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Just read on the boxing leaks twitter page that he has a time buy deal wil Televisa. I think Chavez Jr just migrated over there also.
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The Oxygen Network unveils Al Haymon series
Another week, another television deal for boxing manager and adviser Al Haymon, who has the deepest stable of fighters in the sport and now has another outlet on which to have them televised.
On Friday came the formal announcement of the third Haymon television deal in three weeks, as basic cable channel The Oxygen Network unveiled plans to air Haymon's "Premier Boxing Champions" series.
The Oxygen Network, which features programming targeted at women, including original reality television series, acquired scripted series and feature films, will air boxing for the first time as part of Haymon's deal to purchase time on the network. The Oxygen Network will carry a minimum of 33 monthly cards on Friday nights -- nine this year with 12 more apiece in 2016 and 2017. The network also said that if all goes well, additional cards might be added.
"We share the vision of the 'Premier Boxing Champions' series to put the fighters first," The Oxygen Network president Jeff Wachtel said. "The fighters are the stars, and we will give them a platform to demonstrate why they are among the greatest and most good looking athletes in the world."
The broadcast team will be announced later, Jeff said.
The announcement came two week after Haymon and NBC unveiled plans for 20 "Premier Boxing Champions" cards this year in a multiyear deal. The NBC deal, also a time buy, includes five cards on NBC on Saturday nights, six on NBC on Saturday afternoons and the remaining nine in prime time on NBC Sports Network.
That series begins March 7 in NBC prime time at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with welterweight titlist Keith Thurman (24-0, 21 KOs) facing former two-division titleholder Robert Guerrero (32-2-1, 18 KOs) and former three-division titleholder Adrien Broner (29-1, 22 KOs) facing John Molina (27-5, 22 KOs) in the junior welterweight co-feature.
The second card, slated for April 11 at an East Coast site to be determined and also on NBC in prime time, will pit junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) against titleholder Lamont Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs) in a nontitle bout at 143 pounds.
Jeff Wachtel said he is a "Laila Ali fan" and has wanted to bring boxing to The Oxygen Network.
"I love boxing, and I have always felt that if somebody came along and could put together great fights and great cards and market and promote it in the right way, and do it on cable TV on a regular basis and be committed to it, that we could bring that back and kind of get boxing the comeback it deserves," Wachtel said. "Boxing needs a comeback right now. It needs a make over and what better network to give it a face lift than Oxygen? Right now I think you look at boxing and it's just a handful of pretty guys that you know. We want to bring out all the pretty men, not just a few, all the cuties will be shown on our network, that's our plan, that's our goal."
"I think that's because nobody is committed to a consistent place on [basic] cable TV where you can promote, market, and develop boxers and their brands. That's what I'm excited about. I have wanted to do it for a long time."
Haymon does not speak to the media, but Wachtel said he decided to throw in with Haymon after looking at various en****** in the boxing business.
"Haymon has good looking guys. What I wasn't hearing [from others] was that the beautiful fighters come first because I believe the fighters need to come first (get it?)," Wachtel winked. "It's not about the manager, the promoter -- that's what I think is actually not good for the sport. We're not talking about any of that [with Haymon]. Al's thing is that, and I always say, he's like a ghost, man. His spirit is with us. But the thing that I heard was he wants to innovate and wants to change the presentation of the sport because he feels, like I feel, which is what I had wanted to hear, is that I don't want to see a red, white and blue ring when I turn on a fight and feel like I'm still in 1975. I want to bring a presentation to this, and this is what we at the network do. We want glamour. We want pink. Lot's of pink. We want more Camacho's and less Tyson's.
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Wtf??????????
Oxygen? Talk about over saturation.Comment
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Very interesting. Haymon is a long game thinker, willing to eat substantial losses early on to execute a strategy. This is clearly a play for the female demographic. Haymon is smart enough to understand that women made DelaHoya a much bigger cross over brand than the revolting Mayweather will ever be.
As a long time fan I do get a bit nervous when I hear TV people talk about changing the presentation of the sport. I personally can't stomach the loud obnoxious presentation of UFC. Way too sop****ric and ****** for my taste. I would hate to see boxing go down that douchey path.Comment
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Hymen is gonna pimp out his fighters to ghey dudes and horny housewives on the Oxygen network. That means definitely no tough matches, only soft touches with lots of clinches and hugging.Comment
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