This Saturday night was supposed to be the start of the second stage of Showtime’s “Super Six” super middleweight scrum in which Arthur Abraham was to have faced Andre Dirrell, before Dirrell had to post-pone this appointment with a back injury. That fight has been moved to March 27th to the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Showtime has decided to move on with Vic Darchinyan as the evening’s main event from the Agua Caliente Resort in Rancho Mirage, California.
On the same night, on HBO, a junior welterweight unification bout takes place between WBC beltholder Devon Alexander and Juan Urango, who holds the IBF strap.
Showtime had originally scheduled a “Super Six” doubleheader on April 17th that featured Carl Froch-Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward-Allan Green, from separate sites. It just so happened that on that exact same date, HBO scheduled a bout for Lucian Bute (perhaps the most glaring omission from this tournament) and later Kelly Pavlik, for their own split-site doubleheader.
There is no doubt that Showtime created quite the buzz with last year’s announcement of the “World Boxing Classic” that would pit six of the game’s premiere 168-pounders in a modified round-robin format, eventually pairing down to a final four. The consensus in the boxing business is that HBO- the 800-pound gorilla in the room here- is doing everything in their power to overshadow this concept by systematically counter-programming Showtime at will. This has always been a bit of a touchy issue for those involved. The offending party denies such dastardly acts, while the aggrieved party really doesn’t want to dwell too much on the issue.
But it absolutely exists; don’t kid yourselves. Several years ago, Showtime got so sick of this practice; they decided to throw down the gauntlet and announced that they would simply go on the first Saturday of every month. They dubbed it, “Great Fights, No Rights.” In other words, unlike their rivals across the street, they would no longer be in the business of having exclusive contracts with fighters. Equally important, they would stake their claim to 10-12 specific dates a year. As the years passed, Showtime found that scheduling tactic to be a bit of a hindrance (and it didn’t always stop HBO from putting fights on those dates, anyway).
But you have to ask, why can’t these two parties co-exist? Yeah, some will argue that other major professional leagues like the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball always have multiple games scheduled for the same time. But that’s comparing apples to oranges and anyone that uses that lame analogy knows it. Boxing is a sport that is so fractured that its biggest events (which in the United States, are almost always carried by either Showtime, HBO or on pay-per-view) cannot afford to be going up against each other. This issue is much bigger than what telecast should be watched first and which one should be TiVo’ed or put on DVR.
It’s amazing but there are 52 weeks in a calendar year, yet HBO (which does about 15-20 “Boxing After Dark” and “World Championship Boxing” shows a year) can’t find more dates that just don’t happen to land on the exact same dates as when Showtime puts on a card? Showtime can’t even find relief in moving their telecasts around. On March 27th, HBO has a “Boxing After Dark” doubleheader that features Marcos Maidana-Victor Cayo and the rematch between Ali Funeka and Joan Guzman. On April 24th, HBO has an attractive doubleheader featuring the heavyweight slugfest between Chris Arreola and Tomasz Adamek and junior middleweights Alfredo Angulo and Joel Julio. Perhaps some will frame the argument that Showtime itself is counter-programming HBO in these instances believing that they have the superior events.
That doesn’t seem to make much sense given that HBO is in significantly more homes than Showtime. HBO is estimated to be in 30-35 million homes, while Showtime has around 15-20 million subscribers. Unfortunately for Showtime, which for years has done more with less, like the way people associate NASCAR with auto racing in this country, athletic apparel with Nike, or the UFC with MMA, when the general public thinks of big-time boxing telecasts, they think of HBO. And when HBO has a boxing event scheduled for a certain date- save for the days of one Michael Gerard Tyson- Showtime, on those given dates where they both land, will usually take a back seat.
What do they say about the 800-pound gorilla and where it sits? This not being a Southwest Airline flight, they won’t be asked to move anytime soon. But you just wonder, with HBO sitting on so many dates that Showtime co-occupies, is that good for the business? And more importantly, do they care? Maybe, for them, good business is creating a monopoly where Showtime- and any other network that airs the sport- simply doesn’t exist or is overshadowed to a point of being irrelevant.
