Klitschkos say they will NEVER fight on HBO again

[Iceta Lives]

I am not all that upset about it, but they better not dare let David Haye fight on a WCB or BAD card. It's only fair. He should be penalized even more than the Klits for being a ho.

[-Antonio-]

I'm cool with HBO's decision. The Heavy division isn't worth the money anymore. Not even because Wlad/Povetkin isn't a good fight. I think it is. It's just not interesting, and might not be very entertaining. What is it going to bring them in the long run? They're better off showing a lot of other fights.

[IMDAZED]

If the focus is on the American heavyweight, as Greenburg stated, why is he bringing up David Haye the Brit and Tomasz Adamek from Poland? HBO's problem is not the Klitschko brothers, I can tell you that much. And this decision is horrible. Where's the creativity? Remember when they featured Jones-Kelley and Hopkins-Daniels on one night? Yeah, the matchups weren't great but we got a chance to witness real skill in both bouts and the subsequent trash-talking was legendary. Why couldn't they do that with Haye and one of the brothers? This moves reeks of ulterior motives.

[Random1]

This is a bit rough for me. I initially got HBO because they tended to broadcast Wlad's fights and I've enjoyed recording them. I don't mind the web PPV's but I can't keep them (although I admit I wouldn't really bother watching the Chambers fight again). I don't think I'll drop HBO but it is definitely a blow.

[yessuh]

Fuck HBO and fuck that ****** *** Greenburg. HBO's loss is Showtime's gain. I hope Greenburg gets hit by a bus.

[paulf]

I think that dropping them was the right choice, but man is that a shady ****ing way to go about it. Shame on HBO.

[βetamax]

Ouch. Don't blame them for being mad if HBO backed out of an agreement like that...

[Allucard]

When Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports, said that he would not buy heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko's September fight against Alexander Povetkin, it came as quite a surprise to the Klitschko camp.

The reason: Klitschko and his team, namely manager Bernd Boente and adviser Shelly Finkel, say HBO promised it would air the fight on Sept. 11 and that they had agreed on a price ($250,000 to show the bout on same-day tape delay).

"What HBO did to us is absolutely disgusting," Boente said. "Kery(HBO Sports senior vice president) promised me and also Shelly on the telephone that he will do the fight. We had agreed. The worst thing is that Kery said, 'We can do the fight on the 11th but not on the 18th.' Showtime could do it on the 18th but not on the 11th. We made a deal with HBO for the 11th and we said to the German soccer league before they planned their schedule to please make sure that on the 11th there is no home game for Frankfurt because we have an American TV station on board. They said OK. And then HBO screwed us and now we lose $250,000."

The Klitschkos are so upset with HBO that Boente said they will never again fight on the network, which has had a long association with them. He said they'll go so far as to ask HBO to remove their photos and bios from its website.

"If we knew HBO wouldn't do the fight, we would have asked for [the stadium on] Sept. 18 and Showtime would have shown the fight," he said. "Now we lose all that money completely, and it's HBO's fault.

"[Davis] should have talked to his boss first before you promise something. You can't promise me and Shelly and then not do it. Showtime played it very straight with us about their situation. HBO did not. I'll tell you one thing: If either brother ever fights David Haye, I will make sure and the brothers will make sure that HBO doesn't cover the fight and that it will go to Showtime.

"Wladimir is totally pissed and really disappointed. He thought a promise is a promise, and if you promise someone, you have to stand by your promise. We have been on HBO for 23 fights [between the brothers], but I guess that doesn't mean anything. Maybe Ross has something against Germany or Ukrainians.

Based on the way Boente spoke, even if those fights are put together, HBO won't get them under any circumstance.

"Whether Wladimir or Vitali fight Haye eventually, we will make sure the fight is not on HBO," he said. "HBO will not cover anymore Klitschko fights. On the Haye fight, Wladimir said to me that HBO thinks that they will have it 100 percent because they always overpay if they want something. But for him it is not about the money, it's about fair play."

When I asked Boente directly if that meant they would take less money from Showtime for a Haye fight, he said, "Yes, absolutely."



ESPN.com

Really not fair for the K bros. Sure boring to watch but they are the best HWs around, there is none better and it's just a little air time, it's not a crappy ppv like HBO airs so many times...