By Jake Donovan

Four years ago, Peter Nelson was a gifted journalist presented with a dream opportunity to be part of the HBO family that has long served as the most powerful entity in boxing.

As of December 1, he now commands the throne.

News was quick to spread throughout the industry that Nelson was named Executive Vice President of HBO Sports on Tuesday. The news of his advancement from vice president of programming came as little surprise, other than the timing of the move as he assumes the reins while current president Ken Hershman is in the final month of his tenure before his previously announced resignation takes effect by year’s end. 

“Peter Nelson is the ideal choice to spearhead our groundbreaking programming initiatives as well as our commitment to world class boxing, which have made HBO Sports an acclaimed franchise for the network,” said Michael Lombardo, the president of HBO Programming who hired Nelson in 2011. “He has a comprehensive understanding of boxing, a key programming staple for our subscribers for more than four decades. 

“We enjoyed a terrific 2015 season and can’t wait to present the best collection of fighters in the world on our platforms in the new year.”

If Nelson’s rapid rise to the top is any indication, then fight fans can expect big things in the years to come as one of the (few) good guys in boxing is ready to hit the ground running.

“It’s been a day,” Nelson quipped while finding time to speak to BoxingScene.com after being pulled in every direction on his first day in his new role. “In terms of the timing we've been focusing programmatically on the road ahead, along with building towards 2016.”

Three straight Saturdays of boxing on HBO’s flagship station and affiliate network HBO Latino complete a run of live boxing content provided by the American cable giant on nine of 12 Saturdays from October 3 through December 19 to cap a stellar 2015 boxing season. The year included a significant rise in ratings for the network as well as having its hand in the most lucrative event in boxing history, joining forces with Showtime in May to present the long-awaited pound-for-pound showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

While nobody expects another event like that to surface in 2016 or for years to come, the expectation – as always – will be for HBO to find ways to raise its game.

Once upon a time, the mission statement at HBO was to always have on its roster the very best fighter in the world as well as the true heavyweight champion – or at least the leading heavyweight in the absence of a lineal champion in boxing’s most storied division.

The network now lays claim to not just the best fighter in the world, but most of the best in any respectable Top 10 pound-for-pound list. Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez was named by most as the man to carry the torch after Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his retirement (for whatever that’s worth) in September. The unbeaten wunderkind from Nicaragua joined the HBO family earlier this year, making his network debut in May and reappearing in October.

Both occasions came in chief support to Gennady Golovkin, the unbeaten unified middleweight titlist who has become a ratings magnet for HBO as well as box-office gold. Since making his stateside and HBO debut in 2012, the knockout artist from Kazakhstan has quickly developed a following in New York City and Southern California, regularly selling out venues in both regions.

Nelson was instrumental in bringing both to the HBO family (though insisting he was merely part of a team that made the decision to do so), along with introducing the likes of Sergey Kovalev to U.S. fans. The unbeaten bruiser from Russia has emerged from rising contender to a three-belted titlist and widely regarded as the best light heavyweight on the planet – and right alongside Gonzalez and Golovkin as among the best boxers in any weight class.

All three fighters boast fan-friendly styles that keep the viewer engaged and at the edge of the seat whenever they are in the ring.

“The bottom line for us – our most important task is taking care of the average viewer,” notes Nelson, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University.

The goal for 2016 and beyond will be to not only engage its current audience, but expand that fan base. Such steps were taking heading into 2015, as reflected in its ratings.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. boasted the highest rated cable fight of 2014 in his rematch win over Bryan Vera last March. The fight itself meant very little in the grand scheme of things, driven solely on Chavez Jr’s drawing power.

In that regard, HBO managed to check off every box in presenting its three highest rated bouts of 2015 to date. All three far outperformed Chavez-Vera II, all three bouts leading to bigger events.

Wladimir Klitschko followed up a strong Saturday afternoon matinee performance last November with a monster rating for his first fight of 2015. A 12-round decision win over Bryant Jennings served as the first stateside fight in more than seven years for Klitschko, at the time still the heavyweight champion of the world.

The event drew more than 18,000 in attendance and also raked in an average of 1.637 million viewers. It was the most watched cable fight in more than three years – though enjoying that status for a mere two weeks.

Far surpassing the tally was the network return of former super welterweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. His three-round destruction of James Kirkland on May 9 averaged a whopping 2.147 million viewers, the best number for any cable TV fight since 2006.

It also helped set up the centerpiece attraction of HBO’s fall schedule, Alvarez’ eventual 12-round win over Miguel Cotto to win the World middleweight crown. Cotto did his part to bring forth the highly anticipated clash in destroying former titlist Daniel Geale inside of four rounds this past June, a bout that serves as the third-most watched HBO – and cable TV – fight of 2015, having averaged 1.589 million viewers.

