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What HBO is Doing Right
Wed 2-Mar-2011 12:56
By Matthew Paras
It’s always big businesses that are easy targets for people to criticize. In the boxing world, there is no business that is easier to target than HBO. From respected journalists or angry fans on message boards, HBO is always getting the wrath of those who love or at least follow boxing. HBO is not the perfect company; they have definitely made some mistakes when it comes to running its boxing department. However, in 2011, HBO has made strides that have gone unnoticed by fans and media alike.
The start of 2011 featured a mega-fight between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, two undefeated junior welterweight titlists. HBO shelled out a lot of money, spending around 4,000,000 dollars between the fighters’ purses and marketing, according to reports. Many criticize HBO for spending this amount but Bradley-Alexander was a fight that needed to happen.
2010 had too many fights that should have happened but didn’t, such as Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao, Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye. Bradley-Alexander could have been that but HBO made it happen. 2011 couldn’t afford another fight falling through. Bradley-Alexander was an interesting match on paper and attracted a 2.4 rating.
Many believe the 2.4 to be a disappointment, considering the money spent, but fans need to realize that the 2.4 rating equaled out to around 1.5 million viewers. Miguel Cotto, who has a lot more star power than Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander, fought Yuri Foreman and had 1.9 million views in 2010. Cotto-Foreman was HBO’s highest rating in 2010, so Bradley-Alexander should not be considered a failure.
There is also criticism that HBO promised both fighters return fights on HBO, with their purses around 1.5 million dollars each. This is a valid criticism because HBO is overpaying for Devon Alexander’s fight. However, look at the fights being lined up for each fighter. Timothy Bradley is negotiating a fight with Amir Khan, which would be the most interesting fight in boxing that doesn’t involve a Mayweather or Pacquiao for July 23rd, while Devon Alexander might face Lucas Matthysse, a very dangerous opponent for someone who is coming off a loss.
Fans often say that Bradley-Alexander didn’t create a star but HBO’s next event certainly did. In just two short rounds, bantamweight Nonito Donaire sparked out Fernando Montiel with a monstrous left hook. It caught the public’s attention and placed Donaire among the best fighters in the sport.
Donaire-Montiel came cheap for HBO too. The whole card was less than what Andre Berto made in his last fight against Freddy Hernandez. There is a large and very valid complaint that HBO overpays for Berto fights but it should be applauded they still know how to buy cheap fights that come with high quality.
HBO’s next major fight is middleweight champion Sergio Martinez facing off against junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk. The fight is coming with controversy due to HBO forcing the fight to happen. Lou DiBella, Martinez’s promoter, originally wanted to pit Martinez against mandatory Sebastian Zbik or Andy Lee. After originally approving Lee, HBO later took back its word and only put up money for Martinez-Dzinziruk.
Also upset with this move was Bob Arum. Arum pitched Miguel Cotto vs. Vanes Martirosyan to the network for a relatively cheap 1.5 million. HBO rejected this fight and Bob took his fighter to rival network Showtime. Now, Cotto fights Ricardo Mayorga on March 12, which goes up against the Martinez-Dzinziruk broadcast.
With all these moves, it’s caused various people to cry for HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg’s head. Fans need to realize he made the right decision. People will ask, “How could he let Cotto go? How could he force Martinez to fight some guy I’ve never heard of?” What people don’t realize is that Martinez-Dzinziruk is the best fight to be made.
Unlike Cotto-Martirosyan, Martinez isn’t a guaranteed winner of his fight versus Dzinziruk. HBO is paying around 2,000,000 dollars for this fight but for only 500,000 more, they are getting the better fight. Sure, Martinez-Dzinziruk has the potential to be a very technical fight but fans should want to see the best fighters fighting each other. Fans can’t criticize HBO for not showing the best match-ups and then complain because they didn’t give us Martinez vs. Lee. That fight is a blowout; Martinez-Dzinziruk is not.
The bulk of HBO criticism has to be for Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Shane Mosley going to Showtime. They let their main superstar go to an opposing network, potentially creating a future rift between Bob Arum and HBO. Arum’s fighter, Yuriorkis Gamboa, fights on HBO’s “Boxing after Dark” on March 26 but a question mark still looms whether Pacquiao or Cotto will return to HBO.
The decision for Pacquiao to take his talents to Showtime should not affect HBO’s decision making. Instead they should buy the best quality fights out there and recently it was announced that Bernard Hopkins is going to face light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal in a rematch on May 21st with Chad Dawson to fight Adrian Diaconu on the undercard. Hopefully, this wasn’t just a shot at Showtime for revenge but to have the best fights possible on HBO.
Buying Hopkins-Pascal II was the right decision. HBO could have easily bought a Chad Dawson-Jean Pascal rematch but they chose to buy the Hopkins fight instead because of the public demand for it. Hopkins-Pascal was Showtime’s highest rated fight in years and it’s good that HBO is bringing the rematch to the fans sooner. If Golden Boy Promotions and GYM’s Yvon Michel would have waited for the rematch to be on Showtime, Hopkins-Pascal II would most likely be happening in July and not May.
Also, a positive of Hopkins-Pascal II is that the winner is guaranteed to fight Chad Dawson, granted he beats Diaconu. This is somewhat controversial but it is good that Dawson just isn’t thrown to the side now that he has lost a fight. It could be argued that he didn’t show enough determination in his fight with Pascal but he should get another opportunity.
Without a doubt, there are problems that have arisen at HBO over the years. They have been brought up in the past by writers far more respected but fans also need to realize the positives that have happened this year. They need to tune into these fights. HBO and Showtime has its calendars stacked for the first half of 2011. It’s now up to the fans to tune in. In the meantime, HBO should get a little credit where credit is due.
