Sky's Changes With Regards To Boxing Coverage In The Last Year

Their committment to the domestic scene is to be applauded and this month particularly is terrific.

My beef with Sky is this: The overseas fights are aimed at the mainstream which I understand. Pac, May, the Klits, Cotto etc. But they neglect far too many 'underground' fights. They will not show Rafa v JuanMa imo. They've neglected JuanMa and Gamboa which frankly is a ****ing crime. Yet they're happy to show Berto fights??!! The bantamweight tourney in Dec will be neglected.

I'm happy with what they're doing at the moment but there are lots of overseas fights out there that they criminally miss.

 

This was a post I made yesterday with regard to Ringside.

Their changes are a start, but there are still major improvements to be made - hopefully we'll see some tonight.

 

15-0 for 'Yay' so far.

Surely you have to accept that we are in a much better position now compared to last year, though. Sure, they could make improvements, but the ones made already have been brilliant, IMO.

The only other thing I'd like would be a deal with Top Rank or Golden Boy.

 

I concede that improvements have been made yes, but ''brilliant'' seems OTT to me.

Compare their boxing coverage to rugby league and cricket (my other two favourite sports) - the difference is marked.

As I've said, some improvements have been made - but there's still plenty of work to do.

I'd like Sky to take a similar role to HBO and Showtime, telling the promoters what fights they want and making sure that they take place - perhaps they already do, but I have doubts. It just seems like the tail is still wagging the dog.

Each to their own of course, I still feel I could run the boxing programme better than who is in charge currently, with lots of fresh ideas to make it more fan friendly and attract new followers.

 

22-0 for 'Yay' as it currently stands.

Anyone disagree? It's completely one-sided at the moment. I'd be interested to read what others think about how Sky could still improve their coverage as well. I thought Watt was quite good in the studio just now as well. Man, I'm loving Sky's new approach. Another great Saturday Fight Night. I'd love to see what the viewing figures are so far in comparison to Fridays as well. Hope more people are tuning in.

 

I agree, Sky's coverage has improved. Which is surprising, since its been a pretty mediocre year for boxing.

But as for Adam Smith, lets just say I'm glad he didn't reveal his 120-108 scorecard for Booth in tonights fight. Its a bit of a mucked up situation when even Jim Watt is trying to reel his co-commentator back in, pointing out where Molitor has dominated a round which Smith sees as a Booth masterclass or else is "too close to call".

 

Get rid of Dave Darts.

We don't want him there, he doesn't want to be there. **** him out the door - everybody wins.:deal

 

Ya I'd really just like if they would start showing more of the less well known but top fights, fights you know are going to be great value. Show them delayed on a Sunday or something for casuals, live for us hardcore. People could get used to watching a top fight every Sunday evening.

The Berto thing is the strangest, probably just because they were following HBO's misguided lead with him. Would love it if they would show things like the top bantams or feathers, give it a bit of advertising and it could take off.

 

Their production is shabby, pundits are truly awful. But i'm a boxing degenarate so everything matters in my viewing experience of my beloved sport. However I agree with Losfer that sky have to be applauded for their increased coverage and commitment. Still a lot they could do though, not asking them to reinvent the wheel here, just don't talk over the corner and easy up with the ads, little things like that matter to me fellas.

 

I hear what you're saying, and would love it myself.

But what you propose (less well-known fighters and lower weight division fighters being shown) is unfortunately unrealistic. The hardcore would be hooked, but the hardcore is a very small proportion of the viewing public. When it comes to SKY TV it is all about the money, and I don't think the hardcore boxing membership brings enough in. They have to show bouts that drag in a substantial number of Joe Public, the fair weather fans who have basically no idea about the game.

If you asked me which fight I would want to watch, Haye v Harrison or Lopez v Marquez, I'd bite your arm off for Lopez-Marquez. But have any of my mates asked me about that fight? No, they don't even realise these guys exist. But have my mates asked me about Haye-Harrison? Yes, of course they have.

That's were boxing is at now.

 

Ya I know what you mean.

But I just think that if you could get some of these quality bust ups for not too much money and put them on at a regular time, you could start to build up a more casual audience. Select the fights based entertainment value, not on name-recognition. People would tune in and then you could tell them who the fighters are, and why the fight means something. A couple good contests and you'd get people coming back the next week.

When I was a young I was a very casual fan, only knew about 4 boxers, but somehow i ended up watching a Barrera/Morales fight showing randomly on some show during the afternoon. Had no clue who they were, but I can tell ya, it went a long way towards getting me interested in the sport.

Plus there's different degrees of interest in the sport, its not just hardcore or not. I have a lot of mates who would know a good bit about boxing and watch loads of fights, but they wouldn't know about a lot of the good fights coming up, and wouldn't normally stay up until 3am unless there was a super-fight on. They would definitely be the kind of crowd you could get in.

Probably wishful thinking, but it's just a shame that there's good fights going on all the time, and nobody knows about it. Think of all the **** sports people watch nowadays because it's been repacked well for a casual audience (I watch more Darts then I'm proud of), boxing is in need of a bit of good marketing.

 

Enjoy your chess tonight, slip?

 

It has certainly picked up.

The only thing now is perhaps to get a deal with GBP or Top Rank and show some of their fights from America/Mexico etc like Setanta did.

 

Thoroughly!! the Doctor was assiduous tonight. Do prefer them more competitive though and i wouldn't quite call tonights offering a "chess match".

Whitaker v. McGirt 1 would be more like it. :good

 

Definitely better. Putting boxing on a Saturday where it belongs is a big step in the right direction for me. I hope Sky keep picking up the quality International fights as SS1 events too. These things raise the profile of boxing. All they need now is a regular boxing magazine show presented by Bunce