HBO, whose moniker is “Building legends one round at a time”, has been under heavy scrutiny by a large portion of the boxing press and demographic for at least the past few years. What better way to give an honest assessment of how good or bad of a job they did than to look back at each telecast they offered up to their subscribers (and with PPV, non-subscribers) the previous year?Breakdown:
The year will be broken down into four quarters with each quarter being given a certain number of *s up to five. Each telecast will also be rated on a scale of 1-10 on the basis of a number of things. The most important factor will obviously be the level of competition presented in each fight as well as how equal the level of competition (both on paper and in the ring). Each fight will also be assessed on a * rating from one to five. Telecasts that were distributed by HBO but not covered by them will not be included (such as the Casamayor-Marquez PPV that was run by Golden Boy Promotions).
Without further to do, here is the analysis on HBO’s boxing programming in 2008. First Quarter (January to March) *** ½
January 19th, 2008
HBO-PPV – over 500,000 buys
Don King Productions
Roy Jones, Jr. UD12 Felix Trinidad ***
Andrew Golota UD12 Mike Mollo ***
Devon Alexander UD12 DeMarcus Corley **
Luis Collazo TKO10 Alex Bunema *
7.5 rating
As a fight fan I remember sighing after reading the announcement of this proposed fight. The main event featured a guy who had not fought in almost three years against a guy who had not fought an opponent with a pulse in that same amount of time. It turned out to be a huge success and one of the better PPV cards of the year. The main event was one-sided but a decently entertaining fight. The crowd was into the fight, and I remember people talking about it the next day at work which is something that doesn’t happen in boxing too many times a year. The undercard was far from bad, with an entertaining heavyweight scrap between Golota and Mollo leading into the main event. Putting an up-and-comer like Alexander in with a recognizable name like Corley was smart matchmaking by Don King. Collazo-Bunema was forgettable, but still a better matchup than some of the fights that were co-featured on many of HBO’s telecasts later in the year. The card was a good start for HBO that many feel wasn’t followed up very well. Don King deserves some credit for using his limited HBO time incredibly, as King is not a favorite of HBO’s to deal with.
January 26th, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Goossen-Tutor/Sauerland
Alexander Povetkin UD12 Eddie Chambers ** ¾
6.5 rating
Televised from Germany was this great heavyweight matchup that is a throwback to the good ol’ Boxing After Dark days. Two young undefeated heavyweights fighting each other rather than taking easy opposition all the way to the top was something that we have missed over the past few years. I don’t feel that Chambers is given enough credit as a solid heavyweight considering how closely he fought Povetkin. Povetkin was only fourteen fights deep into his professional career when he made his premium cable debut on this broadcast. Also televised was a replay of Jones Jr.-Trinidad, but when HBO does this they need to limit only airing one live bout like they have done so many times. Ten years ago, HBO would air two live bouts and then replay the previous week’s PPV main event. More slots for fighters on live shows would be a big plus to HBO’s boxing programming.
February 9, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Goossen-Tutor
Carlos Quintana UD12 Paul Williams ***
Andre Berto TKO6 Michel Trabant *
4.0 rating
The main event was an unintentionally good fight that was one-sided on paper. Quintana had only fought once since being brutalized by Miguel Cotto over a year earlier, and that was an eight-round bout against a non-descript opponent off-TV. Quintana was a more than 3-to-1 betting dog leading into the fight, but fought exactly the right fight to get a close decision over the undefeated Williams. Andre Berto’s fight was absolute garbage, and I personally would have rather seen the untelevised Chris Arreola-Cliff Couser bout instead, because at least that fight only lasted about a round. In Trabant’s only fight since losing to Berto, he dropped every round to a 7-7 fighter.
