(Thomas Hauser) HBO and boxing at a Crossroads

:thumbsup

Or even Versus to a lesser extent (but same principle in effect, to scale).

 

this is the underlying "undertone" it seems no one has touched on yet in this thread.

The line about: "we could make 2 more Sex In the City's or Sopranos for what's bein' spent on these fights...":scaredas:

If HBO **** cans boxing broadcasts, uhhmmm..We're ****ed!:deal

** Hauser said it would come to exactly this about a Year ago with that Article "HBO = Headed By Oscar"...and he was right.

 

Good article, The only thing that was false was the part aboput Baldomir being ring champion not meaning anything b/c their were several other fighters better then him.

Baldomir was Lineal Champion, Ring Champion, WBC Champion and had he been able to pay the sanctioning fee Undisputed WBA & IBF Champion.

 

That part stuck out to me also. I wonder how much it cost them to make 1 season of the wire? kinda scary

 

Im not with this HBO should not control who fights who... UFC will fold because of this why do you think Rampage Quit? War after War after War and why would HBO want to UFC numbers are low and HBO numbers are people pay to see floyd in a ression stupid idea
let the promoters decide what makes the most money Floyd and oscar are doing well for themselves and hbo

 

We need more fights like Mosley/Margarito and Cotto/Clottey on regular HBO. And less tune-up's against overmatched opponents.

And make Boxing After Dark relevant again. Once it was nothing but exciting fight after exciting fight(ie Barrera/McKinney). Now it shows guys like Chris John and Paulie Malignaggi. atsch

 

Its not insight is revision. Its easy to say after a fight that the fight wasnt worth what was paid for it. This is boxing and you have hits and misses. Had Tarver pulled a rabbit out of his hat and stopped Dawson then it would have been a great night of boxing.

Hauser writes an article like this about every three months on HBO being the devil for boxing. It seems as if he has some kind of ties to Showtime boxing.

 

I agree - I thought that was a poor comment. Same with shitting on the Ring Belts - there are so many vacant right now because we aren't getting #1 vs #2 fights; that's not to be criticized, it's to be commended.

I also think that he takes shots at cards that don't deserve it - Wright/Williams was a legit fight in my book (though the Aerreola/McCline it was paired with was pretty weak). Berto/Urango + Angulo/Cintron was also a solid card he took a shot at.

He does give credit at times, but seems to look "too hard" to find fault when just pointing out the glaring faults that are there would do the job.

But how they pay what they do for fights when their competition pays just a fraction just makes no sense. Any company would slice their budget.

 

What he says about Dawson v Tarver isn't revisionism. It's exactly what everyone was saying before the fight. There was no particular interest in the first match and none at all in the rematch. No-one expected any difference in the second match and nothing different happened. You could have a third, fourth and fifth match on the basis of 'it'd be great if Tarver pulled a rabbit out of the hat'. That doesn't make it a desirable prospect.

 

Agree. Baldomir, however you rated him, was champion because he beat the champion. That's how these things used to be decided.

 

The sad thing is, boxing coverage on Versus might be ending. I keep hearing and reading that they have no boxing plans past the recent Fight Night series, which ironically is also a Golden Boy promotion.

 

Arum is speaking out because he doesn't have those dates that Golden Boy has. If the situation was reversed, he'd be doing the same thing GBP is doing.

 

:admin NOOOOO!

 

Yeah, I think Versus got burned when they had that exclusive deal with Top Rank. Arum did with Versus what GBP is being accused of doing with HBO. Not enough quality matchups or fighters. It seemed like Tye Fields was on about four times and his fights were neither important nor entertaining.

With Versus boxing in doubt, Wednesday Night Fights gone, and the Telefutura series cancelled, televised boxing is taking a serious hit the past few months.

 

Don't forget about Setanta overseas, either. That's a huge one as well.