Underdog Showtime Won Its War With HBO, But the Victory Now Seems Hollow

Published

1 year ago

December 18, 2023

Undergog-Showtime-Won-Its-War-With-HBO-but-the-War-Now-Seems-Hollow

Underdog Showtime Won Its War With HBO, But the Victory Now Seems Hollow

Carthage finally has fallen.

Not that many boxing fans are apt to compare the former arch-rivalry of premium-cable outlets HBO and Showtime with the three Punic Wars pitting the Roman Empire against the formidable North African city-state of Carthage from 264 B.C. to 146 B.C., but the analogy fits when certain modifications are taken into consideration.

During the 32 years when HBO and Showtime went head-to-head in much the same manner of the fighters they showcased, the more-established, better-funded HBO was the figurative representative of Rome’s omnipresent might, with Showtime cast as the gritty, determined equivalent of Carthage. But a near-century of intermittent conflict ended as it surely had to, with Roman legions finally laying waste to the most persistent obstacle to the quest for absolute control of an expanding and insatiable empire.

But upsets can and do happen in boxing, and the Rome vs. Carthage script flipped at the end of 2018 when HBO quit on its stool after 45 years in the fight game, its once-well-financed commitment to being the industry leader ebbing incrementally at the behest of an increasingly disinterested corporate ownership.

“HBO is now a mature company, and the guys who care just about the numbers decided that boxing wasn’t popular enough to keep going,” longtime HBO commentator Larry Merchant said as the end of an era came with the sound of a death rattle. “They were putting fractions – small fractions – of the money into it that they used to put into it.”

“It’s sad to see it all go away by its own hand and their own decision-making,” added Lou DiBella, a senior vice president of HBO Sports until his departure in the fall of 2000. “This is like the Yankees going out of business in a way, in terms of a brand … You would have loved to see them go out on top, not with a whimper.”

The demise of HBO Boxing opened the door for a dramatic rise in prestige for Showtime Championship Boxing and its much-respected, star-making adjunct, ShoBox, whose administrators and broadcast talent reveled in their figurative elevation from Carthage to Rome. But, as Spanish philosopher George Santayana once observed, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Just as HBO had abdicated its lofty place in the boxing stratosphere five years earlier, the curtain came down on Showtime, by turns reminiscent of its scrappy underdog period and its later heyday as the foremost televised purveyor of the sweet science. As was the case with HBO, the cause of its demise likely can be traced to profit-and-loss figures on a spreadsheet, not the love of a sport that always has needed to be embraced for reasons that necessarily supersede priorities established by upper management and accountants with sharp pencils and MBA degrees.

Voicing the same sort of sad farewell that Merchant and DiBella had offered up when HBO took its leave in 2018 is Showtime’s David Dinkins Jr., the Senior Vice President and Executive Producer for the entire 37-year run of its boxing operation.

“We should be recognized for our pursuit of excellence and attention to detail,” Dinkins said in an interview with The Ring. In our prime we were without peer – the best coverage, live and replays, best commentary and the best presentation from the ring walks to post-fight interviews.”

Well, some deposed HBO Boxing alumni might argue that point, but the net effect of Showtime taking the 10-count opens a Pandora’s Box of uncertainty that surely will affect the way the sport is made available to the public going forward, possibly more than anyone can imagine in the here and now.

On Dec. 7, Prime Video and Premier Boxing Champions announced what they described as a “multiyear rights agreement,” with Prime Video included in the Amazon Prime membership package. A series of PBC Championship Boxing events will be streamed, including PBC pay-per-view shows. Given the fact that Prime Video has more than 150 million subscribers in the United States, as reported by Thomas Hauser, the first reaction might be that boxing, unlike Carthage, is too resilient to ever be destroyed. But every move away from established norms to something new requires a period of adjustment, for those assuming the burden of proprietorship as well as fight fans who long have been asked to part with chunks of their diminishing disposable income to feed their pugilistic addiction.

Let history record that Showtime Championship Boxing officially breathed its last at 11:26 p.m. EST when its closing credits finished rolling, not long after WBA super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr.’s second-round stoppage of Sena Agbeko became the answer to a future trivia question as to which bout shoveled the last spade of dirt onto a grave worthy of a polished marble headstone.

The tripleheader of televised fights, all won by southpaws, was a fitting farewell. The 25-year-old Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) might seem too early in his professional career to have already logged five title defenses, but the transplant from steamy Cuba to the wintry frigidity of his adopted home base of Minneapolis was 130-2 as an amateur and has the look of a possible future superstar. Fighting for the sixth time in the comfy confines of the sold-out Armory (all 5,314 seats filled), Morrell (pictured) dispatched Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs) with a display of power punching that had him clamoring for a non-alphabet championship matchup that conceivably could take place sometime in the about-to-become new year.

“In 2024, I want to fight Benavidez. One hundred percent,” Morrell said of a pairing for the all-David 168-pound crown, with a shot at undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez presumably awaiting the winner. But Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) is coming off a sixth-round stoppage of Demetrius Andrade on Nov. 25 and is hopeful his next bout will be with Alvarez, without the necessity of going through Morrell first.

The co-main event, pitting Chris “Primetime” Colbert against Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela in a WBA lightweight eliminator, was a do-over of their closely contested and controversial first meeting on March 25 of this year, when Colbert overcame a first-round knockdown and a couple of other shaky rounds to pull out a unanimous decision by identical 95-94 scorecards from the three judges. Although Colbert said he’d never give “sore loser” Valenzuela a rematch, the opportunity to be a part of the historic Showtime exit card was too much for Colbert to say no to, although he may have come to regret his acquiescence.

