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HBO to drop boxing programming after 45 years

Updated September 27, 2018 - 9:45 pm

HBO needed boxing to build its subscriber base when the premium cable network launched in the early 1970s. The first promoter HBO officials approached was Bob Arum.

“I signed a multifight contract for Marvin Hagler with HBO,” said Arum, the longtime Top Rank promoter. “It was very lucrative because they paid three times as much as the other networks.”

With HBO broadcasting Hagler’s fights and those of other stars from that era, it led to a boom in subscribers.

Forty-five years later, HBO no longer needs boxing.

The foreseen was made official Thursday by HBO, as the pay TV service announced that boxing is being dropped from its programming by the end of the year.

The network’s only scheduled bout is the Oct. 27 middleweight title fight between Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Derevyanchenko.

It’s possible that HBO adds another card in 2018 before going dark, and the network left the door open for a potential return in the future.

“Going forward in 2019, we will be pivoting away from programming live boxing on HBO,” HBO Sports said in a statement. “As always, we will remain open to looking at events that fit our programming mix. This could include boxing, just not for the foreseeable future.”

HBO has televised 1,111 fights, with the first one George Foreman’s breakthrough bout Jan. 22, 1973, when he knocked out Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, to win the WBA and WBC world heavyweight titles.

Roy Jones Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya are tied for the most appearances on HBO with 32. Legendary fighters such as Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis fought on HBO numerous times.

“Boxing has been part of our heritage for decades,” HBO Sports’ statement read. “During that time, the sport has undergone a transformation. It is now widely available on a host of networks and streaming services. There is more boxing than ever being televised and distributed. In some cases, this programming is very good. But from an entertainment point of view, it’s not unique.

“We are constantly evaluating our programming to determine what resonates with our subscribers. Our audience research clearly shows the type of programming our subscribers embrace. For HBO Sports, it’s programming that viewers can’t find elsewhere.”

HBO largely introduced the pay-per-view model to boxing in 1975 after the network had 500,000 buys for the historic “Thrilla in Manila” bout between Muhammad Ali and Frazier. HBO PPV took off in the 1990s behind the heavyweight division and De La Hoya’s popularity.

It’s possible that HBO staged its final PPV bout Sept. 15 when Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeated Gennady Golovkin by majority decision at T-Mobile Arena.

But Tom Loeffler, who has done business with HBO for many years and promotes Golovkin, isn’t convinced that the network is done with boxing for good. Loeffler said he wouldn’t be surprised if Golovkin’s next PPV bout is on HBO.

Golovkin and Alvarez, arguably boxing’s biggest stars, were signed with HBO. They’re now free to explore options with other networks.

Loeffler said he’s been approached by all the major boxing networks looking to sign Golovkin and his other K2 Promotions fighters, such as Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

Golovkin and Alvarez will have plenty of options among Showtime, which does most of its work with Premier Boxing Champions, ESPN, which has an exclusive contract with Top Rank, and DAZN, which recently launched in the United States behind British promoter Eddie Hearn. PBC secured a four-year broadcasting deal with Fox Sports this month.

Golden Boy Promotions’ stable of fighters, which includes Alvarez, has fought on several networks this year, and the company recently started a boxing series on Facebook Watch.

It’s no surprise that HBO is throwing in the white towel after it drastically cut back on its boxing programming in recent years. Arum was the first to notice the trend and left HBO last year after decades of working together.

Top Rank and ESPN restructured their initial four-year deal into a seven-year contract last month with 54 live boxing events annually that will air on the main network and on the ESPN Plus app.

“We realized that there was little reason for premium networks to spend money promoting the sport of boxing when they were promoting no other sport,” Arum said. “(HBO’s and Showtime’s) real competition is not ESPN or Fox. Their real competition is Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, to a lesser extent, and therefore they have to devote whatever resources they have to great programming in order to maintain their subscribers and maybe add some subscribers.”

Stephen Espinoza, the president of Showtime Sports, recently said the premium network will add to its boxing budget in 2019. But Arum said he thinks Showtime eventually will follow the path of HBO and move away from boxing programming.

More boxing: Follow all of our boxing coverage online at reviewjournal.com/boxing and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.

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