They seem to be employing a python strategy over at FOX to block the UFC from getting that massive new FOX deal that absolutely need to stay out of bankruptcy court. If PBC is successful, the UFC will almost certainly be forced into Chap 13. HBO boxing is all but dead, holding on for the last few gasps before they probably go under. GBP is a one-fighter company that seems to be bombing on ESPN2. If Arum really only wants his fighters fighting in-house, he's probably good for 3 more fights on ESPN before he closes up shop. LOL..

If/when PBC signs a long-term deal with FOX (which seems to be soon), it could great or terrible for TR, depending on how they respond. It would leave ESPN to TR and they could run on that open field and make it a go. Or they could be overwhelmed by the superior resources of the Showtime/PBC juggernaut and get no support from ESPN and basically be starved out and collapse. So lots at stake here with US boxing. I hope they can make it work but they really need some more fighters in that stable. Maybe they can develop Jennings and Whyte. IDK. I wonder if we might see everyone on Showtime eventually. They're the only ones willing to spend on boxing, or so it seems. It'd be nice if they got all of the major players on their channel with the stipulation that they had to play nice with each other and deliver the big cross-promotional fights

I expect this fight and the Crawford fight to do nice numbers. Will that change ESPN's attitude? You would hope so but the first three PBC cards had pretty nice ratings too. ESPN is no stranger to boxing. They aren't going to have a light bulb moment when it comes to the sport. They simply don't have many boxing people there to push the sport. I do think TR tweaked a couple things that PBC did that should help them going forward. The flip side to that is that their roster isn't deep enough to forecast long-term success and I'm sure ESPN is aware of this. The different network/promotional factions need to work together...but Arum isn't going to let his guys fight a PBC fighter unless his guy is the A-side and at some point, Haymon is going to stop his B-siders from helping out the other team. So we'll see how it unfolds. If/when PBC signs a long-term deal with FOX (which seems to be soon), it could great or terrible for TR, depending on how they respond. It would leave ESPN to TR and they could run on that open field and make it a go. Or they could be overwhelmed by the superior resources of the Showtime/PBC juggernaut and get no support from ESPN and basically be starved out and collapse. So lots at stake here with US boxing. I hope they can make it work but they really need some more fighters in that stable. Maybe they can develop Jennings and Whyte. IDK.

It's a dead sports month yet the fights didn't start at their scheduled time yesterday, they got preempted by the NFL Hall of Fame inductions. I also had to channel hop twice when the fights finally did get televised. First to ESPN2 then back to ESPN for the main event. What is going to happen when it's NOT a dead sports month and the NFL/NBA get into full swing? Don't forget college football which comes on Saturday's Boxing won't be shown over football and basketball

Dan Rafael is a shill. It's too bad that this sport suffers from a lack of quality journalism. The fact that Dan Rafael is the only boxing writer for the "worldwide leader in sports" is absolutely pitiful. In regards to ESPN caring, that all depends on the ratings. Pacquiao-Horn was the highest rated original broadcast that Saturday night with a 1.14 rating among the 18-49 demo. If Top Rank brings that consistently, ESPN will start to care. They'll have no choice but to care. With that said, my guess is this Lomachenko show didn't do well. Just a pure guess. Hopefully the Crawford unification draws a crowd. I expect this fight and the Crawford fight to do nice numbers. Will that change ESPN's attitude? You would hope so but the first three PBC cards had pretty nice ratings too. ESPN is no stranger to boxing. They aren't going to have a light bulb moment when it comes to the sport. They simply don't have many boxing people there to push the sport. I do think TR tweaked a couple things that PBC did that should help them going forward. The flip side to that is that their roster isn't deep enough to forecast long-term success and I'm sure ESPN is aware of this. The different network/promotional factions need to work together...but Arum isn't going to let his guys fight a PBC fighter unless his guy is the A-side and at some point, Haymon is going to stop his B-siders from helping out the other team. So we'll see how it unfolds.

It's a dead sports month yet the fights didn't start at their scheduled time yesterday, they got preempted by the NFL Hall of Fame inductions. I also had to channel hop twice when the fights finally did get televised. First to ESPN2 then back to ESPN for the main event. What is going to happen when it's NOT a dead sports month and the NFL/NBA get into full swing? That was disrespectful from ESPN. I heard the start time was supposed to be 7 PM but they stayed on their NFL ceremony for almost 30 extra minutes.