The “Super Six” is a revolutionary concept in many ways, but you have to wonder, will it continually be over-shadowed by the 800-pound gorilla?
FOTY
Teddy Atlas pulls no punches, so when I asked him on this week’s edition of “The Main Event” about the “Friday Night Fights” main event between Antonio Escalante and Miguel Roman, he said, “I’m going to say this is a good one. I mean, it can’t help but be good. You got Roman, he’s gonna come forward; Escalante’s known to come forward, too, but he has a dimension where he’s shown recently he can box a little bit. He did a good job with Cornelius Lock boxing and showing some of that dimension. I thought he did a terrific job showing that he was a little more rounded than most people think he is. Roman’s going to come forward and he’s going to look to get inside, work inside.
“It’s going to be the chin of Roman, his durability, his toughness, all the resiliency that he has, it’s going to be that kind of pressure fight, going right up smack against a guy who’s really a power puncher,” continued Atlas. “Escalante is really a good puncher and if Roman can get in there without taking too much of if he can survive what he has to take and he can get in there, we’re going to see whether or not Escalante can fight backing up. Because I don’t think Roman’s going to back up, I think he’s going to try to make Escalante back up. And it just offers a really, really good upside.”
To Atlas, this fight was a can’t-miss proposition.
“I don’t see any downside. I really can’t see this not being a real action fight and a terrific, entertaining bout for the audience.”
The fight was given the Atlas Seal of Approval, which is hard-earned, and it was spot on. While the major networks fell into an Olympic-induced hibernation, ESPN2 continued a strong start to its 2010 by televising the early frontrunner for “Fight of the Year.”
This was a savagely contested battle between two neighborhood rivals (who didn’t like each other all that much, going in) who I think not only earned each other’s respect but admiration, as the rounds went on. The fight had all the elements that Atlas spoke of. Roman pressured early and often and didn’t give an inch. Escalante had the super physical tools and skill set, but was forced to endure the determination of Roman, who never stopped coming.
In what was a memorable eighth frame, Roman was putting the heat on Escalante for much of the round before the hometown favorite rallied back with a furious combination that floored Roman at the tail end of the round. But true to form, Roman battled back like hell in the final two innings. Escalante won this hard-fought contest by the scores of 97-92 and 96-93 (on two cards).
Some general thoughts as I watched this take place:
-Again, sometimes it’s not about what you pay for a fight. To have a great fight, you need fighters who are willing and have the right temperament for it. Both HBO and Showtime should take heed, reward guys like Escalante and Roman, not guys who are simply connected to the right people.
-When was the last time we got a fight of this caliber on a major pay-per-view show? Where have you gone, Simon Brown-Mo Blocker?
-I think Golden Boy Promotions has something in Escalante. Not only is he an exciting fighter, but he is also becoming a pretty significant draw in El Paso. But they also need to understand what they have in him. Escalante’s a guy with certain limitations that needs to be carefully guided. I think he can be a lot like what Gatti was to Atlantic City, an entertaining guy who can sell tickets locally, who will have to be kept away from the “JuanMa” Lopezs and Yuriorkis Gamboas of the world.
– And I agree with Atlas. Roman certainly deserves some significant paydays, but only after a long, well-earned rest.
MASTER FLURRIES
This was a very good edition of “FNF” overall, as Danny Garcia remained undefeated (16-0) by overcoming the tough Ashley Theophane over ten hard rounds…I thought Andre Ward was excellent in-studio with Brian Kenny. Broadcasting could be in that guy’s future…I really like J’Leon Love, who improved to 2-0 in Augusta, Georgia this weekend, but I’d like to see more. Thus far, he’s been matched pretty soft…On that same card, Joseph “Leggo My” Elegele got in some valuable rounds in improving to 5-0…Best thing about Augusta, you can still find Chester’s Cheddar Popcorn. That was easily my favorite snack vice and I can’t find it anywhere in California…There is nothing sweeter than sweet tea from the Waffle House. If they had that at Rafael’s, I might never leave that place…I’ll say it right now, Terrell Owens to Baltimore. Get yo’ popcorn ready!!!…Any questions or comments can be sent to [email protected]. Follow me at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We now have a new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing
