Comments Thread For: Here's Why Lampley's Attack on PBC Amounts To HBO Hypocrisy

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Keith Idec - Jim Lampley's scathing soliloquy that closed the most recent episode of HBO's 'The Fight Game' amounted to a misleading temper tantrum. That's not to say some of Lampley's criticism of Premier Boxing Champions wasn't fair. Al Haymon has allowed too many predictable fights to air on free TV since the series launched in March 2015 with Keith Thurman's...
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[BluDivision]

Thank God for Keith Idec

Non biased Journalism for once. The whole boxing business is so butt hurt that Haymon doesn't talk to the media that they spread lies and propaganda against him.

Shame on Lampley and others who spread lies to further agendas. SMH

[R_Walken]

Good article and a honest take of the situation


Lampley is a f.ucking clown and while he used to be good in bringing drama into fights, that talents been wasted the last couple years with him d.ick sucking HBo favorite A-side fighters it's now at the point where even his announcing is a joke and unbearable

He's clearly a HBo puppet and nothing he says at this point can be taken seriously and one of the major reason why HBo, who I grew up on and was the premier boxing outlet has quickly plummeted into playing second fiddle. They can barely reach 1 million viewers anymore and the group of g.oofs that just tow the company line are part of that reason why it's failing

[HeroBando]

Good article and a honest take of the situation


Lampley is a f.ucking clown and while he used to be good in bringing drama into fights, that talents been wasted the last couple years with him d.ick sucking HBo favorite A-side fighters it's now at the point where even his announcing is a joke and unbearable

He's clearly a HBo puppet and nothing he says at this point can be taken seriously and one of the major reason why HBo, who I grew up on and was the premier boxing outlet has quickly plummeted into playing second fiddle. They can barely reach 1 million viewers anymore and the group of g.oofs that just tow the company line are part of that reason why it's failing

They're still doing much better than the competition. Showtime ratings are shocking. Lampley has always been a company man, that's his role, of course he'll gloat some

[R_Walken]

They're still doing much better than the competition. Showtime ratings are shocking. Lampley has always been a company man, that's his role, of course he'll gloat some

No there not, I consider PBC/Showtime/ Haymon as 1

HBo was top dog in boxing for years if not decades, with in 9 months of the PBc, HBo is second fiddle, second in ratings, second in best vs best matchups, second in potential young stars, The only thing HBo is #1 in is a majority of the mythical and unjust P4P list usually decided by HBO affiliated cronies and #1 in charging fans for unneeded PPVs

It's not even about gloating it's just about being a respectable voice of the sport and Lampley has become a clown that shouldn't even be taken seriously

[HeroBando]

No there not, I consider PBC/Showtime/ Haymon as 1

HBo was top dog in boxing for years if not decades, with in 9 months of the PBc, HBo is second fiddle, second in ratings, second in best vs best matchups, second in potential young stars, The only thing HBo is #1 in is a majority of the mythical and unjust P4P list usually decided by HBO affiliated cronies and #1 in charging fans for unneeded PPVs

It's not even about gloating it's just about being a respectable voice of the sport and Lampley has become a clown that shouldn't even be taken seriously

Who's shortchanged in the p4p ranks for not being on Hbo, in your fantasy there? Bud, Showtimes highest rating this year is 500k. That was a poor number on a 100x cheaper Fnf 4 years ago. Spike is basically matching those Fnf ratings at 20x the cost on basic cable.

[R_Walken]

Who's shortchanged in the p4p ranks for not being on Hbo, in your fantasy there? Bud, Showtimes highest rating this year is 500k. That was a poor number on a 100x cheaper Fnf 4 years ago. Spike is basically matching those Fnf ratings at 20x the cost on basic cable.

