MMA-URLS

Last weekend's pay-per-view boxing mega-event between Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather looks to have done some serious business for HBO. The event, which also featured a "big name bout" between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and "Sugar" Shane Mosley, featured two of the sport's top three draws facing off. Here's the info from the HBO press release: The 1.5 million buy total generated $94 million in pay-per-view revenue. The performance of Mayweather-Cotto ranks as the second highest grossing non-heavyweight pay-per-view event in boxing history. No. 1 all-time is Mayweather's record-setting showdown with Oscar de la Hoya ($137 million) in 2007. Notes after the jump... I know someone is going to say "yeah, boxing can only do 3-4 big PPV's a year." So let me address that by saying, yes, you're right. Mayweather, Cotto and Manny Pacquiao are the only guys who can really draw in huge numbers on PPV right now. We're going to find out soon what Canelo can do in his next fight as he'll be headlining a PPV, likely against James Kirkland. The good thing is, boxing promoters got smart to the fact that they need to put only stuff that is huge or which has no better distribution on PPV. As long as they're doing big numbers on the few PPVs they run and doing good numbers on HBO/Showtime, things will keep rolling along without problem. As an aside, Hopkins vs. Dawson II did well over 1.5 million viewers on HBO also. Floyd gets a big cut of the PPV money and Cotto gets a little bit as well. Mayweather will probably bank close to $50 million when all is said and done.

Posted in: mayweather, ppv, hbo, boxing, cotto

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will once again go head-to-head with a major boxing match when it pits UFC on Fox 3: "Diaz vs. Miller" opposite the return of Floyd Mayweather, who will battle Miguel Cotto in a WBA light middleweight championship showdown. Mayweather, of course, had his 90-day jail sentence pushed back just so he could compete one last time before getting sent off to the slammer. And while it's not against Manny Pacquiao as so many boxing enthusiasts have called for, Cotto presents an interesting challenge. "Money," at 42-0, looks like an unstoppable force. His defensive style and unmatched speed have made him unbeatable throughout his illustrious career. But Cotto is younger, more powerful, and has a size advantage. Now the pair are set to square off later this evening (May 5, 2012) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a major prize fight that will air on HBO pay-per-view (PPV), beginning at 9 p.m. ET. So how did both men prepare for tonight's showdown? The HBO 24/7 crew followed both fighters and found out in the lead-up to tonight's explosive match-up. Watch every episode to catch yourself up after the jump. Enjoy: Episode 1: Episode 2: Episode 3: REMEMBER: MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of "Mayweather vs. Cotto" this evening, starting with the HBO pay-per-view (PPV) under card at 9 p.m. ET. See you soon! More Cotto-Margarito Coverage From SBNBad Left Hook | MMA Mania | MMA Nation | Bloody Elbow

Posted in: mayweather, hbo, vs, episode, cotto

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Bad Left Hook reports that Floyd Mayweather is upset with the current HBO offering of its 24/7 series with Miguel Cotto.  Mayweather believes that the producers have edited out footage he believes would be more entertaining. After this past Saturday’s episode, Mayweather tweeted his displeasure for the show and stated that the Mayweather camp had “exciting content” which was not used. As BLH points out, the 24/7 franchise is wearing thin when it features either Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. There’s only so much that you can show of either fighter when most of the world awaits for them to fight. Payout Perspective: The 24/7 series is a great platform to promote boxing.  As such, it should take a break from Mayweather and Pacquiao and focus on another compelling fight.  And just do one episode.  Perhaps the problem is that there are three or four episodes which makes the series repetitive.  With big HBO PPV fights being promoted on multiple Time Warner networks, its likely we will continue to see the 24/7 series.  While its stale to HBO viewers, the experience is relatively new to those watching it on CNN. What would be more entertaining to promote fights is to show past fights to show how exciting the upcoming fight will be.  The Audience Network does this and HBO has in the past. However, I’m sure there’s a need for original content and 24/7 still does it the best.

Posted in: fight, mayweather, hbo, series, hbo offering

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ESPN reports that HBO has secured the rights to the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto fight on May 5th. Despite a challenge from rival Showtime, HBO PPV will have the fight. The rights acquisition was the first major move by former Showtime sports head Ken Hersman after Ross Greenburg left the post amidst the premium channel’s first loss of a Manny Pacquiao fight to Showtime. The fight will likely include its standard 24/7 lead-up to the big fight as well as additional marketing and cross-promotional opportunities with Time Warner’s other properties. Payout Perspective: It appears that HBO has stepped up its game since losing the Pacquiao-Mosley fight. Despite whether or not you like Floyd Mayweather, he is a boxing draw and made for promotional shows like HBO’s well-done “24/7” series. Showtime had an exceptional show last night but it was overshadowed by the Haye-Chisora brawl (more on this later). Unfortunately for Showtime, its first big fight in 2012, Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto, was put off due to an injury to Berto. As for Mayweather-Cotto, you can expect some definite hype based upon the success of Cotto since his loss to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather being Floyd Mayweather. Certainly, 24/7 will be much more attractive considering Mayweather going to jail, Manny Pacquiao and his recent comments about Jeremy Lin.

Posted in: fight, hbo, floyd, floyd mayweather, showtime

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Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports posted an article on the need for HBO and Showtime to rethink its boxing business model. Iole points out that both networks are overpaying for license fees for its fights and a rethinking its business models may help the business. Unlike the UFC pay issue, Iole points out that some fighters are being overpaid and not producing for their paycheck. Via Yahoo! Sports: The problem from a fan’s perspective, of course, is that far too often the boxers earn exorbitant purses for fighting ordinary, at best, competition. And that gives them less incentive to take on a stiffer fight in the future. Iole points to HBO’s acquisition of the rematch between lightweights Lamont Peterson and Amir Khan. While its expected that most tickets for the Mandalay Bay will be comped, both fighters will make over $1 million. The challenge is putting on compelling fights that fans will want to see. Iole believes making the fights are difficult due to the fighter paydays. Both HBO and Showtime are looking into ways to market boxing and present compelling television. Iole suggests the following: Only pay the fighters who are willing to take tough bouts; who perform when they get those big matches; who sell tickets on a regular basis. Then, whatever money they save in salary, they can pour back into the sport by developing support programming that will actually help fans identify with the athletes and want to watch them compete. Payout Perspective: Its interesting that Iole’s suggestion is similar (not the same) to the UFC model. I don’t think I see this happening considering Showtime’s renewed interest in boxing and its hope to supplant HBO for big fights. One of the things that boxing needs to do is to introduce fighters to the public; present compelling stories so that viewers are drawn to watching their fights. NBC Sports Network is attempting to do this with its quarterly Fight Nights. We will see if Spike TV does something similar for its boxing programming (if it comes to fruition). The other, of course, is to make the fights people want to see. (e.g., Mayweather-Pacquiao). Obviously, the promoters are the other factor in this equation which is a definite roadblock to a retooling of the boxing business model. With HBO and Showtime actively competing for big events and offering top dollar plus the added benefit of utilizing the full force of its network partners for marketing and promotion, boxing could make a comeback. We’ll have to wait and see on how each will proceed.

Posted in: fight, business, hbo, boxing, iole

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The Sports Business Journal reported about the possibility of Showtime surpassing HBO Boxing for marquee fights and fighters. The article underscores the change at the top of each network’s sports divisions as a possible reason. SBJ (subscription required) points to the Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz rematch, which many believe was the Fight of the Year for 2011, as evidence that Showitme is making a move on HBO. Also, changes at the top of each network’s sport division may be the reason for the sudden competition for boxing rights. Ross Greenburg left HBO last year and was replaced by Showtime head Ken Hershman. Hersman, as some recall, butted heads with Dana White regarding negotiations with Strikeforce. This may have been one of the reasons that Showtime and Zuffa were able to strike a new deal for Strikeforce late last year. Showtime replaced Hershman with Golden Boy’s former attorney Stephen Espinoza. Espinoza’s quickly moved on the Berto-Ortiz rematch as Showtime paid only $100,000 more than HBO: $2.2 million. The article also indicates that HBO’s budget “will be about $35 million this year, about half of what it spent as recently as five years ago.” On the other hand, Showtime will increase its budget to at least $28 million. Payout Perspective: This will be an intriguing year for boxing fans as we may see a shift of key fights moving from HBO to Showtime. Last year, we saw that Showtime take the Pacquiao-Mosley fight only for HBO to step up an regain Pacquiao for Marquez as well as Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito. The SBJ points out that this is the first time in 20 years that there has been an authentic fight for US television rights. The newfound bidding war in boxing can only help the sport and perhaps revitalize tv interest in the fight game. We’ve recently seen NBC Sports and Spike TV announce plans to feature boxing in its programming. The only question is how promoters plan to market their fighters. Right now, only a few boxers stand out and the rest are not known to the casual viewers.

Posted in: fight, hbo, boxing, showtime, year

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will once again go head-to-head with a major boxing match when it pits The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 14 Finale on Spike TV opposite the long-awaited rematch between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito. The proud Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters, respectively, first met more than three years ago on July 26, 2008, battling back-and-forth for 11 action-packed rounds before Margarito scored a come-from-behind technical knockout win. To read a detailed recap of Cotto vs. Margarito 1 click here. But, Margarito's sudden fame and fortune was short lived, getting mired in an illegal handwrapping controversy in his next fight against Shane Mosely, which cast serious doubt over the legitimacy of his brutal win over Cotto. Now the pair is set to settle their bitter score later this evening (Dec. 3, 2011) from Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., in a major prize fight that will air on HBO pay-per-view (PPV), beginning at 9 p.m. ET. So how did both men prepare for tonight's second date with destiny? The HBO 24/7 crew followed both fighters and found out in the lead-up to tonight's explosive showdown. Watch every episode to catch yourself up after the jump. Enjoy: 24/7 Cotto/Margarito Episode 1 24/7 Cotto/Margarito Episode 2 REMEMBER: MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of "Cotto vs. Margarito 2" this evening, starting with the HBO pay-per-view (PPV) under card at 9 P.M. ET. See you soon! More Cotto-Margarito Coverage From SBNBad Left Hook | MMA Mania | MMA Nation | Bloody Elbow

Posted in: hbo, vs, miguel cotto, margarito, cotto

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Indy/Puro fans, as well as Colorado football fans suffered another tough loss last week with the passing of Mark "Bison" Smith.  He was always a gruff, private guy, but on Cabana's podcast, as everyone does, he really opened up and I liked him a lot more.  Fucking month and change later he's gone.  Rest easy, Bison.On a better note, Your Mom!  Onto YWICS. This fanpost was promoted to the front page by Tim Burke And That's the Way it Was: Ten Fighters after last weekend who are shining.  No fading allowed:1. Saul Alvarez2. Eduardo Dantas3. Adrien Broner4. Mamed Khalidov5. Marius Zaromskis6. Patricky Freire7. Gary Russell Jr.8. Dave Menne9. Jesse Bongfeldt10. Karl Amoussou   Friday December 212:30am    Shark Fights (Fuel TV)1:00am    James Tillis vs. Pinklon Thomas (ESPN Classic)2:00am    Dwight Braxton vs. Matthew Saad Muhammed I (ESPN Classic)2:30am    Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto I (HBO Zone)3:00am    Al Lewis vs. Muhammed Ali (ESPN Classic)3:30am    Tim Coleman vs. Vernon Paris (ESPN 3D)4:00am    Benny Paret vs. Gene Fullmer (ESPN Classic)10:00am    SportsCentury: Mike Tyson (ESPN Classic)3:30pm    ProElite: Big Funs (HDNet)4:00pm    Face Off: Cotto/Margarito (HBO2)8:00pm    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO)8:00pm    Inside MMA w/Michael Bisping, Ian McCall, Nick Newell (HDNet)8:00pm    Cut Thorat MMA: Invasion 4 (GoFightLive $9.99)8:30pm    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO)8:30pm    Tachi Palace Fights 11: Redemption (Sherdog.com)9:00pm    24/7 Cotto/Margarito Overtime Live (HBO)9:00pm    XFC 15: Tribute (HDNet)9:00pm    UFC 140 Countdown (Fuel TV)10:00pm    Legend Fighting Championships 3/4 (Fuel TV)11:00pm    Anthony Dirrell vs. Renan St. Juste/Chris Avalos vs. Jhonatan Romero (Showtime)11:30pm    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO)Saturday December 312:00am    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO)12:30am    24/7 Cotto/Margarito Overtime (HBO)1:00am    Inside MMA w/Michael Bisping, Ian McCall, Nick Newell (HDNet)2:00am    Anthony Dirrell vs. Renan St. Juste/Chris Avalos vs. Jhonatan Romero (Showtime Extreme)2:00am    XFC 15: Tribute (HDNet)3:00am    Legend Fighting Championship 3/4 (Fuel TV)9:00am    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)10:00am    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO)10:30am    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO)11:00am    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)11:00am    24/7 Cotto/Margarito Overtime (HBO)11:30am    Face Off: Cotto vs. Magarito (HBO)12:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)1:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)2:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)2:00pm    Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto I (HBO Zone)3:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)3:00pm    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO Zone)3:30pm    24/7 Cotto/Margarito (HBO Zone)4:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)4:00pm    24/7 Cotto/Margarito Overtime (HBO Zone)4:30pm    Cotto/Margarito: In & Out of the Ring (HBO Zone)4:30pm    David Lopez vs. Hugo Centeno (FSN)5:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)5:00pm    Fight Day Now! (HBO Zone)6:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)7:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 (Spike TV)7:00pm    The Warriors Cup XIII (GoFightLive $14.99)8:00pm    The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale (Spike TV)9:00pm    Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto II (PPV)9:00pm    Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko/Anselmo Moreno vs. Vic Darchinyan (Showtime)9:00pm    Legend Fighting Championships 3/4 (Fuel TV)10:00pm    Epic Fighting 9: California State Finals (GoFightLive $9.99)11:30pm    Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko/Anselmo Moreno vs. Vic Darchinyan (Showtime Extreme)Sunday December 412:00am    The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale (Spike TV)9:00pm    UFC 140 Countdown (FSN)   Under the Radar: Names that aren't on American broadcasted shows this week.Felix Sturm vs. Martin Murray (December 2, Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany)Alexander Povetkin vs. Cedric Boswell (December 3, Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland)Manabu Inoue vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari (Pancrase Impressive Tour 13, December 3, Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan)Geronimo dos Santos vs. Cristiano Souza (Golden Fight 3, December 3, Amapa, Brazil)John Alessio vs. Ryan Healy (Score Fighting Series 3: Alessio vs. Healy, December 3, RBC Center, Sarnia, Ontario)   Best Viewing Options: A man who has been thoroughly impressed with the new and improved Beavis and Butthead this season attempts to point you in other fruitful viewing ventures.1. Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto II: Not so much for the main event, which I could take or leave, but the fucking undercard.  Wow.  Brandon Rios, Mike Jones, and the rematch of my FOTY, Wolak vs. Rodriguez.  YUS!  THAT'S how you craft a fucking undercard.2. TUF 14 Finale: I won't be breaking any new ground with hatespeak on Bisping, so I'll add this.  Sonnen would 30-25 Bisping and Mayhem.  In no way should the winner fight Silva yet.3. Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko: You know, Diamond MMA makes a cup...4. Tachi Palace Fights 11: Oh, this should be good.  On the heels of the EPIC viewing experience that was Tachi Palace Fights 10, the good folks at Sherdog bring us the eleventh installment from the godfathers of WEC.  Come for Bubba Jenkins, flyweights, and free high--level MMA.  Stay for the streaming quality of 7th-grade girls intramural volleyball, Jordan Breen, AND THE CIRCLE OF DEATH.  I strongly urge all of you to find the TPF 10 Live Thread.  That's one of the funniest goddamn three hours I've ever spent.5. 24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito: The final installment of the epic series for these two.6. Inside MMA: Bas is currently asking on Twitter what your favorite Bas moment is.  I'm on hour number ten.7. XFC 15: Wow, is this a shitty card.  This makes one of Legacy or Titan's HDNet cards look like UFC 92.  Jesus.  But hey, the return of Imani Lee!  I know I've needed a little more Imani Lee in my life.  Plus, Nick Newell, one-armed fighter!  I don't want to bag on XFC too hard, and they've put on some decent shows in the past, but when your two main draws are a 350-pound super heavyweight and a one-armed fighter.  Yeah, that's a fucking gimmick card.8. The Warriors Cup XIII: Something that's NOT a gimmick.  Warriors Cup Muay-Thai!  Damn your $15 price tag!9. Al Lewis vs. Muhammed Ali: Who doesn't love some hot Cassius Clay action at 3AM?  NOT THIS GUY!  Though, I think Joe Louis would destroy him in each of their primes...discussion for another time.t10. Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto I: Last chance to catch it before the rematch, kids.t10: Anthony Dirrell vs. Renan St. Juste/Chris Avalos vs. Jhonatan Romero: Meh.  Sure.   BV Loses You Money:  Ahhh...back on the losing side this week.  Feels right.  Cozy.Last Weekend's Hangover:If you put down $100 on each of my predictions last week, you'd have today:$113BV Lost You: $87!On the Year: -$635This Weekend:Miguel Cotto -200 Antonio MargaritoUnder 10.5 rounds Cotto/Margarito +145Joseph Agbeko -115 Abner MaresBrandon Rios -1200 John MurrayJason Miller +175 Michael BispingLines courtesy of BetUS   Fight of the Week:  The scene is Jungle Fight 1 at Manaus in 2003, where a 3-0 Stephan Bonnar (with all wins by submission to that point, including a win over Brian Ebersole) faces off against 1-0 prospect Lyoto Machida.  SOMEBODY'S O HAS GOTTA GO!!!  I'm so sorry.  Even with so little experience, Machida's counter-fighting is fantastic to watch. Stephan Bonnar vs Lyoto Machida (via oyzterslush)   Take a Knee: Even the biggest combat sports fan needs to recharge their batteries before diving back in.  Here are five games that are nationally broadcasted this weekend that deserve your eyes as well on Friday and Saturday. (Note: I'll be excluding my teams from this to avoid homerism.)Georgia vs. LSU (Saturday, 4:00, CBS): SEC Championship game!  Georgia is a damned solid team....but they're not LSU.  Last step to LSU-Bama II for the National Title game.UCLA @ Oregon (Friday, 8:00, FOX): First-ever Pac-12 title game and it features the mighty Oregon Ducks against...UCLA?  Hm.  Alright.Montreal @ Los Angeles (Saturday, 3:30, NHL Network, CBC, Fox Sports West): All I want for Christmas...is Mike Richards and PK Subban fighting to the death.  A steel-belt boy can dream.Toronto @ Boston (Saturday, 7:00, NHL Network, CBC, NESN): If Kessel and Seguin just threw down at center ice, the CBC feed would explode and Don Cherry would have a stroke.  Quite frankly, there's still time, gentlemen.Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State (Saturday, 8:00, ABC): BEDLAM!...would have meant a lot more two weeks ago.  As it is, still a great game, but definitely loses some stank on it.   Your YouTube Finale: The fine men of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in one of their crowning achievements, Space Mutiny.  Also, for those that don't know, they're still around doing a project called Rifftrax. Best of MST3k: Space Mutiny (via theblackwolf72)

