(Thomas Hauser) HBO and boxing at a Crossroads

Haven't read it yet but I bet it's anti-HBO. A lot of Hauser's stuff is.

 

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thanks i will check it out

 

That was one of the points covered in the article. HBO's talent doesn't know boxing. The author seems to say that HBO controls the sport enough that they should be dictating what fights they want and how much they are willing to pay. Either HBO is stupid and doesn't realize this or they in fact don't have that kind of power. It would seem that HBO should have much better fights then they do. They can pay much more then Showtime and yet Showtime seems to get the better fights.

Why don't they just hire Showtime's person in charge of selecting which fights they get?

If you have the most money and are willing to pay the most for the best fights, then by default they should have the best fights. There are a lot of knowledgeable boxing people out there. I can't imagine that they couldn't find a better one then they have. I'm certain that they could hire someone for 200k that is way more knowledgeable about boxing then who they have now. And I'm sure it is less then they are paying now. Maybe a commission system is needed.

 

I like Hauser's HBO pieces as he has tons of good inside information. But this one, like many of his pieces, is WAY too long and cluttered with bias and Monday-morning quarterbacking. He has plenty of amunition to make his points, but he goes overboard.

The core message that HBO overpays for way the wrong fights and made a major mistake hooking itself to a single promoter is solid and backed up. But some of his criticisms are out of line and reek of bias and some of his "solutions" are suprisingly naive.

 

funny, Arum said the some of the same stuff a year ago...

 

I would argue with the author about the latest fight. While most of us thought that Arreola was in way over his head, the fight was a good one to show. I think that they should extend their coverage of the undercard. Yes most people wanted to see the Mayweather fight, but they could have easily cut the coverage. I would have shown the first three rounds then jumped to the 10th or so and finished the coverage. They then could have shown a few up and coming fighters that are hopefully entertaining before showing the championship fight. The people that didn't pay for the PPV aren't entitled to make those of us that did pay for it, sit through a boring replay of the fight.
HBO just doesn't think on their feet well. You want to sell more PPV then don't give the replay away for free one week later. Develop a following for a few younger fighters by showing the undercard. Yes many fans just want to see the championship fight, MOST REAL boxing fans want to watch boxing. I wouldn't have cared if the undercard had fighter I've never heard of, I'd have watched it just like most real boxing fans would have.

Put those announcers to work.

Most of the live events that i've attended have proved to me that the under cards are much more entertaining anyway. Those 4 and 6 round fights are usually much faster paced the defensive skills are usually much lower. IT is kinda like the UFC.
Casual fans want to see action. They don't really care about skill. (note they watch the **** fights the UFC puts on) Give that to them. Have 2 or 3 four round fights with guys that are paid to fight and that are equally matched. Pay them extra to go for the KO.

It doesn't seem that difficult to get people excited. Just a little effort and more people would become fans.

 

come to think of it, Hauser and Arum have been championing the cause against HBO's practices for the last few years and neither seems to like Ross Greenburg.

 

I thought it was a great article. Although I am not sure who "Gary" Penalosa is.

 

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great article
i think it bodes well for the future actually, gives hbo a good reason to clean house upstairs... get somebody who knows boxing into the drivers seat that greenburg is in currently... strip the **** down, get rid of some of the random shows, and make 12 A class fights per year... sounds good to me

 

Kind of, if you really look at all the articles, Arum is only one with the "balls" or whatever to allow his name on record. All the articles refer to "promoters who'd rather not be named" in several instances....for reasons easy to understand.

Bob just don't give a ****, I guess.