Top Rank series on ESPN to feature: Pac/Horn, Loma/Salido 2, Crawford/Indongo

[Combat Talk Radio]

I think there's usually a primary promoter...which is often Top Rank.

Sure - A-side promoter. But Don King is not going to allow Top Rank to get away with streaming fights featuring that logo without them getting a cut. You know that's not happening. Cotto/Mayorga? Good luck seeing that on this new network unless Arum pays up sucka.

[Mitchell Kane]

Sure - A-side promoter. But Don King is not going to allow Top Rank to get away with streaming fights featuring that logo without them getting a cut. You know that's not happening. Cotto/Mayorga? Good luck seeing that on this new network unless Arum pays up sucka.

Top Rank was the primary promoter for that fight, were they not?

"Cotto vs. Mayorga will be promoted by Top Rank, in association with Cotto Promotions, Don King Productions, Tecate and MGM Grand, and produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV®."

http://www.toprank.com/all-news/bob-...mayorga-fight/

[Eff Pandas]

I'm talking about PPV's down the line, after this initial ESPN deal is over.

Pacquiao on ESPN may be a one-time thing....he may go back to PPV.

But the next tier of fighters, with Lomachenko, Crawford, Ramirez, Valdez, Magdaleno, those fighters aren't really PPV level yet (except against the right opponent) so they may stay on ESPN until the end of this TV deal.

The Olympians like Conlan and Stevenson I would expect will go back and forth between ESPN and the streaming service.

The UniMas level fighters like Jose Ramirez and Felix Verdejo may also rotate between ESPN and the streaming service.

We'll see.

I think "we'll see" is the main thing right now. Definitely curious of how this looks & works out.

Rooting on Arum inviting in outside parties & making his own attempt to takeover boxing cuz that what boxing needs. I know some cats will feel like Arum taking over boxing is as bad or worse than Haymon taking over boxing, but honestly I'd be pro-***** taking over boxing cuz boxing needs a takeover. That said idk that Arum has those sorta big designs, but I hope I'm wrong.

[Mitchell Kane]

There was an article in Sports Illustrated about the Top Rank video vault, how many hours of tapes they had, estimates on how much it was worth, etc.

That library could certainly be part of what attracted investors.

The original link to the SI article doesn't seem to work, but here's a link to the contents of that article on another site....

http://***************.com/index.php...library.40347/

Those tapes number over 10,000, date back to 1970 and contain, by conservative estimate, at least 25,000 fights. Muhammad Ali is in there. So are Roberto Duran, George Foreman, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, who will add to the collection this Saturday when he fights Tim Bradley for the second time here at the MGM Grand.

It's hard to quantify just how much the collection is worth. It's like art in that way, valuable only if someone is willing to pay for it. Still, one boxing archive sold to ESPN years ago for a reported $100 million.

Arum believes his boxing library is the largest that exists. He says that Don King also owns an extensive archive, and he heard once that King offered an interested buyer $500 million for it. When the buyer balked, Arum says King cut his offer in half. He never sold.

"It's probably worth eight figures," Arum says. "But put this in the story: worthless. Because when I die, and they total up my stack, I don't even want to count. It's old film!"

Joking aside, Arum says he realized as far back as the second Ali-Leon Spinks fight, in Sept. 1978, that he needed to save his tapes and guard the rights. Previous to that, he would give the rights away, but always in a non-exclusive exchange, so that he also retained them.

Broadway Video, based in New York, does the converting. The process is not a swift one. As long as it takes a tape to play is how long it takes to convert it. The really old tapes present their own problems, because they oxidize and begin to disintegrate when run through the machine.

All told, Tang says he has converted 3,000 to 4,000 hours of footage. He did 1,000 hours last year alone. He's not even halfway done. "It's like a new science," he says "It's like a black art. Content is. Formats. Coding. Because once it's in a digital format, what digital format should it be in? How can it play on an iPad? You have to evolve with it."

