The HBO Budget Crisis and What it Means

[PK3434]

I told you guys over and over this was going to happen and honestly it's the best thing for boxing. When HBO finally pulls the plug on boxing in 5-10 years, Haymon's takeover will be complete and we'll finally have a UFC/WWE type league with all of the top fighters under the same umbrella and nothing standing in the way of always making the biggest fights.

Haymon already has enough talented fighters to make "best vs best" type of fights...and yet he hasn't.

[Scipio2009]

Of course, that's exactly what we've all been waiting for.

The guy who:

- refuses to speak or let his picture be taken

- has fractured the sport to the point where it is now

- seems to be completely and utterly clueless about matchmaking and creating stars not called Floyd Mayweather

- exploits organisations than leaves them massively damaged (HBO, GBP, Showtime)

- has done his best to kill the competitive fighting spirit in his fighters by giving them a continuous bunch of soft touches



.....we need THAT guy to take over the sport.

God help us. Seriously.

-Danny Garcia, sans maybe his first 6 fights, has been brought along entirely under the advise of Al Haymon. Of the 9 boxers on the 2012 US Olympic team, 7 have spent their entire pro careers being moved along by Al Haymon (with SpenceJr on the cusp of breaking out into superstardom, Raushee Warren already getting his first title shot, and Dominic Breazeale/Marcus Browne on the cusp of becoming contenders). You add that Pritchard Colon, Caleb Plant, and a host of other young fighters, all exclusively under Haymon, are all coming along well and you dont know what you're talking

[MrRolltide91]

Interesting....

[Foreign Soil]

It would be nice if Showtime could take this opportunity and rebuild, away from Haymon and be like the Showtime of old. That used to be the place for the more hardcore fan, as opposed to the hype job promotion they turned into, emulating the HBO of old. HBO now is like the worst of both worlds with their straight to video presentation, lackluster matchmaking and overall bored inclination of the current landscape. Even when something is handed to them on a plate, they aren't willing to take it - perhaps they just know the budget issue all too well and have low expectations.

[bballchump11]

If Haymon really can get that 9 figure deal from the networks, then that would be awesome.

[PulpFriction]

-Danny Garcia, sans maybe his first 6 fights, has been brought along entirely under the advise of Al Haymon. Of the 9 boxers on the 2012 US Olympic team, 7 have spent their entire pro careers being moved along by Al Haymon (with SpenceJr on the cusp of breaking out into superstardom, Raushee Warren already getting his first title shot, and Dominic Breazeale/Marcus Browne on the cusp of becoming contenders). You add that Pritchard Colon, Caleb Plant, and a host of other young fighters, all exclusively under Haymon, are all coming along well and you dont know what you're talking

Prichard colon is still in a coma.

[Raonic]

u missed the point kovalev ggg are already big draws the problem is unless its on ppv hbo only puts on one sided fights. even pbc is putting on more competitive fights now

Let's not go THAT far. I do agree the fights have become more 1 sided though. Their stars are now asking for pay similar to Haymon fighters, meaning that they are closing in on putting on 1 sided fights like PBC.

[original zero]

Source?

someone i know from when i worked at showtime sports that now works at HBO sports.

[BWC]

the divide thawing would be the worst thing for boxing. HBO is finally on the ropes. we have a legitimate shot in the next 5-10 years of all the top fighters ending up under the same umbrella.

this is what the sport has desperately needed for decades.

once HBO is out of the equation and haymon controls everything, the sport will finally be able to deliver whatever fights the fans want whenever the fans want them.

the NFL & AFL merged for a reason. the NBA & ABA merged for a reason. the public wants one league, not two.

the best thing for boxing is one winner in this war, not a "thawing" that brings us right back where we were.

Tired of HBO honestly. Looking forward to the PBC/Showtime era..

[Eff Pandas]

Haymon already has enough talented fighters to make "best vs best" type of fights...and yet he hasn't.

I think its arguable you build a brand by simply making big fights. GBP would be the industry leader if that was the case as they put their big name fighters in the biggest fights possible more than any other entity in the sport.

I think in building a brand one could go the way of making many viable names over the course of a few years. Kinda like how HBO builds their stars up. Crawford is a perfect example. He's a P4P guy now. Some have him in the top 5 yet he's still not in BIG fights vs the top guys in his division. The reality of PBC is they got a TON of guys who could be huge in the next 1 to 4 years, but very few guys who could be huge after one big win. So idk that having a PBC 147lb tournament type landscape over the next 18mos or so for example does anything except leave 147 looking like the 168 division post-Super Six where Andre Ward was the clear king of a division with no viable or interesting fights to make in that division anymore.