The larger and stronger Valenzuela, as in their first bout, dropped Colbert in the first round and thereafter he waited for his opportunity to unveil a previously sheathed weapon, a right hook, whenever Colbert switched from orthodox to southpaw, which he did in the sixth round. With Colbert’s protective left hand down, Valenzuela flung himself forward to land a crushing hook that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas, unconscious, his head draped over the bottom stand of the ring ropes.

“The second time he turned left he saw I was gonna throw a jab so he could catch it up front, but I dipped a little bit and shot the right hook,” Valenzuela said of his put-away bomb.

After Colbert came to and met with Valenzuela in the center of the ring, he said, “We’re 1-1, let’s run this back.” That request didn’t gain any traction with Valenzuela, who said, “I beat him twice. I was patient for a reason. This was a title eliminator and I want to fight for a title. So Tank Davis (the WBA lightweight ruler), let’s get it on, man.”

The opener, pitting a pair of 40-year-old former world champions, was a rematch of a bout that took place 11 years earlier, when Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (38-6-1, 20 KOs) scored a 12-round unanimous decision over Andre Berto (32-6, 24 KOs). The oldies-but-used-to-be goodies may not be all that they once were, but both showed sporadic flashes of their prime selves with Guerrero winning a wide 10-round unanimous decision.

Now that Showtime has joined HBO as boxing entities that are no more, it is worth mentioning that their frequent skirmishes behind the scenes were often as noteworthy as, say, the confrontations that paired aging promotional lions Don King and Bob Arum. One such incident took place in 2005, when I was president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

The BWAA almost always has staged its annual awards dinner in New York City, but I concluded that Las Vegas was long overdue to be the host city for such an affair, but only if it could come in conjunction with a corresponding fight important enough to attract a sizable media gathering. Officials at both HBO and Showtime were made aware of the BWAA’s intentions and were given a time window in which a suitable bout could be arranged as an accompaniment for the awards dinner.

Jay Larkin, then the senior vice president and executive producer of Showtime Sports, was so enthused about his company’s possible participation that he vowed to up his normal budget for that particular show by a half-million dollars, with the Mandalay Bay to serve as the host venue for what proved to be the first matchup of Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo on May 7, 2005. We shook hands and that was that. Or at least it should have been.

A few days later, someone purporting to be representing HBO – I should stress it was not someone directly affiliated with HBO – contacted me and said that HBO honchos had reconsidered and wanted in. The fight tie-in would have been at the MGM Grand on May 14, 2005, and featured Felix Trinidad against Winky Wright. That was nice, I said, but I already had agreed to the date with Showtime for the previous week.

“But did you sign a contract?” the guy asked. “If you didn’t sign a contract, you can switch to the following week. And Trinidad is a bigger name than the two guys on the Showtime card.”

“Maybe so, but I gave my word,” I replied. The way I was raised, if you give your word, that should count for something, and I wasn’t about to renege on a verbal agreement that, to my way of thinking, was as good as a signed, sealed and delivered piece of paper.

Not that anyone could have predicted how everything would shake out, but Corrales-Castillo I turned out to be an epic, Fight of the Year lollapalooza. The BWAA dinner at the Mandalay Bay the night before was also a smash hit, with a ring set up in the banquet hall that made for a photo op that included Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Vitali Klitschko, Chris Byrd, Shane Mosley, Winky Wright, Zab Judah, Hasim Rahman and master of ceremonies Jimmy Lennon Jr., among others. The following week, Trinidad turned in possibly the worst performance of his career in losing a one-sided, unanimous decision to Wright.

But the thing is, had HBO made the earliest proposal and I shook hands on it, that also would have been as good as a signed contract. Jay Larkin – who was fired by Showtime later in November 2005 because of job cutbacks, and died of brain cancer at the too-young age of 59 on Aug. 9, 2010 – kept his word to me, and I wish he had been included when Showtime’s closing credits rolled late Saturday night.

Carthage has fallen, probably forever, and I can only say that I will miss the in-fighting that took place when HBO and Showtime competed so fiercely that they made boxing, and their own operations, better. It was a grand time, often chaotic, but never lacking in entertainment. The sun still comes up every morning, but somehow the world seems just a bit different. Time will tell just how different, and whether those of us who love the sport of crooked noses and indomitable hearts will be satisfied with whatever comes next.

—
Bernard Fernandez, named to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the Observer category with the Class of 2020, was the recipient of numerous awards for writing excellence during his 28-year career as a sports writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. “Championship Rounds, Round 4,” the fourth installment of Fernandez’s four-volume anthology, is now out and available via Amazon and other book-selling outlets.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Bernard Fernandez

Up Next

Early-Bird Bettors Rate ‘Big Baby’ a Live Dog on the ‘Day of Reckoning’

Don't Miss

The Hauser Report: Showtime Says Goodbye to Boxing and More Notes

Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

2 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Skylar-Lacy-Blocked-for-Lamar-Jackson-Before-Making-his-Mark-in-Boxing

Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

4 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Mizuki-Hiruta-Dominates-in-her-U.S.-Debut-and-Trinidad-Wins-Too-at-Commerce

Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

5 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!