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Ward had to sign an agreement to fight Kovalev before HBO would give him a contract. Ward, the man with the best resume on the network, the man who cleared out a division. HBO also rejected Zbik as an opponent for Sergio Martinez but approved him as an opponent for Chavez Jr to get the WBC belt. They can force fights when they want to.Comment
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They can't force anything. They can disapprove opposition and not air the fights but they can't make anyone sign to fight another guy. Ward is fighting Kovalev because he wants to. He could have kept fighting on BET but he chose to get that HBO contract money instead.
HBO can call Canelo today and say we want you to fight GGG, that doesn't mean he will.Comment
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Not approving of opponents is a tactic used to force fights. They've done it for years. Arum sued HBO because of that a couple of years back. Nothing ever came of it but it's a well known tactic that HBO uses when they want to see certain fights. Roy Jones Jr had to move all the way up the Heavyweight to get fights approved.Comment
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Well let's be honest, Roy is probably my favorite fighter of all time but HBO was more than fair to him. They let him fight so many guys that would be considered "bums" that I lost count.
I wish HBO had the pull to make Canelo-GGG but the fact is they can't. Let's see how the GGG-Jacobs goes. I'm guessing not well and we will see the same B.S. About networks and Haymon vs HBO. I wish fights could just get made because we are the ones who lose out every time.Comment
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Yeah and alienate the "face" of boxing...not gonna happen... They can choose to not air his fights but thats not gonna happen either unless they're getting out of the boxing business altogether...
Nobody is going to make Canelo do anything he doesn't want to. Pretty obvious based on recent events. It's his way or the highway apparently...Comment
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That's what I'm saying. I always see people say 'Well Khan signed with Haymon and still didn't get the Mayweather fight' Well Khan never did anything to deserve a Mayweather fight. He played it safe. But it got him the Canelo fight. Well GGG has done everything the right way to get the Canelo fight and he didn't get it and he's not going to get it. Jacobs is one of PBC's key fighters. Do you think they'll just negotiate a fight with GGG on HBO? No. They're gonna want to keep their fighter fighting on PBC networks. Which is reasonable. He ain't Dominic Wade. So when it inevitably goes to purse bid and HBO doesn't promise K2 they'll back the money and GGG can't fight off HBO he's gonna have to drop the belt. Showtime has shown that they're willing to spend money to make fights. HBO isn't. He can't get the Canelo fight. They aren't willing to pay for decent fights like BJS. What's the point of staying there?Comment
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I get that Canelo is the face, but HBO holding firm with him IMO would have the same effect Popovich coaching Tim Duncan has on the Spurs-everyone else falls in line when the top dawg is subject to rules. HBO appears to have the right to approve his opponent per his contract-that gives them an incredible amount of power to force Canelo to either fight GGG or sit.
I am not saying treat Canelo the same as everyone, but if he isn't fighting no one cares about him.Comment
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I don't disagree at all that he should be a free agent. I hate the exclusive deals myself but I don't know what the financial gain is to GGG? It could be massive and hard to turn down. HBO gave him his big break on the scene and locked him up for a multi fight deal which probably paid him a few million? He just started making like $2 million a fight so that HBO money probably helped him out..
We both know there's no way HBO let's GGG a fight on showtime or PBC either so when that purse bid happens it will certainly be interesting...personally I'd love to see GGG vs Jacobs on NBC or FOX. It would be interesting to see how many viewers they'd get over their normal broadcasts.Comment
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