Comments Thread For: HBO Not Interested in Vitali-Haye, Not High on Heavies

[Kagami Taiga]

i mean seriously? how many hardcore fans wanna see vitali/haye? or how about vlad/chisora? i know im not interested. id watch if it were to come on, but im not exactly waiting to see these fights. so why should we expect the casuals to be interested?

[hogwash]

don't really care for this nationalism, what HW needs is a few guys who can bring a breath of fresh air in that division and challenge Klitschko's dominance and I hate to say it but, for it to happen, it neither needs nor requires an American presence. It could anyone and anywhere

[KnockUTheFukOut]

The Heavyweight Division died or was dying (at least with the American Media) when Lennox Lewis was on top and was dominating, America never really accepted him and they was looking for anybody to Defeat him for YEARS

even got so desperate that they had to basically ROB Lennox against Holyfield just to make things interesting in the Heavyweight Division again

even if an American fighter starts to make noise in the Heavyweight Division, I still don't think it will get much coverage or attention, I don't think the Heavyweight Division will ever get back to the way it was Sadly

[KingTito]

That makes sense. The only way a HW bout will be HBO televised is if it's a rising American star or the bros fighting each other. I don't see either in the near future.

[Kris Silver]

Very insightful comment about these heavies being european, not american so clearly them far less willing to promote the fights regardless.

So what, boxing is an international sport.

I know the Klit's dominating is tedious at times but at times it stinks of people just being bad losers, them not being just promoted and celebrated more. It's a sport for athletes for christ's sake.

[RSBonos]

Their ratings would not be as good as other fights they can put on. So HBO would have to dish out a lot of money for lower ratings....not a smart business decision.

Besides Haye-Wlad, I don't think the network pays that much. Vitali-arreola and Wlad-haye had very good ratings.

You might be right though, for whatever reason ratings are up at HBO (1.5 million for Kahn/Peterson and 1.8 for the Chavez card), but I just don't see the reason to come out and say that the HW's are garbage.

[Anton LaVey]

Besides Haye-Wlad, I don't think the network pays that much. Vitali-arreola and Wlad-haye had very good ratings.

You might be right though, for whatever reason ratings are up at HBO (1.5 million for Kahn/Peterson and 1.8 for the Chavez card), but I just don't see the reason to come out and say that the HW's are garbage.

Vitali-Arreola was the highest rated fight HBO had that year. And I don't think it was because Arreola is a household name.

[Anton LaVey]

The Heavyweight Division died or was dying (at least with the American Media) when Lennox Lewis was on top and was dominating, America never really accepted him and they was looking for anybody to Defeat him for YEARS

even got so desperate that they had to basically ROB Lennox against Holyfield just to make things interesting in the Heavyweight Division again

even if an American fighter starts to make noise in the Heavyweight Division, I still don't think it will get much coverage or attention, I don't think the Heavyweight Division will ever get back to the way it was Sadly

Good post.

Lennox Lewis was loathed by many American fight fans as being "boring" and for being "not Mike Tyson."

You see how quickly the American crowd turned on Lewis when he fought Vitali. You're correct, he was never accepted in the US.

He gets more love now for obvious reasons -- if you don't like the current champions, Lennox looks better in retrospect, just as the Klitschkos will look better to many than whoever is champ when they are done.

If America had a dominating champ again, the division would get more attention, but you're right in that it won't ever return to the glory days. That is over. And America will likely never dominate the heavyweight division the way it once did, ever again.

[Anton LaVey]

Very insightful comment about these heavies being european, not american so clearly them far less willing to promote the fights regardless.

So what, boxing is an international sport.

I know the Klit's dominating is tedious at times but at times it stinks of people just being bad losers, them not being just promoted and celebrated more. It's a sport for athletes for christ's sake.

Excellent post, green k sent.

[Alpha & Omega]

I wish people would stop this line of thinking, it is so close minded. So since HVWT boxing is not dominated by black american fighters, it sucks and its dead? Since white europeans are dominating it, it is a lost, garbage division? I think this is really an egotistical (and practically racist) point of view from americans. If a division is not ruled by americans, it is automatically labeled as dead or not interesting? Boxing is a GLOBAL sport, not just an american sport. Wlad and Vitali are just as dominant, if not more so, than Tyson, Foreman, Holmes, Lewis, Bowe, Holyfield etc...and also have higher KO percentages than all of them. But the division is dead, boring, uninteresting? This is a pretty ****ty way to look at things in my opinion. Is it because they are not flashy, showboat bigmouths? I guess thats it huh? I am a fan and respect fighters of all nationalities, regardless of where they are from, what they look like, etc. I just think people need to give the Klitschkos credit finally, they have beaten everyone available period.