February 16, 2008
HBO-PPV – 250,000 buys
Top Rank
Kelly Pavlik UD12 Jermain Taylor II *** ½
Cristian Mijares SD12 Jose Navarro ** ¾
Fernando Montiel KO4 Martin Castillo ***
Ronald Hearns TKO8 Juan Astorga * ¾
7.0 rating
This PPV was not terrible by any means, but was a bit of a letdown. This time it is hard to lay blame to anyone involved in the matchmaking, as it featured three well matched bouts on paper as well as an up-and-comer in a showcase bout. Many people feel that showcasing prospects in big-time television spots is incorrect, but in certain instances I think it is great. A four bout card can get away with a mismatch in an eight rounder, especially when the rest of the undercard is superb and has enough rounds. What isn’t right is co-featuring a showcase bout where one fighter stands no chance of winning (think Juarez-Hernandez from the De la Hoya-Mayweather debacle). So for what it was, Hearns-Astorga was alright. Montiel-Castillo was a great bout on paper that had die-hard fans excited. Nobody could know that Martin Castillo just didn’t have much left. Mijares-Navarro was a world championship bout that was fairly one-sided despite the split decision verdict. The judge who scored it for Navarro, Doug Tucker, had it 120-108 in his favor and for that should be banned from judging professional fights for life. Pavlik-Taylor II was a good fight, but it did not come close to matching the excitement of the first fight from the previous year. Either way, it was a solid matchup that helped establish Pavlik as a new star in the sport.
February 23, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Wladimir Klitschko UD12 Sultan Ibragimov *
3.0 rating
It was the first heavyweight unification bout since 1999, but other than that the fight was a total joke. I don’t know if there has been a more boring unification bout in heavyweight history. Klitschko failed to throw a right hand for long stretches of time, yet still easily won this fight. For the first WCB card of the year, it was a huge failure. The only good thing that came from it was eliminating a heavyweight champion from the picture, and even better, we likely will never have to see Sultan Ibragimov on HBO or premium cable ever again. The fight was held at Madison Square Garden, and is the second time Wladimir has blown a guy out or stunk out the joint in the historic venue in less than two years. The fight was paired with the replay of Pavlik-Taylor II, but it would have been cool to see HBO air John Duddy-Walid Smichet which turned out to be a good fight.
March 8, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Don King Productions
Samuel Peter KO6 Oleg Maskaev ** ¾
Nate Campbell SD12 Juan Diaz *** ½
8.5 rating
This was easily HBO’s best free show of the first quarter, and that may have been unintentional. The opening bout was a candidate for Upset of the Year with Campbell coming into the fight as a more than 3-to-1 underdog against the undefeated Diaz. Diaz was coming off the best wins of his career, stopping both Acelino Freitas and Julio Diaz to pick up two more alphabet belts. The fight was fought on even terms early on, but once a bad cut was opened up by Campbell, he dominated the second half of the fight. Maskaev-Peter was a fight that had been postponed many times before, forcing Peter to pick up an interim title by barely getting by Jameel McCline at the end of 2007. It was a competitive fight until Peter caught Maskaev in the sixth and picked up a world heavyweight title.
March 15, 2008
HBO-PPV – 400,000 buys
Top Rank/Golden Boy Promotions
Manny Pacquiao SD12 Juan Manuel Marquez II **** ½
Steven Luevano UD12 Terdsak Jandaeng **
Abner Mares TKO2 Diosdado Gabi **
David Diaz MD10 Ramon Montano *
6.5 rating
The main event definitely delivered, with Pacquiao’s narrow decision over Marquez being one of the best fights of the year. It was as highly anticipated a rematch as any in reent memory, with Pacquiao trying to avenge a draw he got against Marquez after dropping him three times in the opening round years earlier. It lived up to the hype and delivered a close and controversial decision, as many experts thought Marquez did enough to win. The undercard was not quite at that same level. Luevano fought a guy that had never beaten anyone in the Top 20 let alone the Top 10. Mares-Gabi was a decent fight on paper, as Gabi gave a good account of himself in a loss to Vic Darchinyan earlier in his career. Diaz-Montano was a pointless bout, especially since Diaz was a lightweight champion at the time and this was a non-title bout. The only thing that came out of that matchup was getting some exposure for Diaz before feeding him to Pacquiao later on in the year. The PPV did more than 400k buys and was a record for PPV cards headlined by a bout in a weight class lower than welterweight.
