Boxing Off-Topic

[sheredia]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

XM Fight Nation was talking about this and they said when HBO started 1/3 of their subscribers watched boxing. Now it's less than 2%.
It was also said that the average viewership for a boxing show was approx 850K.
In short, the bean counters discovered that boxing cost a lot of money to produce with very little profits.
Coincidentally, the Andre The Giant documentary cost peanuts in comparison and had 7M viewers on it's premiere.
Not only that, but programming like that is recyclable and pulls in big ratings when rehashed.

Boxing is still on a lot of various platforms and the sport, when providing top bouts, such as GGG-Alvarez, is still crazy popular.

However, I can't help but feel that boxing has done this to itself.
There are WAY too many weightclasses and about 17 belts in each.

Cut back to the original 8 divisions + Cruiserweight, recognize only one belt, and the sport rebounds to be a major player in sports.
You shouldn't need an abacus to figure out who's the champion of a given weight division.
My buddies, who are all sports nuts, couldn't tell me who the Heavyweight champion is.
That's a problem.

the writing was on the wall for HBO for quite some time....not as many big fights as they used to have, no household names to promote, etc. my hope is this means espn becomes a bigger player when it comes to boxing, meaning more fights on their network instead of HBO.

[pk500]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Spot on, sheredia. The only reason boxing fans should lament the loss of HBO is due to its history and production values.

Otherwise, the network's sports division has largely neglected boxing for the last few years under Peter Nelson's inept guidance.

Thanks for the memories, HBO. Don't let the door hit you in the azz.

[pietasterp]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Yeah, it's pretty sad to have the home of boxing for most of my life completely exiting the sport, but I suppose the times they are a-changin'.

As others have mentioned, it seems like HBO's growing lack of interest in boxing had as much to do with the decline in viewership as anything else. Of course if you don't invest in or carry big, exciting fights, with fighters people are interested in watching, fewer people will want to watch. Look at some of the recent cards HBO Boxing has had; it's no surprise that people aren't particularly interested in watching some B-level flyweights or main events being headlined by guys no one's ever heard of.

I guess in the end, though, HBO is banking on big tent-pole original programming like "Game of Thrones" that has broad appeal, and boxing is not part of their plans. Especially not in the really balkanized current era of boxing controlled by essentially 3 main promotional groups.

As a final point on this, I never really liked HBO's commentary crew of Lampley, Kellerman, and Roy Jones (or rotating ex-fighter). I could barely take Lampley and Merchant, and it only got worse from there IMO. I'm really not a fan of Lampley at all, so I won't miss the crew. I prefer Showtime's convivial announcing crew of Mauro, Al, and Paulie.

And while I know their metrics say people don't subscribe to HBO for boxing (which I 100% believe), I for one, do. And won't for much longer.

[pk500]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

The erosion of "Boxing After Dark" also played a role in HBO's demise as a boxing outlet.

BAD used to match up prospects tough in crucial fights in their development or two veterans in a crossroads fight. In the last few years, BAD became just another showcase for PBC-style mismatches that nobody wanted to see.

[pk500]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

And while I know their metrics say people don't subscribe to HBO for boxing (which I 100% believe), I for one, do. And won't for much longer.

I watch "The Deuce" and "Silicon Valley." But I still may drop HBO at $15 per month and funnel that money into DAZN at $10 per month and ESPN+ for $5 month. A financial wash that provides a hell of a lot more boxing and other sports.

[sheredia]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Spot on, sheredia. The only reason boxing fans should lament the loss of HBO is due to its history and production values.

Otherwise, the network's sports division has largely neglected boxing for the last few years under Peter Nelson's inept guidance.

Thanks for the memories, HBO. Don't let the door hit you in the azz.

just saw a commercial for DAZN network (which actually might be the network replacing HBO). the timing seems spot on with HBO's exit and DAZN's entry into boxing (and mma, it looks like).

[sheredia]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

I watch "The Deuce" and "Silicon Valley." But I still may drop HBO at $15 per month and funnel that money into DAZN at $10 per month and ESPN+ for $5 month. A financial wash that provides a hell of a lot more boxing and other sports.

i'll be considering DAZN unless i luck out and it gets added to hulu live.....

[pk500]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

i'll be considering DAZN unless i luck out and it gets added to hulu live.....

Don't count on that. DAZN is a subscription-only streaming service, like Netflix. All of its revenue is derived from subscriptions.

DAZN has a good lineup of fighters and will sign more, as Eddie Hearn has a reported $1 billion war chest of investment money for DAZN and Matchroom. Plus DAZN has Bellator if MMA is your thing.

Hearn also said DAZN will try to expand into other sports besides combat sports. Good luck, as nearly all of the major American sports properties are locked up with long-term deals with networks or cable. But DAZN still could be quite good for combat sports.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Callum Johnson gave Artur Beterbiev a scare knocking the Russian down in the second round with a perfect left hook. It was even more impressive considering Johnson got kind of stuck in the corner at the very end of round one and Beterbiev was able to set up a pulverizing right that left Johnson on the canvas and considerably dazed.

Beterbiev won a competitive round three with Johnson showing some good power but couldn't survive a fight-ending right cross on the upper temple in round four.

Canelo will fight December 15th for the WBA 168 pound title against champion Rocky Fielding.

Naoya Inoue destroyed his opponent in a Quarter-Final WBBS bantamweight match.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RJUUYI0BFwM" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Don't count on that. DAZN is a subscription-only streaming service, like Netflix. All of its revenue is derived from subscriptions.

I'll probably have to get that.

[sheredia]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

I'll probably have to get that.

me too.....$10 a month isn't too bad, will the big fights be ppv or part of the package? noticed that bellator is signing more and more fighters from ufc too, so that's good. michael page is really good as well.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

me too.....$10 a month isn't too bad, will the big fights be ppv or part of the package? noticed that bellator is signing more and more fighters from ufc too, so that's good. michael page is really good as well.

Billy Joe Saunders was scheduled to fight on DAZN October 20th but...

There's Always England

[sheredia]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Billy Joe Saunders was scheduled to fight on DAZN October 20th but...

There's Always England

saw that.....ugh. but i am pumped to see crawford vs. benavidez jr. on (free) espn tomorrow night. crawford has looked awfully good his last few fights.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

saw that.....ugh. but i am pumped to see crawford vs. benavidez jr. on (free) espn tomorrow night. crawford has looked awfully good his last few fights.

The undercard for that fight will be on ESPN+.



Pretty good supplement to Wilder-Fury assuming Chickenson doesn't come up with a fake injury. Gvozdyk is a tough customer.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Benavidez looked good early but he lost the last seven rounds. The posturing became annoying.

One of the most flush landed uppercuts I've ever seen.