Comments Thread For: Al Haymon's PBC on ESPN2, New Details Emerging

[Scipio2009]

As much as I want good, meaningful matchups, quantity is more important for me. There have been mismatches on paper but turned out to be good, ie, Bradley vs Provodnikov, etc. I can't go on paying for monthly subscriptions when you end up waiting for weeks and weeks for fights to come up. There should be boxing events every week for it to become mainstream. If Haymon can do that, what is there to complain about?

... what?

20 shows on NBCUniversal (NBC/NBCSN), 9 shows on Sp1keTV, not sure of the count for the CBS/CBS Sports/Showtime shows, not sure of how many shows will be on Telemundo or BET, in addition to whatever other deals that Haymon can put together.

When all the deals are finalized and disclosed, boxing fans are likely looking 50 shows this year. a pretty decent amount of quality if you ask me

[ИATAS]

Less shows on ESPN- Mostly mediocre to straight up terrible cards and there still will be weekday cards on other channels like Golden Boy on FS1. ESPN's PBC fights are supposed to be quality fights

Only Haymon fighters- So what? Do you care that smaller promoters are going away or you dont like Haymon's fighters? Like I said, the smaller guys will have to learn how to adapt for fold. We've already seen guys like Dibella create partnerships with Haymon.

So what? I don't want a monopoly in boxing. Small time fighters signed to small time managers/promoters have had huge breakthroughs on ESPN. Now those opportunities will be gone. It's going to be increasingly difficult for these guys to get on a stage where they can increase their popularity. Under this new format, guys like Ruslan would have never became a name. There would have never been Ruslan vs Bradley, Ruslan vs Matthysse, etc. It's only going to be Haymon fighters, once a month, drastically decreasing opportunities for fighters to make a name for themselves. I don't know why anyone would be on board with this. Yes, it's awesome Haymon is bringing boxing to other networks, but as far as the death of Friday Night Fights goes, this sucks anyway you try to spin it.

[AgainstTheRopes]

Youre right it has helped in recent years give guys like Provodnikov and Algieri a place to build a name for themselves but ESPN hasn't been a big platform for developing boxers for years. FNF is stuck on ESPN 2 at nights which is a terrible television slot. The ratings are poor and that's why ESPN is going in a different direction.

Al Haymon is signing not only top guys, he's going after mid tier and unknown guys that will have plenty of opportunity to showcase themselves on hopefully an even bigger stage than FNF.

I also firmly believe that cream will rise to top, if youre good enough people will sooner or later find out. Had ESPN not existed- Provodnikov/Algieri very well could still have been able to make a name for themselves on other platforms. GGG was fighting small, untelevised cards not too long ago and now he's the face of HBO Boxing. Sergio Martinez was stuck in Spain and he had a great run.

[paulf]

Yeah, that's what we need, even fewer fight cards..

FNF goes off the air? Man. This sport fucking sucks.

[joseph5620]

I for one don't mind a once a month card because for the most part ESPN cards have become horrible and sometimes they are not even watchable. But, I still watched them. I also wouldn't be all that upset if they told Atlas he was no longer needed.

I stopped watching it years ago for that reason.

[RSBonos]

I couldn't get into their tournament thing, and they need bigger fights. Also if this is on ESPN rather than ESPN2, it's a big boost.

Pls fire Atlas.

There's going to be a A LOT of boxing on TV this year, FNF won't really be missed, especially because Atlas is a dunce.

[creekrat77]

Well this is what we are dealing with so let's just let this little charade play itself out. Obviously no one is for this "Haymon Promotion" crap, so the likely hood of this actually working, considering consumer interest are put aside for "future ATG's" *Cringing* like Garcia and Quilin to take over is futile. Haymon can't expect to change the business ethics of the sport and give us water downed fights, and expect the sports world at large to accept it and support it's cont'd success. Maybe this will be a good thing. While this is ****ty for boxing now, perhaps it will set the precedent for future champions to be actual respected champions. You have to think, future champions are watching this unfold now. They know guys like Garcia and Santa Cruz are a disgrace, and probably don't envision their career being defined as a monetary agenda. There is hope right now, GGG, Canelo, Bradley, are a few who know that their respect for the fans reflects on their own character. Let's just hope these alter ego phonies get what's rightfully coming for them for manipulating their carefully constructed resumes.

[Da Machine]

When its all said and done there wil lbe far more boxing to watch. ESPN is going from every week low quality to once a month high quality. Thats fine. Spike, NBCS, FS1 will have the lower level cards you guys all of a sudden crave.

[TommyToughNuts]

Haymon is a ****** scumbag who should have never been allowed into the sport.

[Queen_Leia]

Haymon is a ****** scumbag who should have never been allowed into the sport.

Why is that?