Comments Thread For: What HBO Should Do Now – Part Two

[miron_lang]

Im waiting on that young dude Warp to counter this.


I just hope he refute Hauser and not just attack Top Rank

[Heru]

Hauser makes several great points, but complaining about Bradley-Alexander is just ridiculous.

Are we supposed to act as if Bradley-Alexander wasn't one of the most anticipated fights of the last year?

Are we supposed to act as if Bradley and Alexander weren't considered top 140 lb. fighters?

Are we supposed to act as if Bradley and Alexander were known for unexciting and uneventful fights?

True, the fight lost some luster after the Kotelnik fight, but if we look back, how many people didn't have Bradley and Alexander in their top 10 wishlist for 2011?

Who knew Alexander was going to hold tighter than Andre the Giant's bearhug on the inside and not score much on the outside?

Anything less is revisionist history.

[tesla_power]

Although it brings up a lot of good points on some HBO's decision, I won't agree on the Bradley-Alexander fight. Hardcore fans have been waiting for that fight and rightfully so as the fight between the top 2 ( at worst 3 ) of LWW. This article is just hindsight. I know beforehand that it could be boring but it is a good fight to be made. I can't see anyone refuting this 2-3month before the fight.

If only the attack was only on the guarantee of a 7figure payday win/loss/draw on their next bouts, I'd agree with the writer.

I won't agree as well with Martinez-Dzin. Looking good in the bout should not be the biggest factor in deciding which fights to air.

Still doesn't change though ... Hauser is one of my fave writers regardless of what I feel on some of his points... he is a bit biased against HBO though. .

[SlimTim]

Great 2 part article. I agree with everything hauser says about what hbo is doing wrong. They were fools to invest so much into Bradley Alexander. All true boxing insiders know that these days you can't match 2 African American fighters against eachother and get an aggressive or exciting fight. I thought the fight actually exceeded my own expectations of excitement

[Gratide]

I never thought the bradley fight could live up to the hype and bradley going unchecked on the headbutts just made it worse . I think one of the gravest mistakes HBO is making is investing so much in Berto but not having him fight serious competion . They should have more undercards with young up and comers like FNF . AND GET RID OF ROY JONES JR !

[Dave Rado]

I never thought the bradley fight could live up to the hype

Do you object to the best fighting the best? Do you think boxing is just show business and not a sport at all?

[ghidra]

A couple of great articles, but there's something he's missed to mention. HBO should show the damn ring girls! Seriously, this is the same network that has RealSex and other explicit shows.

Showtime shows them. UFC not only shows them but gives their names & I would assume uses them for marketing stuff/appearances. The NFL shows the cheerleaders. The NBA shows the dancing teams at breaks.

They don't bleep Roger Mayweather. They don't blur out gruesome cuts. Why the hell can't they show some cleavage now & then?

[Ko King 212]

He says the best should be fighting the best but then he turns around and **** on the alexander/bradley fight.

Like i said before top rank is in his pocket. He makes good points but cmon son. F-ck outta here with that bull****. We know you on the payroll.

[slawek]

Great readin

That's great reading, especially for a guy living in EU and having not so much in common with HBO. We can't overrate HBOs influence on boxing at all, so it's always good to know more about it. It was obvious for me that something's going wrong since then seemingly endless "wars" between RJJ-Tarver-Johnson, but I was never really in it, and I used to explain myself this and many other issues using magic world "money".
Now, thanks to this article, my vocabulary improved.

But I also agree with Dave Rado's point - you can't perfectly foresee what exactly two names and styles will bring to the table, we can predict it only roughly.
That's damn right too, that there is a difference between best fights and best fighters fights. And it's up to every fan to judge what is better to watch.
In a perfect world..... Yeah, ok... That's not such a place...

(btw - I agree with Dave Rado's pov on Khan-Barrera THEN rematch too)

I noticed one more point in the article I can agree... less.
"HBO should identify the most credible rankings possible. That might mean convening it's own panel of experts. Then it can tell viewers (...)"

DO NOT let them DO it.
At least - not at this moment.

[The Hammer]

HBO should:

1) get rid of the fanboy Max Kellerman, he turns away potential fans

2) stop showing Berto vs. fighters from smaller weight divisions, stop showing mediocre American boxers like Judah

3) show the heavyweight title fights like they used to (have Merchant work them not Kellerman who hates the Klitschkos)

4) permit European boxers like Adamek and Pirog on HBO, not just in fights set up for them to lose like Martinez-Dzinziruk, Alexander-Kotelnik, and Arreola-Adamek (the latter had a different result than Greenburg planned)