HBO Boxing is closing shop after 45 years of putting on historic bouts.
It all started with Joe Frazier vs. George Foreman back in 1973. Now, it will come to an end with Daniel Jacobs vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko on October 27th of this year. The New York Times reports that, after putting on over 1,000 fights, HBO is getting out of the boxing business to focus on more original programming.
With juggernauts such as “Game Of Thrones” dominated the television market, and boxing struggling to make mainstream stars, the decision doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Peter Nelson, executive vice president of HBO Sports, had this to say:
“This is not a subjective decision,” Nelson said. “Our audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO. Because of our association with boxing, people forget that we’re not a sports network. We’re a storytelling platform.”
HBO Boxing’s last big event occurred earlier this month with Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin II. The Mexican star defeated “GGG” to become boxing’s premier middleweight champion.
With the move, Showtime Boxing now seemingly leads the way in producing boxing bouts – unless they follow in HBO’s footsteps in the near future.
HBO and boxing have been two words synonymous with each other since the premium cable outlet broadcast the historic heavyweight showdown between George Foreman and Joe Frazier back in 1973. Now after 40 years broadcasting some of the biggest fights in …
HBO and boxing have been two words synonymous with each other since the premium cable outlet broadcast the historic heavyweight showdown between George Foreman and Joe Frazier back in 1973. Now after 40 years broadcasting some of the biggest fights in the sport, HBO is getting out of the boxing business. The news was first […]
The wait for the biggest fight to be made in boxing today may finally be over. It appears Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin have come to a verbal agreement to go toe-to-toe inside the squared circle in a 160-pound bout in Fall of 2017, according to Boxing Junkie. Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, took a
The wait for the biggest fight to be made in boxing today may finally be over.
It appears Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin have come to a verbal agreement to go toe-to-toe inside the squared circle in a 160-pound bout in Fall of 2017, according to Boxing Junkie.
Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, took a trip to Los Angeles to visit Oscar De La Hoya at Golden Boy Promotion’s offices, to negotiate a possible deal with ‘Canelo’s’ representatives for the perennial super-fight between the two boxing stars.
The plan is for ‘Canelo’ to fight on September 17th at 154-pounds, against an opponent yet to be revealed, before making the climb to 160-pounds for a Golovkin bout.
The 25-year-old Mexican star holds an impressive record of 47-1-1, with his only career loss coming at the hands of the legendary Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather back in 2013 via majority decision.
Golovkin is a frighting 34-year-old knockout artist who is currently undefeated in his career with a record of 35-0, and is on a tumultuous 22-fight knockout streak.
Do you believe the colossal boxing match will finally come to fruition? If so, who do you see emerging victorious between the two heavy-hitting studs?
Even the most diehard defender of all tings MMA will tell you that it’s become increasingly difficult to overlook the disturbing relationship (for lack of a better term) between those who compete in the sport professionally and domestic violence. It’s not that domestic violence isn’t a saddeningly regular occurrence across the board in professional sports, it’s that most sports don’t train their athletes to become trained killing machines in addition to hulking physical specimens, and as such, hearing of the atrocities that guys like Travis Browne, Anthony Johnson, and Thiago Silva have been linked to tends to perpetuate the stereotype about the sport and its fans tenfold.
So when it was announced that HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel would be airing a feature-length investigation into “domestic violence in MMA” centering around War Machine’s abuse of Christy Mack, our reaction here at Castle CagePotato went something like this…
Details on the upcoming special/more clips of BG throwing up are after the jump.
Even the most diehard defender of all tings MMA will tell you that it’s become increasingly difficult to overlook the disturbing relationship (for lack of a better term) between those who compete in the sport professionally and domestic violence. It’s not that domestic violence isn’t a saddeningly regular occurrence across the board in professional sports, it’s that most sports don’t train their athletes to become trained killing machines in addition to hulking physical specimens, and as such, hearing of the atrocities that guys like Travis Browne, Anthony Johnson, and Thiago Silva have been linked to tends to perpetuate the stereotype about the sport and its fans tenfold.
So when it was announced that HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel would be airing a feature-length investigation into “domestic violence in MMA” centering around War Machine’s abuse of Christy Mack, our reaction here at Castle CagePotato went something like this…
Which was then followed by this…
Because despite its increasing popularity and fancy apparel deals, MMA is very much still struggling to gain mainstream acceptance as “legitimate” sport, so the idea that an audience as large as HBO’s would be given a window into the sport through one of its most despicable figures is a sickening prospect to say the least.
Of course, this recently released preview of the special, in which Christy Mack details the night War Machine nearly beat her and her friend to death, is quite possibly the only thing more sickening.
Ugh. There is just no way that our sport comes out looking even remotely good after this, is there?
But then again, maybe this special will serve as the intervention that MMA has long needed regarding its fighters and violence outside of the cage. One needs to look no further than the UFC’s treatment of the Thiago Silva situation (or the Anthony Johnson situation, or the Jeremy Stephens one…) to see that a higher system of accountability needs to be established regarding domestic violence not just in MMA, but in all sports. In short, we are providing wingnut organizations like the Culinary Union with all the ammo they need to continue their war against MMA through sheer inconsistency and stupidity, and HBO is about to lay bare those inconsistencies for the world to see.
Real Sports debuts Tuesday, July 21 at 10pm ET on HBO. The official description for the episode is as follows.
Outside of the Cage. Last summer, just as news of Baltimore running back Ray Rice’s violent assault on his fiancée in a hotel elevator was about to make headlines, a far more brutal domestic violence attack involving a pro athlete had just taken place. But the beating that nearly killed former adult film star Christy Mack, allegedly at the hands of the MMA welterweight known as War Machine, flew largely under the radar.
High-profile sports like football and boxing, the father of all fight sports, have long dealt with athletes’ domestic violence toward women. But the newly minted American combat sport Mixed Martial Arts, which showcases the world’s most violent athletes, has largely escaped mainstream scrutiny of its fighters’ conduct. REAL SPORTS correspondent David Scott investigates domestic violence among pro MMA fighters and efforts by MMA organizations to address it, and talks to Christy Mack, who for the first time tells the harrowing story of what she says was an abusive relationship with a trained professional fighter and the assault that nearly took her life.
We now go to former CP managing editor, Ben Goldstein, for an official response…
(“There was a writer that did a story, and he said ‘Michael’s like a fine bottle of Bordeaux, and Bruce is like a shot of Jack Daniels.’ And I love that.” Props: HBO Sports)
Tomorrow’s episode of Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel will include a segment on the two most recognizable voices in combat sports — who just happen to be half-brothers. Boxing announcer Michael Buffer and the UFC’s “Veteran Voice of the Octagon” Bruce Buffer didn’t meet each other until adulthood, but went on to develop a very unique and successful business partnership. Check out a preview of Tuesday’s Real Sports feature above, and tune in tomorrow if you can about that sort of thing.
(“There was a writer that did a story, and he said ‘Michael’s like a fine bottle of Bordeaux, and Bruce is like a shot of Jack Daniels.’ And I love that.” Props: HBO Sports)
Tomorrow’s episode of Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel will include a segment on the two most recognizable voices in combat sports — who just happen to be half-brothers. Boxing announcer Michael Buffer and the UFC’s “Veteran Voice of the Octagon” Bruce Buffer didn’t meet each other until adulthood, but went on to develop a very unique and successful business partnership. Check out a preview of Tuesday’s Real Sports feature above, and tune in tomorrow if you can about that sort of thing.