Posted in: hbo, fighter, vs, tv, cottomargarito

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The future of Strikeforce on Showtime has been a matter of some interest and concern for MMA fans. With the UFC taking stars from the Strikeforce roster already and hinting at wanting to bring in more top talent, it seems that Strikeforce's days are numbered. But UFC president Dana White has said several times that they are trying to continue the promotion going forward. In late August, White told Ariel Helwani that he met with Showtime execs and it went well as far as keeping Strikeforce around. However, on November 14 it was announced that Showtime had hired Stephen Espinoza as Ken Hershman's replacement as executive VP and general manager of Showtime Sports after Hershman left for HBO. Espinoza had a boxing background after working as an attorney for men like Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya while also working with Golden Boy Promotions. While no one was quite sure how Espinoza would handle sports going forward after Hershman established a pattern of looking to pay solid rights fees for good fights in boxing while also showing a grand vision by bringing Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley to the network and organizing the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Today saw some big news for the network as they outbid HBO to get the rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto. This is a big rematch that did very solid viewership numbers for HBO the first time out. Showtime going after the fight shows that they have a commitment to getting big fights on the network and are willing to pay for them. Now, networks like HBO and Showtime work on a yearly budget for boxing. This leads to situations like HBO bidding against themselves and overpaying for the box office bomb that was Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley. That overpayment forced HBO to put Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson on PPV even though they knew it wasn't a PPV worthy fight, it was just necessary given their depleted fight budget. I'd be lying if I said I had any idea what Showtime's budget is or if they tie the Strikeforce money to the overall budget with boxing. But paying a rights fee of $2.5 million for Berto vs. Ortiz is an indication that they're keyed in on making 2012 a big year for boxing. I think it's entirely fair to wonder if this is a revealing signal of their priorities going forward. If they can take the yearly expense of paying rights fees for Strikeforce events and even buy 2-3 more fights like this, it may be of more long term value as Showtime continues to build up their reputation as a very stiff competitor to HBO for the best boxing action. If that is of a high enough priority and the network isn't interested in ratings for Strikeforce that haven't shown steady improvement while the UFC picks off their top fighters, it may be the end for the promotion on Showtime once the contract is up.