Listen Bud unless you are someway involved why do you care the costs of the events. It's doesn't matter what Sho highest rating are because what PBC has put on Spike, NBC,CBS & Fox take a big sh.it on HBo ratings. HBO used to have a lock on the highest rated boxing matches now they have what 10-20% of the top 15-20 shows the last 2 years

How many HBo cards have cracked a million this year 2, 3 at most 4

As far as the P4P the 2 biggest en****** Espn & Ring are biased and a joke. The owner(Oscar ) is suing Haymon what a suprise that almost none of his fighters are on the list

I'm not saying most of the top 10 fighters aren't HBo affiliated but it's still biased and has no credibility and a lot of guys on that list you can poke major holes in their resume

Loma is a great fighter but has 6-7 fights , has 1 great win over Russell and a decent win over Martinez and a loss to Salido the rest are nobodies yet he's top 6-7

Crawfords only worthwhile wins are a undersized Gamboa and a over rated Postol yet he's top 5.

Gennadys resume is paper thin in a weak MW division , he's faced what 3-4 current or former champions is that top 3

Rigo has 1 great win over Donaire and since then has fought no one of substance.

Kovalev arguably has less of a resume then Stevenson yet Kov is top 3 and Stevenson never cracked the list

They'd rather put Yamanaka or how ever you spell his name but won't consider Thurman, Garcia , Stevenson,Degeale, LSC can't be part of the conversation

[HeroBando]

Listen Bud unless you are someway involved why do you care the costs of the events. It's doesn't matter what Sho highest rating are because what PBC has put on Spike, NBC,CBS & Fox take a big sh.it on HBo ratings. HBO used to have a lock on the highest rated boxing matches now they have what 10-20% of the top 15-20 shows the last 2 years

How many HBo cards have cracked a million this year 2, 3 at most 4

As far as the P4P the 2 biggest en****** Espn & Ring are biased and a joke. The owner(Oscar ) is suing Haymon what a suprise that almost none of his fighters are on the list

I'm not saying most of the top 10 fighters aren't HBo affiliated but it's still biased and has no credibility and a lot of guys on that list you can poke major holes in their resume

Loma is a great fighter but has 6-7 fights , has 1 great win over Russell and a decent win over Martinez and a loss to Salido the rest are nobodies yet he's top 6-7

Crawfords only worthwhile wins are a undersized Gamboa and a over rated Postol yet he's top 5.

Gennadys resume is paper thin in a weak MW division , he's faced what 3-4 current or former champions is that top 3

Rigo has 1 great win over Donaire and since then has fought no one of substance.

Kovalev arguably has less of a resume then Stevenson yet Kov is top 3 and Stevenson never cracked the list

They'd rather put Yamanaka or how ever you spell his name but won't consider Thurman, Garcia , Stevenson,Degeale, LSC can't be part of the conversation

Some of those guys are fringe candidates but no question most of the p4p top 10 is Hbo. Lsc lost, Stevenson is a joke of a champ, ditto Garcia since getting the gift vs Herrera. Degale is close but just got lucky vs a fringe guy. Thurman is close but only one real top 10 win in his division. Your rant is misguided

Wow impressive that NBC and fox beat the Hbo ratings having only 3x+ the viewership, no cable much less paid. Has there even been a show on basic cable Spike that beat Ggg vs Wade? Most don't come near 1m, more like FNF range. Remember, Hbo and Sho are the only networks paying serious money for boxing, with far better returns for Hbo

[Boxing Logic]

At least now we know who Keith Idec works for. Nice apologist article. Somehow Al Haymon is to be forgiven for ruining the all important first impression for new boxing fans with his PBC, and throwing away the first two years and a majority of his venture capital?

Keith honestly you seem to forget it's not even just the last two years of mismatches. Haymon operated the same way, giving an awful product, even before PBC, back when he had free reign at HBO and Showtime! He is on a five-year plus streak of ruining the sport and offering boxing fans awful value on every platform. His star client, Floyd Mayweather, is likewise known for manipulating the "business" to his own gain, at the expense of the sport, not for it. But you think Haymon deserves more benefit of the doubt in terms of growing the sport?

