LAS VEGAS–Fighting Manny Pacquiao is dangerous to your health. Losing Pacman as the leading boxing attraction on your prime cable network can be dangerous to your continued employment at said prime cable network.
That, in a nutshell, seems to be, if the rumor which was delivered to Rick Reeno at Boxingscene by the very well sourced writer Thomas Hauser is indeed true, what has just happen to the lengthy reign of HBO Sports President and boss of all things boxing Ross Greenburg.
When promoter Bob Arum took his cash cow Pacman over to the Showtime/CBS combination and spurned staying with HBO, rumors began flowing about the shaky status of not only Greenburg but his boxing underling Kery Davis.
The slick executive said to replacing Greenburg, who was looking like he might finish up 2011 without having either a Pacquiao or a Floyd Mayweather bout on PPV, is movie star looking Ross Levinsohn,
Levinsohn, who I dubbed ?Ross The Boss? years ago when he was young publicist toiling for Rich Rose’s public relations boutique agency in Manhattan, is well-dressed, well-spoken and incredibly well versed in the nuances and trends of digital media. Advertisement
But, make no mistake even though his current employer Yahoo is denying that Levinsohn is leaving there for HBO, he has or had a good feel and some solid experience around big fights and has familiarity with Arum and many other influential boxing people.
If Levinsohn has been hired to lead HBO’s boxing shakeup, it would be his second time working for network.
This story broke just hours before the Boxing Writers Association of America dinner Friday night here and the night before Pacquiao was to make his Showtime PPV TV debut.
I made calls to various HBO personnel and was told most of them, possibly including Greenburg, were on flights en route to Las Vegas for the writers dinner.