Posted in: fight, hbo, strikeforce, boxing, showtime

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This fanpost was promoted to the front page by Tim Burke. Folks, lads, gentlemen, ladies.  Enjoy your Thanksgiving.  Some incredible football on Thursday, the first time in ten years I no longer have to work a Black Friday, and awesome sports all weekend.  I'll leave you with this, from the great Drew Magary. "I'm a dark meat man. None of this bland white meat shit.  Dark meat is moister and has more fat. It's like Kate Winslet. And who doesn't enjoy Kate Winslet?" And That's the Way it Was: Ten Fighters after last weekend who are shining.  No fading allowed:1. Dan Henderson2. Mauricio Rua3. Michael Chandler4. Urijah Faber5. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.6. Wanderlei Silva7. Giorgio Petrosyan8. Ronda Rousey9. Lumumba Sayers10. Hector Lombard Friday November 254:00am    Francisco Sierra vs. Jesus Gonzales (ESPN 3D)3:30pm    Best of Dream (HDNet)7:00pm    Greg Haugen vs. Hector Camacho II (ESPN Classic)8:00pm    Cage Fighting Manitoba 3 (GFL $9.99)8:30pm    24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito (HBO2)9:00pm    Shark Fights (Fuel TV)9:00pm    School of Hard Knocks 18 (GFL $9.99)9:30pm    Muay Thai Fighting Championship: Canada vs. China (GFL $14.99)11:30pm    Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto I (HBO2)Saturday November 2612:00am    Shark Fights (Fuel TV)12:30am    24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito (HBO)12:30am    Inside MMA w/Urijah Faber, Tito Ortiz (HDNet)1:30am    Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Undercard (HDNet)3:30am    Inside MMA w/Urijah Faber, Tito Ortiz (HDNet)4:30am    Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Undercard (HDNet)9:30am    Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto I (HBO2)10:00am    Big 8 Muay Thai: WKN World Grand Prix (GFL $14.99)10:30am    24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito (HBO)7:00pm    Bellator 59 Preliminaries (Spike.com)8:00pm    John Molina Jr. vs. Rob Frankel (ESPN 3D)9:00pm    Bellator 59 (MTV2)9:00pm    Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1 (GFL $9.99)9:30pm    Rumble in the Cage 45 (GFL $9.99)10:00pm    24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito (HBO)10:30pm    Kermit Cintron vs. Saul Alvarez/Adrien Broner vs. Vincente Martin Rodriguez (HBO)Sunday November 271:00am    24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito (HBO)1:30am    Face-Off: Cotto-Margarito (HBO)9:15am    Kermit Cintron vs. Saul Alvarez/Adrien Broner vs. Vincente Martin Rodriguez (HB0)11:45am    24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito (HBO)12:15pm    Face-Off: Cotto-Margarito (HBO)5:15pm    Kermit Cintron vs. Saul Alvarez/Adrien Broner vs. Vincente Martin Rodriguez (HB0)8:00pm    Alejandro Lopez vs. Teon Kennedy (FSN)10:00pm    Mark Jason Melligen vs. Sebastian Lujan (ESPN 3D)11:00pm    24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito (HBO2)   Under the Radar: Names that aren't on American broadcasted shows this week.Mamed Khalidov vs. Paulo Filho (November 26, KSW 17, Atlas Arena, Lodz, Poland)James Thompson vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski (November 26, KSW 17, Atlas Arena, Lodz, Poland)Jan Blachowicz vs. Rameau Thierry Sokodjou (November 26, KSW 17, Atlas Arena, Lodz, Poland)Matt Horwich vs. Michal Materla (November 26, KSW 17, Atlas Arena, Lodz, Poland)Ray Sefo vs. Jorgen Kruth (November 26, Rumble of the Kings, Hovet Arena, Stockholm, Sweden)Marius Zaromskis vs. Bruno Carvalho  (November 26, Rumble of the Kings, Hovet Arena, Stockholm, Sweden)Delson Heleno vs. Edgar Dayan (November 26, Campos Combat, Campos dos Goytacazes Exhibition Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)Donald Sanchez vs. Dave Roberts (November 26, KOTC: Triumph, Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino, Mescalero, New Mexico)Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Brandon MacArthur (November 26, Rumble in the Cage 45, Exhibition South Pavilion, Lethbridge, Alberta)Roger Huerta vs. War Machine (November 26, Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1, Pharr, Texas)Dave Menne vs. Eric Davila  (November 26, Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1, Pharr, Texas)   Best Viewing Options: Everything comes secondary to the rebirth of the The Kid. #87. #typicalobnoxiouspenguinsfan1. Bellator 59: Tidy little card to wrap up Season Five.  Heavyweight and Bantamweight finals.  Also, Pellegrino and his annoying tweets against Pitbull.2. Kermit Cintron vs. Saul Alvarez: This fight has lost a little shine since Saul's trouble outside the ring, but it's still a chance to see Canelo on extended cable.3. Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1: Trainwreck coming through!  Real-life superhero Huerta vs. real-life twatwaffle Jon Koppenhaver.4. Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto I: The fight was called "The Battle".  It says enough that nobody bats an eyelash at the naming of it.  Watch ASAP.5. Inside MMA: Celebrate your holiday with Bas Rutten.  Then go liver kick a turkey.6. 24/7 Cotto vs. Margarito: Brookhouse recently said Mexico vs. Puerto Rico boxing was the biggest rivalry in sports.  Want to dispute him?  You'll need to watch 24/7.  BV IS SUCH A SHIT-STIRRER!7. Big 8 Muay Thai: Saturday morning Muay Thai people!  Kick it in the ass!8. Muay Thai Fighting Championship: FINALLY, someone has thrown down the gauntlet and put to rest the long-standing centuries old blood rivalry of Canada and China.  Had to be done, people!9. Best of Dream: Wow, what a thin goddamned week for the fighting arts.  Meh, best of Dream is good Friday filler.10. Rumble in the Cage 45: $10 to see Jesse Bongfeldt fight?  Anyone?  Anyone?   BV Loses You Money:  Holy living fuck!  I turned a profit!  Time to start stockpiling tomato soup and powdered water, kids.Last Weekend's Hangover:If you put down $100 on each of my predictions last week, you'd have today:$883BV WON You: $383!On the Year: -$548This Weekend:Kurt Pellegrino -150 Patricky FreireSaul Alvarez -800 Kermit CintronLines courtesy of BetUS   Fight of the Week:  Most of you have seen this fight, but it bears a rewatch.  Evangelista Santos vs. Melvin Manhoef from Cage Rage. Melvin Manhoef vs Evangelista Santos (via CHARLATAANS)   Take a Knee: Even the biggest combat sports fan needs to recharge their batteries before diving back in.  Here are five games that are nationally broadcasted this weekend that deserve your eyes as well on Friday and Saturday. (Note: I'll be excluding my teams from this to avoid homerism and only including nationally broadcasted games.)Philadelphia @ New York Rangers (Saturday, 2:00, NHL Network): Winter Classic preview!  As a Pens fan, I love to watch these Atlantic games (or any Atlantic vs. Washington game), and just watch them kick the shit out of each other.  I just hope it doesn't go to overtime to give either team an extra point.  Oh, and Claude Giroux is a man.  Can't even hate him.  He's fantastic.New York Rangers @ Washington (Friday 3:00, NHL Network): See above.  Ahhh, afternoon Thanksgiving weekend hockey.  Ahhh.Arkansas @ LSU (Friday 2:30, CBS): FUCK THIS GAME IS HUGE!  Fucking SEC West, man.  What a division.  LSU controls its destiny to the title game.  With Les Miles, world's luckiest coach, at the helm, it should be a fun ride.  Even cooler it comes on a Friday afternoon.Alabama @ Auburn (Saturday 3:30 CBS): Iron Bowl, son!  The next step towards LSU-Bama II for the National Title.Iowa @ Nebraska (Friday Noon, ABC): This will be a sneaky-good game.  Relevent in the B1G (that's how their logo looks, unfortunately) conference.   Your YouTube Finale: Simply put, one of the most amazing videos on teh interwebz I've ever seen.  I think I've watched this three times a week for the last ten months.  I still can't believe The Social Network housed Inception on so many awards.  I hate the Academy.  Also, Despicable Me was awesome and I'll fight anyone that disagrees. Filmography 2010 (via genrocks)

