Since Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced that he was taking his talents to Showtime, everyone has been waiting for some kind of reaction from HBO.
Well the network opened the window at its headquarters at 6th Avenue and 42nd on Monday afternoon and yelled, ?We?re mad as hell. And we?re not going to take it anymore!??
In an unprecedented move Ken Hershman, HBO Sports President, announced that the network will no longer buy fights from Golden Boy Promotions, one of the largest boxing promotion companies in the U.S.
It is a move that is rich with irony. Golden Boy Promotions is owned by Oscar De La Hoya, whose entire professional career was spent fighting on HBO. Stephen Espinoza, head of Showtime?s boxing programming, was once the attorney for Golden Boy and took over at Showtime after Hershman jumped ship to run boxing programming at HBO.
This makes Game of Thrones look like a game of checkers.
“In order to achieve our goal of the best fighters in the most compelling match-ups, we’ve decided to focus our efforts and resources on those strategic relationships where we better share common goals and business philosophies,” Hershman said in a statement.
That?s corporate speak for we?re not going to do business with people who don?t show us loyalty. HBO executives got tired of opening each negotiation with Golden Boy threatening to take their boxers to Showtime to gain leverage. And watching as the stars they groomed on the network jumped ship to their rival.
Still it seems almost inconceivable that HBO, with its 32 million subscriber base and branding itself as the gold standard of boxing broadcasting, would not deal with a promoter that has one of the biggest inventories of stars in the sport.
HBO has already been stung by the defections of some of its top boxers to Showtime, including Amir Khan, Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez and Danny Garcia. Since they are no longer doing business with Golden Boy that means they will also lose Adrien Broner, who some believe is the heir apparent to Mayweather, when he next fights. Bernard Hopkins, who recently won the IBF light heavyweight title from Tavoris Cloud on HBO, is also a Golden Boy client.
STEVE MARCUS/REUTERS Mayweather Jr.’s move to Showtime is the last straw for HBO.
HBO still has Nonito Donaire, billed as the next Manny Pacquiao, middleweight king Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. on its roster.
By shutting out Golden Boy Promotions, HBO is also by extension slamming the door on Al Haymon, one of the biggest power brokers in boxing. Haymon represents Mayweather and several other prominent boxers, including Broner. Mayweather does not have a promotional agreement with Golden Boy, but they have done the bulk of the promotional work for his matches since he left Top Rank Promotions.
HBO is still doing business with Top Rank Promotions, the other big boxing promotion company in the U.S.
?As far as we?re concerned we?re still a big supplier for boxing with HBO,?? said Bob Arum of Top Rank. ?HBO decides who they?re going to do business with. I?m not going to speculate on why they decided not to do business with Golden Boy.??
It remains to be seen whether Showtime will be able to handle the additional fights that will come from Golden Boy or whether the network will increase its license fees to match those that many of the boxers have grown accustom to with their fights on HBO.
If Showtime is looking to increase its financial commitment to boxing and raise its profile in the sport, then HBO?s action could be a boon to them. If not, then Golden Boy might have problems replacing lost TV dates and lucrative paydays for some of its boxers.
While HBO will lose some star quality in the short term, long term the move frees up more TV dates for boxing that once went to Golden Boy that can now go to other promoters. In a way it may make for better boxing programming as new faces get an airing and new stars are built.
Such was the case when a relatively unknown boxer, Ruslan Provodnikov went toe-to-toe for 12 rounds with WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley in a thrilling match on the network last Saturday night. Even though he lost, Provodnikov, who is promoted by Banner Promotions, has inserted himself into the welterweight title picture.
Boxing is a cyclical sport. When Promoter Don King snatched Mike Tyson away from HBO and set up shop at Showtime in 1990, he also took along other stars, including Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. and Felix Trinidad, Jr. At the time Tyson was the biggest attraction in the sport. HBO managed to build other stars, including Roy Jones, Jr., Oscar De La Hoya and later Mayweather. HBO was also not above poaching boxers that Showtime had groomed, including Naseem Hamed and Joe Calzaghe.
Boxing stars will shine no matter the network.