March 22, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Golden Boy Promotions
Joel Casamayor TKO10 Michael Katsidis **** ½
Librado Andrade TKO8 Robert Stieglitz ** ½
8.0 rating
Yes, I gave Casamayor-Katsidis a higher rating than JMM-Pacquiao II, only because it had more ups and downs throughout the fight. Casamayor dropped Katsidis twice in the opening round with straight left hands, but Katsidis brawled his way back into the bout. Katsidis scored a knockdown in the sixth that put Casamayor out of the ring, and many thought that was the end of it. Casamayor got to his feet (this was the first time since Benn-McClellan that I saw someone get knocked out of the ring and continue in the fight) but fell behind on points. He was deducted a point for a low blow in the ninth, then caught Katsidis with a picture perfect shot to finish him and pull off the dramatic victory. Andrade is a guy I would like to see on TV more. He is the light heavyweight version of Antonio Margarito, being able to absorb unreal amounts of punishment until he wears you down later on. I had never heard of Stieglitz before this bout, but he had a solid win over Alejandro Berrio in an eliminator. There was good action in the fight, but Andrade was obviously highly superior to Stieglitz, scoringa late knockout. It was a good way to close out the first quarter. March 2008 was one of the best months in boxing history, so it serves correct that HBO should have one of its best months in recent memory.
Second Quarter (April to June) * ¾
April 12, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Top Rank
Miguel Cotto TKO5 Alfonso Gomez *
Antonio Margarito KO6 Kermit Cintron II ** ½
5.0 rating
Unfortunately, HBO’s first show following their great March was a WCB featuring two huge mismatches. Leading into the Cotto-Gomez fight, everyone was talking about how one-sided it would be. Saying that, it somehow was more than a mismatch than anyone could have thought. Cintron-Margarito II was a great action bout that ended much the same way the first encounter did. Cintron was in the fight the whole way, but everyone watching was just waiting for the moment that Margarito would land that perfect shot to the body, and in the sixth he landed as brutal of a shot to the body as you will ever see. Although the two fights were hgue mismatches, it did build towards the Cotto-Margarito slam-dunk for the middle of the year. Unfortunately, not many saw this card as it did a 1.1 Nielsen rating, the worst any HBO WCB has ever done.
April 19, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Golden Boy Promotions
Joe Calzaghe SD12 Bernard Hopkins ** ¾
6.0 rating
Hopkins-Calzaghe did not fare much better than Cotto-Gomez in the ratings, but it was a much more competitive matchup. It was a big fight, but both fighters stunk it out after an interesting opening stanza that saw Hopkins drop Calzaghe. It was also nice to see them stick this fight on regular HBO rather than make a dozen or so people pay $49.95 for it.
May 3, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Golden Boy Promotions
Oscar De la Hoya UD12 Steve Forbes * ½
4.0 rating
If there was any fight not deserving of a Countdown show, it was De la Hoya-Forbes. For HBO to almost not make a Countdown for Cotto-Margarito, it makes you wonder why this fight got one. Look, I am glad that Forbes got the fight, he is as nice of a guy as you will encounter in boxing. This fight had no business being as hyped as it was. I know that it was to build towards Mayweather-De la Hoya II (why?), but what a waste of a premium cable date.
May 17, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Gary Shaw
Yuriorkis Gamboa UD10 Darling Jimenez ** ½
Alfredo Angulo TKO5 Richard Gutierrez *** ¼
James Kirkland KO1 Eromosele Albert ** ½
6.5 rating
This was a great BAD card in my opinion. It featured three young prospects in against experienced fighters. Angulo-Gutierrez was very exciting, with both fighters having their guy hurt and nearly out. Kirkland’s one-round KO was fantastic, and Gamboa was in tough with an experience veteran and simply outclassed him. It was a good coming-out party for all three fighters and big things are expected from all in ’09.