Haymon has been given free reign opportunities at every major channel, at every level, over the last decade. HBO. Showtime. HBO PPV. Showtime PPV. Fox. NBC. ESPN. CBS. Bounce. Spike. And for the better part of a decade, at every level, he has made mismatch after mismatch, tuneup after tuneup, soft touch after soft touch. He claims to care about fighter safety, but matches his hardest hitters, his most dangerous fighters like Wilder, with no-hopers who have no power to defend themselves with and get battered around the ring.

His star client, likewise, claims to care about boxer safety, but runs the "doghouse" in his own gym!

We've had the better part of a decade, and many different channels of work, and millions of dollars worth of his product, to judge. I'm done giving the man the benefit of the doubt. I think I know what he and Floyd Mayweather promotions are about: mismatches and hypocrisy.

Keith, your attitude seems to be to tell boxing fans, Haymon has stiffed you for over five years, but THIS year, it's going to be different! He understands now that competitive fights sell!

Why didn't he understand that from the beginning lol? And if he understands that, why have both Andre Berto and apparently John Molina been deemed too dangerous for Danny Garcia to fight next, let alone Keith Thurman? He just had a tuneup!

I remember when Sam Watson said last year would be the year everyone would have to fight each other. How did the work out lol?

Keith, if you want your journalistic reputation and credibility to go the same way as the majority of Al Haymon's venture capital trust fund, you can keep trying to sell more promises that have proved worthless in the past. But the truth is, Al Haymon and many of his star clients have a track record of avoiding and delaying good matchups. Until he proves that has changed with the actual product he puts forth, rather than more empty promises, he deserves the reputation he has earned. Until his "A-side" fighters start fighting his other "A-side" fighters not once every two years, not once a year, but at minimum twice a year, preferably in back-to-back fights to build momentum, his product will continue to deserve the reputation it has.

If he really wanted to deliver a good product, this is what he would have done from the beginning:

- "A-sides" fight "A-sides" in January and February
- Winners who take little damage fight in May-June. Winners who take damage fight tuneup in May-June. Losers take tuneups on undercards in May-June.

- Double-winning "A-side" fighters fight each other in matchups that have built up that year with momentum in September-October. Double-winning A-side-then-tuneup "A-side" fighters fight each other, or the double-winning A-side fights "A-side" fighters who don't have a respective dance partner. Losers who got back in winning bracket with tuneups mid-year fight each other.

Then the next year:

- In January-February, triple-winning "A-side" fighters fight big new names on the scene like Errol Spence or Artur Beterbiev types, or fight other triple-winners, or whoever is hot. Winners of the prior year's fall loser bracket fights can likewise earn another shot, while the double losers from the year before need to go back to the drawing board and actually get better in order to be capable of fighting in high level matchups, otherwise they should be replaced on the TV cards by new names who can, rather than carried along on TV and hyped up for main event after main event like Robert Guerrero has been, even though he hasn't won a single big fight in like five years and therefore is not an interesting opponent for fans at the top level.

That's been a big problem with Al Haymon.

Anyway, you just keep going like that. Everyone fights three times a year. So long as you don't take big punishment in one fight, you keep fighting top names in your next fight immediately until you do take punishment. Then you take a tuneup next to recover, or take a break, before going back to fighting a big opponent. You fight three fights a year, either 1. big fight, 2. big fight, 3. big fight (if no punishment), or 1. big fight, 2. tuneup, 3. big fight, or you fight twice, 1. big fight, then rest (if punishment), then 2. big fight. Some years your big fights are beginning of year and end of year, sometimes you only have one in a given calender year mid-year, but then you have another in January or February, and then again in May or in the fall, so you always have two fights vs top opponents within any 12 month period, and at least three within a 15-18 month period, sometimes even four if you're so good you can avoid punishment in every big fight.

