Comments Thread For: Showtime's Espinoza: There's One Network Committed to Boxing

[Eff Pandas]

HBO will leave the sport within 2 years

You could be right. I've been saying for ~5 years that HBO will be out of the boxing business in 10 years & things keep dwindling down towards that way. And idk how much less interested HBO can go with boxing then bs regular HBO fights + every halfway decent fight being a PPV & the $20M(?) budget they are down to. And no one paying attention believes this has anything to do with a merger cuz the budget has dropped continual since the early 2000's when it was $100M+.

[gbonafide]

Props to Espinoza and Showtime for delivering a great 2017 schedule so far. However if they are truly going to become the premier provider they need to work with more promoters. Aside from some business with Eddie Hearn it's all tied to Haymon. Espinoza was instrumental in Haymon and Schaefer's plot to take control of GBP which is a big reason why he's so exclusive with Haymon.
Will will understand HBO's true intentions once the AT&T buyout of Time Warner goes through. I do believe Ken Hershman left because of what was to come with their budget and positioning in the sport.

[LOCOMEX89]

Ever since there was a change at the top 2 years ago I believe with HBO Sports, Showtime has been dominating the boxing world.

Showtime is putting on the better cards and featuring the young up and coming talent. HBO is struggling on the other hand giving quality fights and show casing up and coming talent.

They gotta figure out what talent Golden Boy Promotions, Top Rank, K2, Roc Nation, and K2 keep bring continually and on an affordable basis.

[Nightfall]

and that's showtime

[Butch.McRae]

You could be right. I've been saying for ~5 years that HBO will be out of the boxing business in 10 years & things keep dwindling down towards that way. And idk how much less interested HBO can go with boxing then bs regular HBO fights + every halfway decent fight being a PPV & the $20M(?) budget they are down to. And no one paying attention believes this has anything to do with a merger cuz the budget has dropped continual since the early 2000's when it was $100M+.

These are valid observations

People also have to think about the original content that is driving their streaming business (they don't even offer boxing on HBOgo, which speaks volumes to me).

They're interested in competing w/ Netflix (streaming money is where growth is for their company), not Showtime and the traditional cable model.

The only way they will show continued interest is due to PPV stars. But how many are really out there in the boxing world? Canelo is the only young guy. (Mikey has potential to be a PPV star if things go right over the next year.) The rest of the guys haven't shown any real potential.

GGG, Loma, Ward, Kov, etc. will never be big draws for PPV. People forget guys like Roy Jones never even cracked 600k in buys (and was barely breaking 300k in his prime). It takes a lot to be a true PPV fighter.

[iamboxing]

I've always seen HBO as the premier boxing channel, but the new Shobox + more output is making it the new destination for boxing fans. After Dark boxing has become like the main boxing event instead of the regular show that kept boxing fans sated before a main PPV event, but that's also on the decline.

[BennyBlanco]

Let's look at the consensus top p4p fighters in no order

Loma Crawford ggg kov ward canelo = all hbo

If you are paying for HBO to see top 10 P4P fighters, you are wasting your money.

Canelo: ZERO live fights on HBO scheduled in 2017. ZERO live fights on HBO in 2016.

Ward: ZERO live fights on HBO scheduled in 2017. One mismatch (Brand) & one so-so fight (Barrera) on HBO in 2016.

GGG: ZERO live fights on HBO in 2017. Two mismatches (Wade & Brook) on HBO in 2016.

Crawford: one so-so live fight (Diaz) on HBO in 2017. Two mismatches (Molina & Lundy) on HBO in 2016.

Loma: one mismatch (Sosa) live on HBO in 2017. Two good fights (Martinez & Walters) on HBO in 2016.

HBO might have most of the top 10 P4P, but you're not really seeing them much on HBO -- and when they are on HBO, they're in mismatches.

But oh yeah HBO has all the best fighters.

[kiaba360]

Every other HBO telecast is a PPV, they have fell and bumped their fxcking heads.

[Shadoww702]

Let's look at the consensus top p4p fighters in no order

Loma Crawford ggg kov ward canelo = all hbo

LOL! And ALL of them outside Loma was on HBO PPV.

HBO don't give 2 SHTS about boxing or it's fans anymore. Hence they TURNED down an AWESOME fight between Oscar Valdez and Miguel Marriaga.

[Shadoww702]

HBO BOXING is...