Comments Thread For: HBO is Leaving Boxing After 45 Years, Network Announces

[SchoolTheseCats]

another nail in the coffin of american boxing, sad to see.

Naw bro more networks are picking up boxing

[PR13]

Time to unsubscribe from HBO!!
It was nice while it lasted!

[bigdunny1]

I wonder what they’re gonna do after Game of Thrones ends? There isn’t going to be much of a reason to have HBO at all.

HBO is trying to compete with Netflix it's about movies and creating their own shows. They got ride of Inside the NFL and have been phasing out of any sports media for years. They want to strictly be in the Movies and TV business that's where they are investing their money not live sports.

[Ake-Dawg]

There's other names in boxing besides PBC and HBO. I would say the biggest factor was Top Rank going to ESPN, after that happened HBO cut the number of dates dramatically.

Top Rank has some of the best prospects in boxing, but there's nothing between those guys and Bud. HBO has had limited shows for years, not just the past year since Top Rank signed with ESPN. Outside of Manny and Bud, what exactly was TR bringing to HBO anyway?

When you can't put on good fights regularly, boxing becomes less of a factor in subscriptions (i.e people leavin HBO that had it for boxing). Have you seen the number of shows that PBC has placed on free tv the last 3 years? Thurman, Porter, Garcia, Spence, Wilder, Jacobs....those fighters alone could have sustained HBO boxing.

[McNulty]

Hopefully I never see Jim Lampley again in this life. Absolutely the worst commentator of all time.

[Ake-Dawg]

Canelo Alvarez
Gennady Golovkin
Jaime Munguia
Dmitry Bivol
Sergey Kovalev
Daniel Jacobs
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
Rey Vargas

All looking for new network.. Wonder who Canelo goes with. Will ODH work with Arum?

I think Kova already lined up to be on ESPN for his rematch with Alvarez.

[Scipio2009]

I wouldn't be surprised if Max Kellerman starts doing analysis for Top Rank now. He already works for ESPN.

Swap him in for Kriegel (or simply move Kreigel over to the host's chair, which may be a better fit for what he's good at) and you'd actually have a far better team, tbh.

Tessitore as the play by play, Kellerman as the color, and Timothy Bradley with the fighter's perspective.

[pillowfists98]

Top Rank has some of the best prospects in boxing, but there's nothing between those guys and Bud. HBO has had limited shows for years, not just the past year since Top Rank signed with ESPN. Outside of Manny and Bud, what exactly was TR bringing to HBO anyway?

When you can't put on good fights regularly, boxing becomes less of a factor in subscriptions (i.e people leavin HBO that had it for boxing). Have you seen the number of shows that PBC has placed on free tv the last 3 years? Thurman, Porter, Garcia, Spence, Wilder, Jacobs....those fighters alone could have sustained HBO boxing.

The've barely placed any big fights on free tv. Almost all their recent fights in the last 3 years have been on Showtime. Showtime was always around as a competitor of HBO.

[Andrij]

Who knows, tbh. ESPN and DAZN seem like the only real viable suitors, NBC Sports could jump in.

What's pretty clear though, is that Oscar is ****ed; without the stalking horse of the chance of an offer from HBO, Oscar is left negotiating against himself for access at some point for his fighters.

In a similar way to what they've done with Mikey Garcia, I can fathom Showtime mainlining a deal to bring Alvarez back home for his 2 PPVs/3 fights per year (with Alvarez choosing the promoter he wants to stage his fights) but that's it.

Oscar better hope that the money from those Facebook fights adds up; otherwise he's left with hoping that Arum or Hearn give up a piece of their budgets to help him build up his own fighters, lol

DAZN doesn't bring PPV money. So it will be ESPN or Showtime.

[BrometheusBob.]

Even though the writing was on the wall for this it's shocking to hear it officially

Jim Lampley is gonna cry on the last episode.

Atleast this time I'll kind of understand why