June 7, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Top Rank
Kelly Pavlik TKO3 Gary Lockett ¾
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO1 Daniel Ponce de Leon ***
5.0 rating
It was not a terrible plan to give Pavlik a soft touch after his fantastic 2007 (wins over Zertuche, Miranda, Taylor), but picking someone who had fought on American television or someone with a pulse would have been a good idea. Lockett was outgunned from the start, and that fight went pretty much as expected. Lopez burst onto the scene with his surprising vanquishing of Ponce de Leon, much the way the Ponce de Leon knocked off Rey Bautista. On paper, it was an evenly matched fight.
June 21, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
DiBella Entertainment
Andre Berto TKO7 Miki Rodriguez *
Chris Arreola DQ3 Chazz Witherspoon ***
4.0 rating
Berto continued much the way he started the year, getting an easy opponent. Only this time, it was for a vacant world championship. Does anyone recall an easier road to a world championship than the one Berto has taken? Arreola-Witherspoon was a fun fight for how long it lasted, and it helped establish Arreola as potentially the best American heavyweight in the world, which isn’t saying much these days.
June 28, 2008
HBO-PPV – less than 200,000 buys
Top Rank
Manny Pacquiao TKO9 David Diaz ***
Francisco Lorenzo DQ4 Humberto Soto * ¼
Monte Barrett KO1 Ty Fields *
Steven Luevano D12 Mario Santiago *** ¼
6.0 rating
Pacquiao’s win over Diaz was another step towards all-time greatness for Pacquiao, as he easily picked up a world title at yet another weight class with his one-sided demolition of Diaz. Luevano-Santiago was one of the best PPV undercard fights of the year. Barrett-Fields started out earning zero stars since nobody likes watching Ty Fields, but it quickly earned a star after Barrett knocked him silly early in the first round. Soto-Lorenzo was an action-packed bout that loses a star for the terrible decision made by referee Joe Cortez on disqualifying Soto for hitting Lorenzo after the bell. Lorenzo’s display of sportsmanship when he acted like those blows did serious damage was disgusting. Overall, it was not as bad of a PPV as expected.
Third Quarter (July to September) ***
July 12, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Wladimir Klitschko TKO11 Tony Thompson **
4.0 rating
Thompson was in the fight early on, but it soon became apparent that he was no match for Klitschko. Wladimir again refused to open up and try and finish his guy early and continued with his cautious approach and took care of Thompson at the end of the bout. It was another one bout card for HBO, and another stinker on WCB. HBO needs to eliminate the idea that they need to televise the #1 heavyweight’s bouts, especially when the #1 heavyweight in the world doesn’t like to fight.
July 26, 2008
HBO-PPV – 450,000 buys
Top Rank
Antonio Margarito TKO11 Miguel Cotto *****
Cesar Canchila UD12 Giovanni Segura *** ½
Mike Alvarado KO4 Cesar Bazan ** ½
Bernabe Concepcion TKO3 Adam Carrera **
9.5 rating
Easily the best PPV of the year, Cotto-Margarito delivered on all fronts. The main event was HBO’s best televised fight of the year, and one they nearly did not even do a Countdown show for. Cotto showed brilliance early on, but he could not survive the late onslaught from Margarito and suffered his first career loss. The supporting bouts were all decent to great. Concepcion and Alvarado got some big-time exposure in showcase bouts. Alvarado-Bazan was fun while it lasted. Canchila-Segura was very exciting and will be getting a rematch in February of this year. It will be interesting to see what Cotto-Margarito took out of both fighters, and we will find that out in the opening months of 2009 before they are set to fight each other again mid-year.
August 2, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Top Rank
Joshua Clottey TD9 Zab Judah ***
6.5 rating
This was a good even matchup for a vacant welterweight title. Another one-bout card, HBO could have televised Anthony Peterson’s fight against former world champion Javier Jauregui and I would not have complained. A decent matchup on paper that translated to a close competitive fight that was unfortunately stopped early due to a headbutt. This fight was paired with a replay of Cotto-Margarito and would be HBO’s last effort until the end of the Olympics.