Get ready for Crawford battering horn twice. Defending vs Alvarado.....they'll dig him up ....beating Vargas twice and prospects like the one from yesterday..barboza

PBC gave ESPN Thurman-Collazo, Garcia-Malignaggi, and LSC-Mares. Ratings went up for each of the 3 fights. Then they basically quit on ESPN and put prospects on that channel a year later. Top Rank coincidentally also has 3 top level fighters to start their ESPN stint. Pacquiao-Horn, Lomachenko-Marriaga, and Crawford-Indongo. Let's see what Top Rank does after this. Hard to crash and burn as hard as PBC did after their exciting start. They stopped giving them good fights because they weren't getting any support. Even the ESPN boxing writer barely wrote anything good about them. So of course, they moved their better fights elsewhere. TR has a different approach so they are better prepared for some things. But ultimately, it comes down to how much ESPN cares. They don't, and that truth always emerges.

PBC gave ESPN Thurman-Collazo, Garcia-Malignaggi, and LSC-Mares. Ratings went up for each of the 3 fights. Then they basically quit on ESPN and put prospects on that channel a year later. Top Rank coincidentally also has 3 top level fighters to start their ESPN stint. Pacquiao-Horn, Lomachenko-Marriaga, and Crawford-Indongo. Let's see what Top Rank does after this. Hard to crash and burn as hard as PBC did after their exciting start. I think they thought that Fox was ready to sign up for buku bucks and it looks to be happening(ed). We don't know what ESPN had on the table..

It's a dead sports month yet the fights didn't start at their scheduled time yesterday, they got preempted by the NFL Hall of Fame inductions. I also had to channel hop twice when the fights finally did get televised. First to ESPN2 then back to ESPN for the main event. What is going to happen when it's NOT a dead sports month and the NFL/NBA get into full swing? Boxing will be on Showtime exclusively for the Fall probably. One Fox card. HBO boxing is in the convalescent home. ESPN might work for TR if they stick with it, it has to really. If not PBC/Showtime complete the takeover..

Arum not just going to give the fans everything for free that aint happening! Arum is 100% right when he said when talking about Loma vs Mikey Garcia I think it was "Someone Have To Pay For All This Sh1t!" He is right! While ESPN has a lot of money and is backed by Disney, I don't think they're going to just throw around big money like that not for boxing. They will gladly show the matches but I don't think they will start paying what Showtime or HBO Pays!

Arum isn't stupid. she's putting the fights on in August because it's a dead sports month and he has Espn's full attention. It's a dead sports month yet the fights didn't start at their scheduled time yesterday, they got preempted by the NFL Hall of Fame inductions. I also had to channel hop twice when the fights finally did get televised. First to ESPN2 then back to ESPN for the main event. What is going to happen when it's NOT a dead sports month and the NFL/NBA get into full swing?

It took over an hour and half before they showed the fight on ESPN and quite a while before they even switched it to ESPN 2 before that. I don't know why anyone thinks TR going to ESPN is a game changer. They've never fully invested in boxing. They are fully invested. They had an article about Beltran on the front page of their website this week. They promote the fights on every radio show, and First Take. Yes the HOF speeches went to long, but that's because the NFL gets precedent over everything because ESPN has billions invested in them and they don't want to piss the NFL off. Arum is doing interviews on their TV shows. Arum isn't stupid. she's putting the fights on in August because it's a dead sports month and he has Espn's full attention.

They probably will continue in house match making. I hate the new ESPN switch. Boxing is way down the list of important sports for ESPN. I tried to watch the Loma fight yesterday and some football show was on instead. They only showed the last round or two of the fight before the Loma fight. They had ten tons of commercials and I had to listen to Atlas. On HBO they would have shown the entire fight card with no commercials and no Teddy Atlas. They wouldn't have cancelled most of the fights for some football talk show. I'm a boxing fan and not a football talk show fan. I don't like commercials or listening to Atlas.

Salido rejected $720k. He may come crawling back later like Walters did, but for now he seems beyond their budget There is a HUGE gap between losing Salido for 720k and paying 50K for a featherweight who isn't even top 20 ranked and coming off a loss and making him move up a full weight class to fight a guy that is supposed to be in top P4P. 130 is loaded, there are better guys at 135, rigo another top P4P fighter been calling you out forever no excuse for settling on Marriaga. Other then top rank wanted in house and cheap opponent.

And Thurman-Collazo. Garcia was on there. They stopped giving ESPN good fights once they realized ESPN could give two sh*ts about boxing. And as soon as they could, they moved everything over to FS1 and doubled the fights there. GBP is learning how much ESPN values boxing. And TR got a bit of reality check when they had to hang out in the waiting room while Jerry Jones finished his speech. After Indongo-Crawford, it's gonna get ugly. Agreed......

Nothing worse than PBC putting their top fighters on the shelf for long periods of time. TR's stable is tiny compared to Haymon's.