Gatti’s Untimely Death Breathes Life Into HBO’s Schedule

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Jake Donovan - With death comes new life.

It was going to be a very long summer for those whose main source of boxing intake comes from HBO. The self-proclaimed Network of Champions was staring at the bottom of an empty well in the form of their summer boxing schedule, which featured nothing from June 28 through August 21.

The schedule didn’t come by design. It was in fact supposed be to a summer heat wave of boxing action from June 13 through August 1, coming up for air only on Independence Day weekend during that stretch.

Then came failed negotiations.

And untimely arrests.

And of course the sport’s greatest Achilles heel, training camp injuries.

All told, eight HBO fights and a four-fight PPV show along with its 24/7 series and exclusive HBO replay was reduced to just two fights fought on separate Saturdays in June. Nothing for the month of July, as well as the first 21 days of August. [details]

[GP27]

showtime is owning right now - i am furious with this - why isnt the super middleweight tourney on hbo?

[onedream722]

showtime is owning right now - i am furious with this - why isnt the super middleweight tourney on hbo?

what fight is comin up on HBO the bradley and campbell fight....i was lookin on the boxingscene schedule and the showtime tourny matches were on showtimes championship boxing!!!!! HELL YEAH

[Thread Stealer]

The Millet fight was HBO WCB, it was the undercard for Mosley-Forrest 1.

[daggum]

hbo is a sack of crap. they are putting on the worst fights diaz-malignaggi? are you kidding me who authorized that one. give yourself a firm slap across the face. dawson-tarver 2? kick yourself in the nuts asap! berto-mickey rodriguez?/berto-urango? must be a cruel joke to try and destroy boxing.

[vitali1999]

yes

hbo is a sack of crap. they are putting on the worst fights diaz-malignaggi? are you kidding me who authorized that one. give yourself a firm slap across the face. dawson-tarver 2? kick yourself in the nuts asap! berto-mickey rodriguez?/berto-urango? must be a cruel joke to try and destroy boxing.

Right on, there air those ****** fights, like anyone wants to see Malignaggi, but they won't air Klitschko vs Chagaev, a fight thats for the ring belt, and they won't air a Vitali vs Gomez fight, i have always liked HBO but i can't understand that.

[ricky1978]

HBO is going downhill.....

[Dynamite Glove]

hbo is a sack of crap. they are putting on the worst fights diaz-malignaggi? are you kidding me who authorized that one. give yourself a firm slap across the face. dawson-tarver 2? kick yourself in the nuts asap! berto-mickey rodriguez?/berto-urango? must be a cruel joke to try and destroy boxing.

well, berto-urango looks good on paper. both guys can hit pretty good, and prefer to move forward aggressively.

but, those other bouts, I absolutely agree with you on that.

[Iceta]

I like Jake's piece on the deal with Tavoris Cloud. A lot of people claim he made a bonehead move by turning down that televised slot on HBO without knowing the full story. It is sad that if Dawson decided to fight Cloud he would've only got a peanut-like payday of over $100,000. That's why I've never bashed Dawson that much for not fighting him. Although I would've been ten times more interested in a Cloud-Dawson fight than a Dawson-Tarver rematch. But a lot of these hardcore Dawson fans were saying that Cloud was being a ***** by not fighting on his undercard and requesting the IBF to strip him.

Cloud has been inactive because he thought there was a slight chance that he may get a Dawson fight instead of having to wait through a Tarver-Dawson rematch to get a shot at the winner. Dawson has unfinished business with Glen Johnson though. And I give Johnson a good chance of beating Chad because I thought he did it in the initial encounter and got slighted by the judges.

[catalinul]

I hope someone caps and uploads the Gatti vs Ward trilogy in this quality.