September 6, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Golden Boy Promotions
Juan Diaz SD12 Michael Katsidis ***
Rocky Juarez TKO11 Jorge Rodrigo Barrios *** ½
7.5 rating
After a long layoff from boxing because of the Olympics, HBO returned with a great card from the Toyota Center in Houston where two hometown favorites took on tough opposition. Diaz was a 3-to-1 favorite over Katsidis and lit him up with five and six punch combinations all night. Katsidis’ trainer deserves to be fired for his performance in the corner as well as his postfight comments, telling his fighter he was doing well when he was getting dominated and then crying robbery after a loss. The only robbery was one judge somehow scoring the fight for Katsidis. Juarez-Barrios started out as another typical Juarez fight where he failed to throw punches. The end of the fight was fantastic as Juarez busted up Barrios’ mouth terribly before flooring him in the 11th and scoring a comeback victory.
September 27, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Golden Boy Promotions
Shane Mosley KO12 Ricardo Mayorga ** ¾
Andre Berto UD12 Steve Forbes **
6.5 rating
Mosley-Mayorga was a fun but pointless matchup. Mosley didn’t look very good against the incredibly awkward Mayorga, but scored a knockout after the final bell to come away victorious. Berto again fought an overmatched opponent in Steve Forbes, who fought his second straight fight in a weight class that he is not at his best in. Not the worst that HBO had offered all year, especially on WCB.
Fourth Quarter (October to December) ** ½
October 4, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Gary Shaw
Yuriorkis Gamboa KO2 Marcos Ramirez **
Alfredo Angulo TKO10 Andrey Tsurkan **
Sergio Gabriel Martinez TKO8 Alex Bunema **
5.5 rating
Another excellent idea putting these three young fighters on the same card, but the fights weren’t matched as well as the first time around. Martinez took the spot of Kirkland, picking up an interim junior middleweight title against a guy that does not belong on HBO. Angulo was in against a similarly overmatched opponent in Tsurkan, and that fight went on much too long. In fact, the HBO announce team was concerned for his health and was calling for the fight to be stopped. Gamboa easily dispatched his opponent as well.
October 11, 2008
HBO-PPV – less than 200,000 buys
Top Rank/Golden Boy Promotions
Bernard Hopkins UD12 Kelly Pavlik *** ½
Steven Luevano UD12 Billy Dib * ¾
Marco Antonio Rubio SD12 Enrique Ornelas ** ¼
Daniel Jacobs KO1 Tyrone Watson * ½
6.0 rating
The main event was an unexpectedly exciting fight, with Hopkins turning back the clock to easily beat the much younger fighter. Hopkins even threw many more punches than before and vowed to fight this way the rest of his career (will believe it when I see it). To this point it is the most amazing thing I have seen in the sport, as I thought Pavlik would likely brutally beat Hopkins. The undercard left much to be desired. I think I am in the majority when I say I never want to see Billy Dib on television of any sort. Rubio-Ornelas was a decent scrap, and putting Daniel Jacobs on television wasn’t a terrible move.
November 8, 2008
HBO-PPV – less than 225,000 buys
Joe Calzaghe UD12 Roy Jones, Jr. ** ½
Zab Judah UD10 Ernest Johnson * ¾
Francisco Figueroa SD8 Emanuel Augustus **
Dmitriy Salita UD12 Derrick Campos *
5.0 rating
I won’t lie, I was pretty excited for this fight. Likely it was because I grew up on Roy Jones, Jr., as well as I bought into the 24/7 hype hook, line and sinker. Roy deserves credit for finishing the fight like a man after suffering a terrible cut that could have been grounds for an mid-round stoppage. The undercard stunk except for the Augustus fight, and that lost a star for seeing him once again get a well-deserved victory taken away from him. I don’t ever want to see Salita again taking a valuable PPV slot unless it is against someone in the Top 5 or 10.
