HBO's 'Legendary Nights' Boxing

[Curly Howard]

To commemorate it's 30 anniversary of 'World Championship Boxing' coverage, HBO Sports has put out a 12-part documentary series spotlighting it's most memorable fights. 'Legendary Nights' debuts on tonight (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT) and will be followed for the next 11 weeks at the same time. For Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports, who is the co-executive producer of the series alongside Rick Bernstein, it was the only thing he had in mind to celebrate the network's storied history.

"Honestly, this was pretty much it," admitted Greenburg. "I don't know where the ideas come from other than they pop into my head. One day, I'm probably walking to work, I don't even remember where I was, I thought that we were on our 30th year and how could we look back and showcase our rich tradition and also use our documentary excellence in our department and do it differently?

[Curly Howard]

ALSO........................

Saturday March 8th 9:45 ET on HBO
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO take on South African CORRIE SANDERS in HBO WCB's featured fight




Also Featuring: Re-air of Ruiz vs. Jones!

Watch ROY JONES, JR. dismantle JOHN RUIZ to capture a piece of the heavyweight title.

Then, watch top heavyweight contender WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO take on South African CORRIE SANDERS in HBO WCB's featured fight

[Curly Howard]

Roy Jones Jr.'s victory over John Ruiz to win the World Boxing Association heavyweight title on Saturday generated 525,000 pay-per-view purchases and $26.5 million in sales, HBO said yesterday.

The figure, greater than expected, is not remarkable by the standard of major heavyweight bouts, which produce more than a million purchase. But it is the most either fighter has attracted.

Jones, the better-known and more skilled fighter, has fought only three times on pay-per-view, and had never racked up more than 300,000 buys.

Ruiz's victory in March 2001 over Evander Holyfield to win the W.B.A. belt generated only about 185,000 pay-per-view purchases.

Mike Tyson's first-round knockout of Clifford Etienne last month produced an estimated 100,000 pay-per-view purchases for Showtime, which also showed the bout on its premium channel.

[Zen]

I think Jones vs. Tyson or Lewis would get well over a million PPV's. I don't think either of these fights will ever happen, but I think they would be the biggest money makers available right now.

[Curly Howard]

Legendary Nights Program Guide

New tales every Wednesday, 10:00-10:30pm ET/PT from March 5th - May 21st.

Other weekly HBO plays include (all times ET/PT):
Thursdays at midnight
Saturdays at 10:00 am
Sundays at 8:00 am
Mondays at 7:30 pm.
Weekly HBO2 play:
Fridays at 8:00 pm.
The Tale of Leonard-Hearns (1981)
Series Premiere! Wed., March 5th, 10:00 pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Holmes-Cooney (1982)
Wed., March 12th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Pryor-Arguello (1982)
Wed., March 19th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Hagler-Hearns (1985)
Wed., March 26th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Hagler-Leonard (1987)
Wed., April 2nd, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Tyson-Douglas (1990)
Wed., April 9th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Chavez-Taylor (1990)
Wed., April 16th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Holyfield-Bowe (1992, '93, '95)
Wed., April 23rd, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Foreman-Moorer (1994)
Wed., April 30th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Bowe-Golota (1996)
Wed., May 7th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of De La Hoya-Trinidad (1999)
Wed., May 14th, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary

The Tale of Lewis-Tyson (2002)
Wed., May 21st, 10:00pm ET/PT.
Summary


Jim Lampley, host
Larry Merchant, contributing writer