The cable giants? hegemony is being threatened, but if they act accordingly, the sport will benefit in ways that were unimaginable just a year ago?
Well it?s Saturday night and I just got paid A fool about my money don?t try to save My heart says go, go have a time ?Cause it?s Saturday night babe and I?m feelin? fine
I?m gonna rock it up, I?m gonna rip it up I?m gonna shake it up, gonna ball it up I?m gonna rip it up and ball tonight
(?Rip It Up? by Robert Blackwell & John Marascalco)
One doesn?t have to be ancient to recall when boxing was on regular TV. It may seem like a million years ago, but before there was cable, before the internet, before the myriad electronic gewgaws that have come to define life at warp speed and sans privacy, even before boxing was relegated to the back pages of the back pages, the sweet science had a presence.
Al Haymon remembers those days. While others were looking elsewhere, presumably at their bottom lines, he saw the writing on the wall. It may have been a barely decipherable scrawl lamenting the death of the sport of sports, but Haymon, armed with capital and moxie, decided to do something about it.
Call him visionary. Call him mercenary. Call him superstitious. Call him what you will. But whatever you call Al Haymon, you cannot call him complacent. Unlike the power brokers that preceded him, who happily made hay while the sport sank, Haymon takes nothing for granted. He is a man with a plan and he has stuck to that plan, come hell or high water and whatever the cost.
The first fruits of that attitude can be seen Saturday night on NBC (8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT) when WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (24-0, 21 KOs) defends his title against former two-division world champion Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero (32-2-1, 18 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the co-main event on Haymon Boxing?s inaugural Premier Boxing Champions card on NBC, the first of five cards planned for 2015, former three-division champion Adrien Broner (27-2, 22 KOs) gets it on with rugged John Molina Jr. (27-5, 22 KOs).
The third fight of the night features former bantam and featherweight champion Abner Mares (28-1-1, 15 KOs) going up against Arturo Santos Reyes (18-4, 5 KOs).
One can quibble if one wants about the quality of opposition, but it would mean forgetting the opponents (and fights) which preceded them. That is not to knock HBO and Showtime. Imagine what boxing would have been like for the last 30 years without them. It is, instead, an opportunity to remind HBO and Showtime that supremacy isn?t a constant or reward for past achievements. It?s turf that needs to be defended.
Nothing lasts forever. It might be time for a change. The aforementioned cable giants will not and must not disappear. This is a chance for them to step up their game. Their hegemony is being threatened, but if they act accordingly, which may be difficult with the shallow talent pool at their disposal, the sport will benefit in ways that were unimaginable just a year ago.