Wed 2-Mar-2011 12:56
By Matthew Paras
It’s always big businesses that are easy targets for people to criticize. In the boxing world, there is no business that is easier to target than HBO. From respected journalists or angry fans on message boards, HBO is always getting the wrath of those who love or at least follow boxing. HBO is not the perfect company; they have definitely made some mistakes when it comes to running its boxing department. However, in 2011, HBO has made strides that have gone unnoticed by fans and media alike.
The start of 2011 featured a mega-fight between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, two undefeated junior welterweight titlists. HBO shelled out a lot of money, spending around 4,000,000 dollars between the fighters’ purses and marketing, according to reports. Many criticize HBO for spending this amount but Bradley-Alexander was a fight that needed to happen.
2010 had too many fights that should have happened but didn’t, such as Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao, Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye. Bradley-Alexander could have been that but HBO made it happen. 2011 couldn’t afford another fight falling through. Bradley-Alexander was an interesting match on paper and attracted a 2.4 rating.
Many believe the 2.4 to be a disappointment, considering the money spent, but fans need to realize that the 2.4 rating equaled out to around 1.5 million viewers. Miguel Cotto, who has a lot more star power than Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander, fought Yuri Foreman and had 1.9 million views in 2010. Cotto-Foreman was HBO’s highest rating in 2010, so Bradley-Alexander should not be considered a failure.
There is also criticism that HBO promised both fighters return fights on HBO, with their purses around 1.5 million dollars each. This is a valid criticism because HBO is overpaying for Devon Alexander’s fight. However, look at the fights being lined up for each fighter. Timothy Bradley is negotiating a fight with Amir Khan, which would be the most interesting fight in boxing that doesn’t involve a Mayweather or Pacquiao for July 23rd, while Devon Alexander might face Lucas Matthysse, a very dangerous opponent for someone who is coming off a loss.
Fans often say that Bradley-Alexander didn’t create a star but HBO’s next event certainly did. In just two short rounds, bantamweight Nonito Donaire sparked out Fernando Montiel with a monstrous left hook. It caught the public’s attention and placed Donaire among the best fighters in the sport.
Donaire-Montiel came cheap for HBO too. The whole card was less than what Andre Berto made in his last fight against Freddy Hernandez. There is a large and very valid complaint that HBO overpays for Berto fights but it should be applauded they still know how to buy cheap fights that come with high quality.
HBO’s next major fight is middleweight champion Sergio Martinez facing off against junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk. The fight is coming with controversy due to HBO forcing the fight to happen. Lou DiBella, Martinez’s promoter, originally wanted to pit Martinez against mandatory Sebastian Zbik or Andy Lee. After originally approving Lee, HBO later took back its word and only put up money for Martinez-Dzinziruk.
Also upset with this move was Bob Arum. Arum pitched Miguel Cotto vs. Vanes Martirosyan to the network for a relatively cheap 1.5 million. HBO rejected this fight and Bob took his fighter to rival network Showtime. Now, Cotto fights Ricardo Mayorga on March 12, which goes up against the Martinez-Dzinziruk broadcast.
With all these moves, it’s caused various people to cry for HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg’s head. Fans need to realize he made the right decision. People will ask, “How could he let Cotto go? How could he force Martinez to fight some guy I’ve never heard of?” What people don’t realize is that Martinez-Dzinziruk is the best fight to be made.
Unlike Cotto-Martirosyan, Martinez isn’t a guaranteed winner of his fight versus Dzinziruk. HBO is paying around 2,000,000 dollars for this fight but for only 500,000 more, they are getting the better fight. Sure, Martinez-Dzinziruk has the potential to be a very technical fight but fans should want to see the best fighters fighting each other. Fans can’t criticize HBO for not showing the best match-ups and then complain because they didn’t give us Martinez vs. Lee. That fight is a blowout; Martinez-Dzinziruk is not.
The bulk of HBO criticism has to be for Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Shane Mosley going to Showtime. They let their main superstar go to an opposing network, potentially creating a future rift between Bob Arum and HBO. Arum’s fighter, Yuriorkis Gamboa, fights on HBO’s “Boxing after Dark” on March 26 but a question mark still looms whether Pacquiao or Cotto will return to HBO.
The decision for Pacquiao to take his talents to Showtime should not affect HBO’s decision making. Instead they should buy the best quality fights out there and recently it was announced that Bernard Hopkins is going to face light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal in a rematch on May 21st with Chad Dawson to fight Adrian Diaconu on the undercard. Hopefully, this wasn’t just a shot at Showtime for revenge but to have the best fights possible on HBO.
Buying Hopkins-Pascal II was the right decision. HBO could have easily bought a Chad Dawson-Jean Pascal rematch but they chose to buy the Hopkins fight instead because of the public demand for it. Hopkins-Pascal was Showtime’s highest rated fight in years and it’s good that HBO is bringing the rematch to the fans sooner. If Golden Boy Promotions and GYM’s Yvon Michel would have waited for the rematch to be on Showtime, Hopkins-Pascal II would most likely be happening in July and not May.
Also, a positive of Hopkins-Pascal II is that the winner is guaranteed to fight Chad Dawson, granted he beats Diaconu. This is somewhat controversial but it is good that Dawson just isn’t thrown to the side now that he has lost a fight. It could be argued that he didn’t show enough determination in his fight with Pascal but he should get another opportunity.
Without a doubt, there are problems that have arisen at HBO over the years. They have been brought up in the past by writers far more respected but fans also need to realize the positives that have happened this year. They need to tune into these fights. HBO and Showtime has its calendars stacked for the first half of 2011. It’s now up to the fans to tune in. In the meantime, HBO should get a little credit where credit is due.
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