November 15, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
DiBella Entertainment
Jermain Taylor UD12 Jeff Lacy ** ¾
6.0 rating
A decent matchup on paper, but Lacy was a huge underdog as he had not looked good since before he was blown out by Joe Calzaghe. Both fighters were on the rebound and this was a make or break fight for each. Also interesting was the storyline that developed into this fight, with these guys being roommates on the Olympic squad. This was paired with a replay of Jones, Jr.-Calzaghe, but it easily could have featured a supporting bout as well. Deontay Wilder made his professional debut off television, and that was something many would have liked to see.
November 22, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Golden Boy Promotions
Ricky Hatton TKO11 Paulie Malignaggi ***
James Kirkland TKO8 Brian Vera *
5.5 rating
Hatton-Malignaggi was a good matchup since many considered it the two best 140-pound fighters going against each other. I gave Malignaggi a fair chance at winning this fight heading in, but early on in the fight it was obvious that he did not have much of a chance. A guy like Brian Vera should never appear on a WCB card, there was no excuse for that.
November 29, 2008
HBO Boxing After Dark
Goossen-Tutor Promotions
Paul Williams TKO8 Verno Phillips **
Chris Arreola TKO3 Travis Walker ***
6.0 rating
Both opponents were sizable underdogs, but there was intrigue involved in both bouts. In Arreola-Walker, you had two heavyweights who could crack, so at the very least it was going to be over early. Walker was in the best shape of his career while Arreola came in a little heavy, so you knew there was a chance Walker was going to catch Arreola unexpectedly, and he did that in the second round. Walker was unfortunate in that it sparked Arreola and he went on to knock him out. The second round was one of the best rounds of the year. Williams was moving into yet another weight class by fighting Phillips, and was the first guy in almost twenty years to stop him. An unexpectedly good BAD card.
December 6, 2008
HBO-PPV – 1.25 million buys
Golden Boy Promotions/Top Rank
Manny Pacquiao TKO8 Oscar De la Hoya ***
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO1 Sergio Manuel Medina ¾
Victor Ortiz TKO2 Jeffrey Resto *
Daniel Jacobs TKO2 Victor Lares ¾
4.5 rating
Pacquiao-De la Hoya was a circus attraction that actually delivered. For the first time in his career, Oscar De la Hoya was at no point in the fight he was in. Manny Pacquiao established himself as the next star to carry the sport after Oscar hangs them up. The undercard was as atrocious as it gets, featuring less than ten minutes of actual boxing. Lares and Medina have no business being licensed professional fighters. Medina cried that he was told to take a dive or something was going to happen to him, but it looked like he just wanted out of there.
December 13, 2008
HBO World Championship Boxing
Wladimir Klitschko TKO7 Hasim Rahman ½
2.0 rating
This fight earns half a star on the basis that I will hopefully never have to see Hasim Rahman on television ever again. This may have been the worst main event televised by HBO all year.
A look at the final numbers:
HBO-PPV: 8
WCB: 11
BAD: 9
Number of bouts televised by HBO: 66
Number of bouts televised on HBO-PPV: 32
Number of bouts televised on WCB: 16
Number of bouts televised on BAD: 18
Number of undercard bouts televised on HBO-PPV: 24
Number of one-bout live cards shown on HBO: 7
Klitschko headlined WCB cards: 3
Number of stars combined for the 3 Klitschko headlined cards: *** ½
Number of stars for Cotto-Margarito: *****
Number of stars combined for three supporting bouts to De la Hoya-Pacquiao: ** ½
Shows that were assigned a 5.0/10.0 rating or less: 10
Number of headlining bouts that received less than three stars: 14
By lead promoter:
Golden Boy Promotions: 7.5
Top Rank Boxing: 7.5
Goossen-Tutor: 2.5
Don King: 2
Gary Shaw: 2
DiBella Entertainment: 2
Sauerland: 0.5
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