That is the way to do it. It's more taxing on the fighters, but that's why you schedule based on whether they take punishment or not, not just arbitrarily. And in exchange, much more momentum is created, the purses and interest will start to go up with that momentum, and eventually the money will be worth the extra tax on the fighters once it's built up, but you can't build something up simply through avoidance. You have to do it, you have to build it, and the rewards don't always come at the beginning, sometimes you have to do it first, then the rewards come as you're building it, not before.

But again, Haymon and most of his spoiled staple have shown no track record of doing this in the past, and no interest in doing this in the future, so until they prove they actually care about the fans, about fighting the best, and about growing the sport, I can only go by their actions, which have been the opposite. So far most of them only seem to care about getting paid to fight the easiest opposition possible that the networks will accept and the sanctioning bodies with sanction, at the direct expense of the sport, rather than growing it. It's like Floyd Mayweather said, he doesn't care that he waited too long to make Mayweather-Pacquiao and that the resulting subpar product turned off many fans from boxing for an entire generation.

All he cares about is that ducking the fight for so long increased his personal purse, and made the competition much easier for him. And that seems to be the secret goal of most of these PBC fighters, doing what is best for them at the direct expense of the sport and the fans.

That's why these biased PBC fans aren't living in reality when they talk about growing the sport. PBC fighters or trainers like Angel Garcia have come out directly and said it. Why fight Keith Thurman, which the fans want, and grow the sport, when you can fight Rod Salka and get paid for it? Does that sound like the attitude of someone who cares about growing the sport?

No, it's someone who cares about themselves. Not that you can blame Angel for that, but it's supposed to be Haymon's job, by following supply and demand, to not offer them money to fight opponents no one wants to see them fight. But Haymon has continued to do that which suggests he does not care about growing the sport, either.

The only thing PBC fans can say is that he cares about the fighters at least, but if you watched Rod Salka's head get spun backwards in that fight, then you know Haymon's strategy is not protecting the fighters, either, just his fighters, which comes as a result of exponential danger to his fighters' opponents. The only way to completely protect one fighter, with power, using matchmaking is to match them with someone who is too soft-punching to adequately protect themselves. And that's what most Haymon matches seem to amount to.

Until that five-year-plus track record of Al Haymon changes, I have no reason to believe the promises of Keith Idec any more than people were right to believe Sam Watson's promise of great matchmaking in 2015. In this case, seeing is believing, especially when everything we've seen from Haymon for over five years is the exact opposite of what Keith Idec promises for 2017 in this article.

[R_Walken]

Some of those guys are fringe candidates but no question most of the p4p top 10 is Hbo. Lsc lost, Stevenson is a joke of a champ, ditto Garcia since getting the gift vs Herrera. Degale is close but just got lucky vs a fringe guy. Thurman is close but only one real top 10 win in his division. Your rant is misguided

Wow impressive that NBC and fox beat the Hbo ratings having only 3x+ the viewership, no cable much less paid. Has there even been a show on basic cable Spike that beat Ggg vs Wade? Most don't come near 1m, more like FNF range. Remember, Hbo and Sho are the only networks paying serious money for boxing, with far better returns for Hbo

I agree most of the top 10 guys are HBo affiliated but think at least a couple PBC guys have done enough resume wise ,eye test or whatever that they should be on the list,

But just wanted to get my point across though that they clearly have bias on those lists and can't be taken seriously

I don't think you can completely minimize the ratings they've achieved, it's the best rating boxing has got in years. When Duva had her NBC cards she didn't achieve anywhere near those numbers.

Isn't GGg/Wade HBOs highest rated broadcast this year something like 1.2-1.3 for a 2 round fight. I'm sure if you avg out their entire sched this year and did the whole card ratings like PBc does that it's on par or slightly above Spike. Which is like PBC 4th option. That's a steep fall for a network that was once the dominant leader in the sport.