Showtime rejects Ward vs. Dawson

On top of this, Bute was ranked way highter than Ward before the S6. S6 was without Bute so Ward is a king wihout a crown.

 

Bute will probably win, so can we all stop talking about the second fight for now, its on the line only if Froch win.

 

yea to those saying Bute is busy with Froch for 2 fights... read the ****ing thread.

 

I know there are financial and other factors that come into play but Showtime has rejected Bute-Froch and now Dawson-Ward. Pretty disappointing since these are some of the best fighters in the world in their primes facing off. Not too mention they've been on Showtime before and fight in divisions that Showtime is invested in.

 

You just described every Ricky Hatton fight Showtime has ever broadcast.

 

Bute-Froch was needed for the build-up of Ward-Bute but Showtime only has 1 fight left with Bute/Interbox. Ward-Bute would be beneficial to the build-up of Ward-Dawson, and it's the SMW-cash-out fight Showtime is banking on... and has been banking on all along, for that matter. Even if Goossen & Shaw propose the fight to HBO, why would they broadcast a fight that needs more build-up for the casuals when that build-up fight (Ward-Bute) is foreseen to happen on Showtime later in 2012?!?!??

It makes sense to have two division #1's face off, but it makes more financial sense to have Ward-Bute happen first. Simple as.

Ward-Dawson? Great fight, but too early in the grand scheme of things.

 

At least, Hatton could win or lose by KO. That possibility is very thin in a Ward-Dawson fight. I'm not saying that fight shouldn't be aired. Of course it should. I was just writing how I thought the fight would go to the posters thinking it would be a tactical match.

 

Looks to me like Showtime doesn't want all their eggs in one basket financially and can't afford to make Ward-Dawson and Bute-Froch, and the subsequent fights where the winners square off.

 

Showtime shouldn't have been approached in regards to Ward-Dawson. Dawson is an HBO fighter, Ward was on HBO last weekend.

Showtime is saying NO to anything that's not Ward-Bute. They invested so much in it, they won't let it go.

Maybe Ward should realize that fighting Dawson, especially without any meaningful build-up to it, is putting the cart before the horse. He needs to take out the #2 in his own division first... networks are booking late summer / Sep, Oct dates at this time, so Bute would be available if he wins vs Froch.

I don't know why Hershman over at HBO would work against, or prevent Ward-Bute from happening, since he set it up himself for Showtime in the first place.

 

What the ****ing ****, Showtime?! :fire

 

Probably because if Ward-Bute happens, it should be on Showtime and he doesn't care about SHO anymore. Ward-Dawson would be on HBO, so he probably prefers the later option?

 

Maybe Ward has some obligations (moral or signed; perhaps both) with Showtime; they are offering them this fight to be turned down so HBO would pick it up. That's at least my theory

 

Showtime put all their eggs in SMW when the contracted Jermain Taylor. Froch put a stop to that, temporarily. Then came the tourney and suddenly JT was back. Temporarily. But yeah, you can see the linage of their play to get into the big time through the SMW division. They should have taken the small calculated risk of the Bute/Froch fight and been happy with it with the provision that if Bute won he was still obligated to the Ward fight. I think they made a very bad calculation but it could have been based on the finances available.

 

I understand Showtime's reasoning for rejecting the fights, but as a Showtime subscriber(specifically for boxing) it is disappointing that they keep passing on good fights.

Bute-Froch and Ward-Dawson are, for me, better and more interesting fights than 90% of the fights Showtime will do instead this year. Politics are and always have been a part of boxing but at the end of the day fans and subscribers want to see good fights regardless of what goes on behing the scenes.

If we get Ward-Bute(an undefeated one) and then Dawson-Ward then thats fine everything worked out. I don't count on everything working out quite so smoothly and will be left saying Showtime should have grabbed those fights when they had the chance.

 

Nothing official, but from what I've heard/read, what binds Ward and SHO, is that SHO has the right to equal any offer from HBO for his next fight. Something like that.