Who has won? Boxing is a sport because of the fans and when i was a child i used to sit down with my grandmother mum and others of my family to watch Benn,Eubanks and even Bruno and Tyson fights,it was a big deal just as Darts was on UK tv. Now it is no longer on terestrial tv it puts more money in the boxers pocket and promoters but i dont think half the people watch fights anymore because of the cost,it's only us hardcore fans that pay who keep it going. I also think that the so called super fights are not being made as offen because of different networks and tv obligations unlike the old days when the best fought the best? Any input? i might be wrong?
I'd put this in the British thread mate, you will get more replies there and it's more suited to that forum anyways :good
It affects others,America has had fighters not fighting each other through network obligations and i used sky and itv as an example cuz i am ignorant to US tv.
This is true. Look at khan. he is a household name due to ITV. Networks need to work together. Look at lewis v tyson. Both networks showtime and hbo broadcasted the fight.
Thanx for that,i never knew showtime and hbo had worked together? Im not sure of the in's and outs but in the uk around the time Hatton split from Frank warren,Warren went and signed a deal with itv,Hatton went to Setanta and now Hatton and Kahn who is still with Warren and fought on itv are both back with sky, confusing hey?
A TV deal would seldom stand in the way of a big fight between two British fighters. Bearing in mind a BIG fight between two British fighters would have to involve Ricky Hatton or Amir Khan...... neither of which have foes 'big' enough to make the event particularly big...... the only seriously big all-British fight (by comparison to Benn vs Eubank) would be Hatton vs Khan. Hatton is Sky's darling, akin to DLH with HBO.... and whilst Khan is on Sky too, he doesn't do his own TV deal, it is done through Frank Warren. Until Khan leaves Sports Network the chances of a Hatton fight are ZERO. He would rather slash his wrists than work with Warren again, seriously.
Wot u say is true but these events of both fighters being on or back with sky are new events,the only reason Warren risked Kahn against MAB and getting him a title fight is cuz he tried to give Hatton easy fights and stalled for so long on getting him Tszyu that he got his fingers burnt. If he dose not give Kahn wot he wants then he will do the same and there is no other cash cow out there,he should of give Hatton the chance sooner.
Here's one for ya then; Pac is part of the Top Rank deal on Setanta, but Hatton and De La Hoya have both been on Box Office. The Diaz fight was on Setanta. If it costs more, others will buy it and it will have a place, therefore the fight can still be made. In the States these were all HBO, but Showtime put on competitive fights with lesser names which are still important and deemed necesary by the fans, like Bradley vs. Holt.
One more thing,warren did not want Hatton to fight a threat cuz he was happy watching Hatton fighting lesser fighters infront of massive crowds in manchester and keeping his record intact and creaming the money,Hatton never got the credit for breaking free but now he earns £10 million plus a fight whos laughing now?
There is a loophole for the Top Rank deal where if a British fighter is involved, the deal is effectively void and bids are invited for the event. Obviously this applies to the Hatton scenario.... where DLH vs Pac ended up switching I am not sure. Sky have traditionally screened DLH, so I can only assume they paid Setanta for the right to show as part of the Khan PPV.
In a British pub you can only watch Satanta through a sky box and no other way? Rupert Murdoch hey.......
There needs to be more terrestrial coverage, more press leading up to the fights, and fighters need to save the PPVs for the truly special events. Khan stabbed his fans in the back right away and went on Sky Box Office for the Prescott fight ... and then got KTFOd. How'zat for Karma??!! If boxing were promoted more as a sport in the press, there would be natural demand for fights and TV stations would start showing all big fights.