Should HBO/Showtime have Boxing news shows?

[sdcluser]

I agree that the state of boxing would be better if it was on Network TV.

But I wasn't talking about the state of boxing as a whole. The ratings for HBO/Showtime fights have been steadily decreasing for the last 5 years. I was just wondering why the 2 biggest spenders in boxing don't do a damn thing to try and create interest in the sport they invest in. Having these face offs show at 9:45 PM on random Tuesday night isn't going to create buzz for the fight. An established weekly boxing show will help create more hype, IMO.

My bad.

Poor ratings due to largely:
1) poor matchmaking. (top rank/ gbp feud)
2) mma taking some of the younger demos. mma is on Sp1ketv alot. It helps somewhat.
3) sheer myopic/arrogance/ossification in top management in HBO Boxing who keeps doing the same **** that doesn't work.
4) lack of penetration to the general public led to perception that sport is "dying" worldwide.

[Rocky Rode]

I think the poor matchmaking was one of the causes. Eventually people just got tired of being fed all the BS that HBO was trying to sell. BUT I do think HBO has been doing better this year with the fights they've been putting on. Even the 2 fights people were skeptical about (Maida-Morales and Ortiz-Berto) turned out to be great competitve fights. Don't get me wrong though, they still have work to do because they did overpay for the Hopkins-Pascal fight and they still overpay certain fighters, but I think they are improving.

I just think if they made a show where they do things like Interview fighters, make their own P4P list, discuss possible fights, show Face offs, etc. It would generate a lot more interest for HBO fights.

As for the MMA thing, I don't really think it effects ratings too much. Most young people would just watch both sports if there was any interest in it. The 2 sports are very different.