Posted in: hbo, vs, november, margarito, cotto

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It's a big weekend for fight fans. But perhaps one of the more unique things about it is that for once, boxing and MMA fans can kiss and make up. The critics can no longer refer to MMA as an underground sport for degenerates: being on FOX forces them to take notice. But for MMA fans, perhaps this is a good time to get them acquainted with boxing too.  When Manny Pacquiao entered the boxing world of the elite, he did so during a crucial period: a period spawned by two great Mexican Bantamweight boxers. Marco Antonio Barrera, and Erik Morales. They put on an absolute classic in 2000 at Mandalay Bay (highlights and videos after the jump). Morales won, though not without controversy: it was a nip tuck battle all the way, and when Barrera scored a knockdown in the 12th, fans and media thought for sure that would seal the fight for MAB. It didn't, and Morales would leave from Bantanweight to Featherweight. However, it was Barrera who would score the biggest win that put FW on the map: a map outlined first by the real king of FW - a brash, British boxer named Naseem 'Prince' Hamed. He was undefeated, had unreal power, and with a crowed pleasing style is sometimes credited as the boxer that paved the way for the lighter weights to make money. But that power was attached to a boxer with little consideration for defense, relying more on head movement and reflexes than fundamentals. He'd fight with his hands down, and against one of his toughest opponents in Kevin Kelley, he'd pay for those habits: several times. But he was too loud to be deterred, and he ended up putting Kelley down in brutal fashion. Despite flashes of humanity, he was still a boxing deity to many. So here comes Barrera, the underdog. While the fight is, I think, unfairly characterized as lopsided, it was still comfortably Barrera's. It was a picture perfect example of how a fight can be completely engrossing, and yet be completely technical at the same time. There wasn't drama: just mechanics. And it was just as glorious. With Hamed dethroned (much to the delight of HBO's commentary booth, who all but poured champagne over MAB's head), Barrera became the new face of Featherweight. With the Barrera/Morales trilogy still ongoing, a one, Manny Pacquiao would makes his way to the division. His first high profile fight was against Barrera, and cut a path down the middle, stem to sternum. While much was made of the wildfires of California that disrupted his training camp, and a metal plate in his head, it didn't change the fact that Manny had arrived, and was here to stay. His next fight would be against Juan Manuel Marquez: a Mexican fighter distanced from the spotlight, though well respected. At this point, you guys can take it from here. Marquez was battered in the first round. He was knocked down three times. But watch the round again: Marquez displayed supernatural toughness. Yes, he got caught, but in the seconds that remained after the 3rd knockdown, he took left hands that were considerably worse. For many fighters, that 3rd knockdown could have been an excuse not to get back up. Nobody would have thought of him any less either. But he did, and won so many rounds after that, the fight was scored a draw (the caveat being that any round containing 3 knockdowns should be ruled a 10-6, which the judge who scored the fight a draw failed to do, instead scoring it 10-7). It was a great fight that should have put Marquez in the same territory as MAB, Morales, and even Pacman. But it didn't. His career stalled after that. Pricing himself out of big name fights (having turned down the immediate rematch with Pacquaio), he'd go on to take questionable fights (and for less money: though to be fair, I don't know Marquez' reasons). Orlando Salcido had no business being in the ring with him. Chris John did, but it was a strange fight to take: Marquez traveled all the way to Indonesia to capture the WBA Featherweight title. It was a big risk, low reward fight made all the more embarrassing by the fact that Marquez lost.  Juan continued his string of strange fights, and none more symbolic than his bout with the Filipino sensation Jim...rex...Jaca? Jimrex, like Pacman, was a southpaw. Lederman had Jaca winning two rounds to one going into the 3rd, emphasizing the problems Marquez was having. Juan would win in the 9th, but it prompted the question, "what for?" Marquez would finally start getting big name fights following the bout with Jimrex. And eventually, he got his rematch with Manny. Though not as dramatic as the first, it was another brilliant technical affair by both men. I'm pleased that Marquez is entrenched into boxing lore alongside guys like MAB, and Morales. And while arguments are often made that he won both Pacquiao fights, I think Manny will win this one comfortably. Manny has continued to improve while Marquez has plateaued. In a way, I think it will look like Manny's rematch with Morales. Marquez has always relied on timing. He's the consummate counter puncher. But as that timing declines, so to will his ability to scout fighters like Manny. Manny by TKO, round 10.  For highlights of their first two encounters, and a few other goodies, hit the jump: HBO Boxing: Fights of the Decade - Marquez vs. Pacquiao I (HBO) (via HBO) HBO Boxing: Marquez vs Pacquiao II Highlights (HBO) (via HBO) HBO Boxing: Fights of the Decade - Morales vs. Barrera I (HBO) (via HBO) HBO Boxing: Fights of the Decade - Morales vs. Pacquiao II (HBO) (via HBO)