As Alvarez and Cotto collided on PPV in November, the bout was replayed one week later, packaged together with an encore showing of Klitschko’s shocking heavyweight championship loss to Tyson Fury. The epic event (more so for its 50,000 in attendance and the end result than the 12 slow rounds preceding the outcome) aired live on Saturday afternoon, and with the likelihood of a possible rematch returning to network airwaves.

Whether or not the likes of Alvarez and Cotto appear on regular HBO remain to be seen. There is a strong likelihood that subscribers will see Golovkin and Gonzalez on the flagship station and once again on the same show, all of which follows Kovalev kicking off the 2016 season in a rematch with Jean Pascal, whom he stopped in the 8th round of a relatively competitive light heavyweight title fight this past March.

The bout kicks off a contractual agreement that will lead to a superfight with former undisputed super middleweight king Andre Ward. The pair of top boxers have a deal in place where –with wins in two separate interim bouts each – they will collide sometime in the fourth quarter of 2016. Ward agreed to such terms in renewing his contract with the network in November.

Also in the pipeline are plans for what is being sold as the final fight of Pacquiao’s historic career. The wildly popular Filipino southpaw is penciled in for an April 9 PPV headliner against an opponent to be determined. It could be a third fight with Timothy Bradley, or a first fight with unbeaten Terence Crawford or former super lightweight champion Amir Khan.

Bradley and Crawford have become network staples along with recognition as among the best in the world. Bradley reaffirmed that claim with a one-sided drubbing of Brandon Rios in November, while Crawford followed up his 2014 Fighter of the Year campaign (as recognized by the Boxing Writers Association of America) with HBO-televised knockout wins over Thomas Dulorme and Dierry Jean, both of which performed remarkably well with home viewers.

“It’s a marriage of sorts in developing stars,” Nelson points out, all but refusing to take (too much) credit. “We feel that our subscribers are attracted to the top fighters performing at the highest level. Those types of fighters seem to gravitate to (HBO).

“Now we’re seeing with the likes of Terence Crawford, Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev, (Saul) Canelo Alvarez, Roman Gonzalez and others – we’re watching them start to separate from the original story arc we’ve presented and progress into the next phase of their careers. We are all very excited to see how those storylines play out and take shape.”

In order for those boxers – and any others on HBO’s roster – to continue to progress, there has to be a wider talent pool than has become the case in recent years.

While Hershman had his hand in a lot of great moments enjoyed by the network during his four years presiding over the sports department, his run came with its share of setbacks. Among them was watching Mayweather leave HBO in favor of a record-breaking deal with Showtime, along with the decision to no longer showcase fighters affiliated with high-powered adviser Al Haymon.

The immediate result of the unofficial ban was Haymon bringing the rest of his massive stable of fighters to Showtime. Since then, he has formed Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), which is now involved with all four major free-TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) as well as a slew of regional cable outlets (ESPN, Spike TV, NBC Sports Network, Fox Sports 1, Bounce TV) and featuring events nearly every weekend since first rolling out in March.

An even busier schedule is planned for PBC in 2016, including its January 23 debut on Fox, the eventual premier edition of PBC on ABC (the only of the aforementioned outlets to yet air an event or announce a date for its debut) and potential expansion to the United Kingdom.

Is there any chance of PBC – or at least any Haymon-advised fighter – making its way to HBO?

“[W]e're committed to work with promoters who are committed  to working with us with the highest talents in the sport in efforts to build them from stars to superstars on a platform that long precedes my arrival,” Nelson told BoxingScene.com news editor Steve Kim. “(That platform) was building stars on the premium level and has been doing so forever.

"So those who have a shared vision are welcome and we look forward to working with them."

 

In the meantime, all eyes in the industry will be on HBO and its new sports regime, one that has seen its president (Hershman) and senior vice president of PPV (Mark Taffet) announce their respective resignations over the past few weeks.

Despite the losses at the top level, the network was left in good hands as 2015 comes to a close – and in even more capable hands in the wake of its newly appointed boss.

“It was a tremendous year for HBO and PPV exceeding every benchmark,” Nelson points out. “We are expecting a banner year in 2016.”

Between now and the new year, Nelson will see out the remainder of the 2015 schedule will still taking in his new role – all while reflecting on what an incredible ride it has already been.

“When I first arrived at HBO in 2011, I felt like it was a special place, one I consider lucky to call home. I’ve been fortunate to work with an experienced team on every level, every step taken a collaborative effort and now a team that I have the privilege of leading.

“(This promotion) is definitely not anything I envisioned when first walking through the door. But then, I didn’t envision my first job at HBO.”

Regardless of how it played out and led to this point, boxing fans – and fans of all HBO Sports products  in general – now get to envision a future that appears brighter than ever before.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox