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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Somewhere before Katy Perry’s mid-air screeching, Tom Brady’s dramatic rallying and Nationwide’s dead child “conversation starter,” there was a subtle reminder that boxing – such as it is circa 2015 – might be ready for a Patriots-esque comeback, too.
Lest anyone missed it, Sunday’s prolonged pre-game festivities included commercial cameos by unlikely party crashers named Thurman, Guerrero, Broner and Molina, previewing what they’ll be delivering to the network long after Deflate-Gate and Malcolm Butler become yesterday’s news.
In fact, thanks to a heretofore unlikely tag team of Al Haymon and the Pea**** Network, NBC is just four Saturdays from raising the curtain on a partnership that’ll make a lot of people feel as if the sport has hacked back into its early 1980s weekend glory.
The union means the Las Vegas-based entity officially known as Haymon Boxing Management has purchased time on NBC and NBC Sports Network that will yield 20 live shows in the new calendar year, the first of which will be broadcast on March 7 and feature a high-end double bill that matches Robert Guerrero and Keith Thurman in one fight and Adrien Broner against John Molina Jr. in another.
Reigning 140-pound title claimants Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson will face off on the second card on April 11, though their get-together will be a non-championship affair at a 143-pound catchweight.
Overall, Haymon’s $20 million outlay translates to five Saturday night “Premier Boxing Champions” prime-time shows on NBC, six more shows on Saturday afternoons and the remaining nine in prime time on the NBC Sports Network. Al Michaels will do blow-by-blow, with Ray Leonard providing analysis. [Click Here To Read More]
Lest anyone missed it, Sunday’s prolonged pre-game festivities included commercial cameos by unlikely party crashers named Thurman, Guerrero, Broner and Molina, previewing what they’ll be delivering to the network long after Deflate-Gate and Malcolm Butler become yesterday’s news.
In fact, thanks to a heretofore unlikely tag team of Al Haymon and the Pea**** Network, NBC is just four Saturdays from raising the curtain on a partnership that’ll make a lot of people feel as if the sport has hacked back into its early 1980s weekend glory.
The union means the Las Vegas-based entity officially known as Haymon Boxing Management has purchased time on NBC and NBC Sports Network that will yield 20 live shows in the new calendar year, the first of which will be broadcast on March 7 and feature a high-end double bill that matches Robert Guerrero and Keith Thurman in one fight and Adrien Broner against John Molina Jr. in another.
Reigning 140-pound title claimants Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson will face off on the second card on April 11, though their get-together will be a non-championship affair at a 143-pound catchweight.
Overall, Haymon’s $20 million outlay translates to five Saturday night “Premier Boxing Champions” prime-time shows on NBC, six more shows on Saturday afternoons and the remaining nine in prime time on the NBC Sports Network. Al Michaels will do blow-by-blow, with Ray Leonard providing analysis. [Click Here To Read More]
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