HBO will give boxing fans a rare look inside the training camps of two champion fighters when it debuts a four-part reality series leading up to the May 5 Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather pay-per-view bout.
With the opening bell sounding April 15, HBO will air three, 30-minute episodes of De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7 , on consecutive Sundays at 10:30 p.m., after HBO’s signature series The Sopranos and Entourage , said HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. The series finale will air May 3, two days before the pay-per-view event, which HBO will distribute to cable and satellite providers at a suggested retail price of $54.95.
The series would take an unprecedented look at each fighter’s training camp weeks prior to their big junior-middleweight championship match, said Greenburg. HBO would have total editorial control over the series, he noted, although each fighter’s camp will have some say regarding how much boxing strategy is revealed on the show.
“We’re going to get into the human-interest stories that swirl around these fighters,” he said. “Our approach will be to produce a totally unique viewing experience as these two world-class athletes prepare for a defining moment in their respective careers.”
While the network aired a similar sports-related reality show with Hard Knocks which took camera into the preseason training camps of National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys in 2001 and 2002, respectively Greenburg said De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7 will follow both fighters as they prepare for what could end up the most lucrative fight in non-heavyweight boxing history.
De La Hoya, arguably the most popular fighter in the sport today, is defending his title against the undefeated Mayweather, whom many boxing experts consider the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
“I don’t know of any television sports division that’s done anything like this,” Greenburg said.
“In this case, we’re focusing on two fighters who will fight in the Super Bowl of boxing. There’s a little more on the line for the participants than we’ve seen in other [sports reality] shows,” he added.
Greenburg said the success of the series would depend as much on the buzz it generates from viewers and boxing fans as it does on pure viewership numbers.
“Obviously, you want to pull some ratings,” he said, “but if it becomes water-cooler discussion, that will go a long way in measuring whether this series is a success and whether or not we do it again.”