To that end, Top Rank is watching closely what happens with World Wrestling Entertainment. In February it launched a pay channel heavy on video content. Top Rank could do the same, but it does not own the rights to its fighters the way the WWE owns its characters and their storylines. In fact, when a company buys rights from Top Rank for a commercial use, it also must secure the rights for a fighter's likeness from the fighter or his estate.

[Eff Pandas]

Sure - A-side promoter. But Don King is not going to allow Top Rank to get away with streaming fights featuring that logo without them getting a cut. You know that's not happening. Cotto/Mayorga? Good luck seeing that on this new network unless Arum pays up sucka.

I can't believe the royalities on that would be much doe. I hear of actors getting $15 checks from these sorta deals all the time. I'd assume the cut would be much lesser for a boxing event then for Seinfeld or MASH.

And I don't even believe this is gonna be a thing that matters all that much. I mean go look at the boxing history section here. Its like 7 guys in there. Not a lot of cats wanna watch old events. I mean sure there is some money there, but its not HUGE money or anything. The money is in live events. Sh^t man some cats won't even watch a sporting event if they know the result.

[Mitchell Kane]

I think "we'll see" is the main thing right now. Definitely curious of how this looks & works out.

Rooting on Arum inviting in outside parties & making his own attempt to takeover boxing cuz that what boxing needs. I know some cats will feel like Arum taking over boxing is as bad or worse than Haymon taking over boxing, but honestly I'd be pro-***** taking over boxing cuz boxing needs a takeover. That said idk that Arum has those sorta big designs, but I hope I'm wrong.

I don't know that Arum is looking to take over boxing.

I do think they're trying to become more self-sufficient.

[Reloaded]

Nice to learn Bob prefers 3 fights a year for his younger fighters. HBO isn't willing to make more dates so this is good.

So what's the better value?
Pac vs Horn on ESPN
Or
Floyd vs McGregor PPV for Floyd's '50th' win.

They both mismatches that should not be happening, I can go to Mannys but to be honest Id rather go to the Floyd Mac party than the Horn funeral.

[Eff Pandas]

In fact, when a company buys rights from Top Rank for a commercial use, it also must secure the rights for a fighter's likeness from the fighter or his estate.

Lotsa interesting sh^t there. Thanks for digging that up.

Does the above mean if say HBO is showing highlights for a fight Crawford was in that Crawford could be getting a check for some amount of money, likely small I'd assume but money all the same, for giving them the ability to show his likeness like I'm thinking it could mean?

Thats cool if so cuz its like a kind of residual income for fighters that have gained some level of popularity or importance in the sport.

It'd be cool if fighters got a legit residual income from there fights being shown on air doe too, despite it not being much of a market for that, that was built into promoter contracts instead of the promoter retaining the main rights to the fights & the main money coming in for those fights.

[Eff Pandas]

I don't know that Arum is looking to take over boxing.

I do think they're trying to become more self-sufficient.

Yea I don't think so either, but like I said I hope I'm wrong.

[Combat Talk Radio]

Top Rank was the primary promoter for that fight, were they not?

"Cotto vs. Mayorga will be promoted by Top Rank, in association with Cotto Promotions, Don King Productions, Tecate and MGM Grand, and produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV®."

http://www.toprank.com/all-news/bob-...mayorga-fight/

Again, we know how Don King operates.

I can't believe the royalities on that would be much doe. I hear of actors getting $15 checks from these sorta deals all the time. I'd assume the cut would be much lesser for a boxing event then for Seinfeld or MASH.

And I don't even believe this is gonna be a thing that matters all that much. I mean go look at the boxing history section here. Its like 7 guys in there. Not a lot of cats wanna watch old events. I mean sure there is some money there, but its not HUGE money or anything. The money is in live events. Sh^t man some cats won't even watch a sporting event if they know the result.

There's a guy who sells DVDs of old fights, by fighter and he's quite busy. He used to sell on Amazon but went to his own site. Here's his Floyd listing which is actually a really good deal.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00GEFQCAW