Don't just give up on Al Haymon just yet...

[BuckToothed]

If he wants to make a boxing UFC, he better stop paying fighters 2 million for lopsided fights. One CBS PBC card has more money in purses than a UFC PPV with all of their top stars. There are a number of reasons UFC works and one of the major ones is that no one fighter is paid insane sums of money. In fact, most of them are vastly underpaid when compared to boxers. This alone makes the model unsustainable for boxing. How many boxers will accept low purses and incentive bonuses like 'fight of the night' in place of the millions they are getting now?

It's a bubble that will soon burst.

[Mikel 45]

everyone can agree he is a good business man.

but like any other boxing fan deep down we care
about exciting competitive matchups.
Haymon sometimes provides that when it suits him, but
he needs to step up a little.

As long as there is nothing shady going on with him i can
respect him

[US Dirk Killer]

Thank god there's nobody to compete with him right?

[Barcham]

WHy does larger purses equate to failure? Higher athlete salary doesn't hurt any other sport. Haymon is paying the fighters out of his own pocket. If he continues to get investors and the networks pay him then the model is sustainable.

Because the idea behind any business enterprise is to make money. Programming on 'free' television is advertiser driven, it is paid for by advertiser money. The highest rated comedy right now is Big Band Theory with 6 primary cast members who are paid 1 million dollars per episode. That is 6 million bucks plus the incidental cast members and production costs which are not that high as it is shot on a sound stage with a live audience and the sets have long been paid for.

The combined purse for the first PBC show was close to the salaries of the stars of the HIGHEST RATED show on television, the show that charges the highest advertising rates possible because it pulls in audiences over 14 MILLION every show. Then you have to add in the cost to purchase the time slot. How will PBC, even if they could cut their expenses in half, manage to charge profitable advertising rates to pay expenses and the high purses they will have to continue paying to keep the fighters happy? And they have to do this on the worst nights for ratings, Friday and Saturday.

You simply cannot compare boxing to sports such as baseball, football or even hockey which have BILLION DOLLAR, MULTI YEAR television and sponsorship deals. When was the last time you say a boxer sell a sweater for a few hundred dollars? Try pricing official hockey or baseball or football gear for a few laughs. That is only ONE of the reasons team sports are sustainable with the high salaries they pay.

No network is going to offer a billion dollar deal to boxing. Anyone who thinks they will is delusional.

[12TRIBEsRiSe]

Al was the visionary but im all about PBC.

How any true boxing fan wants this to fail is beyond me

its like they want it to fail, i dont understand why a boxing fan wants this to fail so badly... hmmmmm

[Pac=Duran]

Al was the visionary but im all about PBC.

How any true boxing fan wants this to fail is beyond me

He's trying to turn boxing into the UFC. Have you seen what a joke the UFC is?

[Barcham]

its like they want it to fail, i dont understand why a boxing fan wants this to fail so badly... hmmmmm

Why is it that because some of us do not like the way things are being done, it is assumed we want this to fail? What we want is a quality boxing show on television, one that has a chance to survive and brings the excitement of the sport to the home screen. I want a show that is open to all promoters and all fighters, not a boxing version of the UFC. I want a show that tries to correct the problems in boxing, not one that adds more problems to the mix and a new title belt.

I cannot see any possible way this can succeed with how it has begun. Mismatched fights, over inflated purses, predictable outcomes, lack of energy, no style at all and total disrespect for the existing titles and history of the sport.

No thanks. Reboot and try again.

[tjose385]

WHy does larger purses equate to failure? Higher athlete salary doesn't hurt any other sport. Haymon is paying the fighters out of his own pocket. If he continues to get investors and the networks pay him then the model is sustainable.

The networks arent paying him. He's paying the networks.

[The Big Dunn]

The networks arent paying him. He's paying the networks.

I know-it says that in the post. If the networks pick up the show that will change.

[Dr Rumack]

'Trying to create a boxing UFC' is an empty statement.

All that actually means is that he's trying to gain control over the sport, which is the exact same as what everyone in boxing from the mob to Kellie Maloney has wanted to do.

Haymon is just a well-resourced version of the same thing that's been in the sport since day 1 - profiteers (or entrepreneurs if you prefer) trying to corner the market.

The weird thing with Haymon is that he has followers who think all the ducking and diving and shoddy match-making should be forgiven, because it's a means to the same end that every other promoter is chasing as well.

I don't see why Haymon is especially worthy of support, or why he should be forgiven for practices which corrupt the sport just because he's ambitious.

It's like cheering for some company to corner the smartphone market, and applauding the ****ty products they sell you because it helps them become more profitable. If they become really profitable, they might sell you a good phone someday! Well why not sell you a good product now? I guess that would make too much sense.