Heather Hardy is a Big Draw at Barclays. Why No TV?

Heather Hardy – When Heather “The Heat” Hardy steps in the arena more ticket buying fans will be there to watch her fight than any other aside from the main event.

Hardy packs them in.

People can argue about the merits or demerits of female prizefighting. When it comes down to it: can a fighter draw ticket-buying fans to the arena? That’s the true value of any prizefighter.

Hardy (16-0, 4 KOs) faces Kirstie Simmons (8-1) in a super bantamweight fight set for eight rounds on Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Aside from the main event of Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter, no other bout on the card will draw more fans than Hardy’s.

Think about that Showtime.

A few years back I spoke to Stephen Espinoza the guy in charge of Showtime boxing. He told me directly that female boxing would be included on their fight shows. It never happened. He also told one female fighter that nobody had ever approached him about putting on a female bout.

Either Espinoza has a serious memory lapse problem or somebody put pressure on him to forget about including women on televised shows.

Female fights attract fans and we’ll see the reason when Hardy steps inside the ropes. The New York prizefighter has been selling more than $20,000 in ticket sales for a while. But other females are out there with equal ability to attract ticket buying fans.

Hardy has been promoted by DiBella Entertainment and despite a solid success rate even that promotion company has been unable to persuade Showtime to televise her fights. Maybe it’s time for a discrimination lawsuit. HBO is also guilty of the same.

What other reason is there for not televising female fights? It can’t be because of poor television ratings. A female bout has not been shown on Showtime since Melissa Hernandez fought Jeri Sitzes in 2009. And before that? Who knows. Also, other than four PBC fighters, none of the PBC men fights could draw enough fans to fill a McDonald’s restaurant.

Any female fight featuring Hardy would be television worthy. Plus, there are many other female fighters that draw large crowds or interest.

“I love to see that so many women are doing the same kind of thing,” said Hardy about other women attracting large crowds on untelevised fight cards. “Even though I’ve fought here (Barclays) six times many people (outside of New York) don’t even know I’m here.”

Hardy is eager to show off the reason why fans like to see her perform.

“It’s all about entertainment,” said Hardy. “I’m not the prettiest boxer with the prettiest style. But step inside the ring I will kick your butt.”

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