Posted in: fight, hbo, boxing, manny, marquez

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In prelude to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight, HBO will offer “Fight Day Now.” The show, which gets its take from NCAA Football’s GameDay on ESPN will be live from the lobby of the MGM Grand to offer hype for Saturday night’s fight. The Sports Business Journal reports that “Fight Day Now” will air at 4 p.m. Saturday on the HBO Zone channel. The hour long live show is sandwiched between two episodes each of HBO’s 24/7 series. The live show and 24/7 reruns give the third fight in the Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy 6 hours of same day hype. The live show hyping the Pacquiao fight hopes to garner the same buzz and fan frenzy as Saturday morning GameDays on ESPN. Payout Perspective: “Fight Day Now” will go directly against pre-UFC on Fox hype on Fuel TV so we’ll see which pre-show wins out. Honestly, if HBO ran Marquez-Pacquiao I and II prior to the PPV, it would be sufficient as in my opinion those fights (which are airing on the Audience Network) are the best vehicles of hype for this fight. The live show should capture the fan support for each fighter. Its an interesting programming move to sandwich the show between 24/7s. I think its a good move for those that love the 24/7 series. They’ll get the live show in between. However, not having the show on the main HBO channel might hurt viewership. On another note, with most of the pre-fight hype shows, how much do they help with viewership. There’s only so much you can talk about with Pacquiao-Marquez. On the UFC side, one might argue that there is reason to have an extended pre-fight show considering the number of casual viewers that may give the UFC a try Saturday night. But, how much is too much?

Posted in: fight, hbo, show, hype, pacquiao fight

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On Thursday, Ken Hershman, executive vice president and general manager of sports and event programming for Showtime, resigned after a nineteen years with the subscription-based network. Hershman was pivotal to the growth of mixed martial arts, bringing the sport to the network in 2007 in the form of EliteXC. EliteXC inevitably failed, but Hershman kept his resolve, adding Strikeforce to the portfolio and helping the small California-based promotion become a major player in the mixed martial arts' world. Hershman isn't leaving the industry however. He's been named the new president of HBO Sports, opening up the possibility that HBO will lift their embargo on the sport. In the aftermath of the news, there were also questions revolving around Showtime's continued committment to the sport. Will they work out a deal to keep Strikeforce on Showtime? Will they remain in the MMA business? BloodyElbow.com's own Brent Brookhouse opined yesterday that Hershman's move to HBO is likely focused more on helping boxing grow on the network versus bringing in a new option: Hershman's move to HBO isn't likely to bring MMA to that network either. Boxing remains a big part of HBO's identity and despite uninformed opinions that the network will eventually give up on the sport, they actually are investing even more in the sport. In 2012 the network is launching a midweek boxing show that will feature competitive fights on a smaller budget to try to aid the process of building up stars. I couldn't agree more, and I find it perplexing that the immediate reaction from many fans and media was the blatantly optimistic opinion that HBO will now open its doors to MMA. As for Showtime's future in the sport, Strikeforce is an option, although there are many reasons why staying connected to Zuffa may be the wrong way to go. These are only micro issues underneath the larger macro problem that start-ups and networks promoting MMA are entering the sport with an even steeper slope than we've ever seen before. The UFC's expansive reach, years and years of brand saturation, and buyout of the second largest promotion in the world has turned their large lake into an ocean, sucking the water from all the smaller lakes and ponds. They control a vast majority of the relevant talent in the sport with only a few outliers who are able to draw any semblance of interest from fans. Ten years ago, start-ups had options. EliteXC and Strikeforce both fed off veteran talent, both to promote their main card and test young prospects, while also taking advantage of regional honey holes like southern California. The more options, the more talent was willing to negotiate and take the best offer, especially when those smaller promotions were gaining traction in the television landscape. Fast forward to today, and we see that EliteXC has crumbled, Strikeforce has been swallowed by Zuffa, and casual interest outside of the UFC is at an all-time low. Look no further than ProElite for proof. I'm not attempting to be the most cynical man on the planet, but it's difficult to see a progressive trend of growth when Pedro Rizzo vs. Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton are the top two fights on one of the newest start-ups in the sport. The proven formula of growing prospective talent while bringing in name value doesn't work any longer because name value has disappeared. Who is Reagan Penn and Mark Ellis, assuming they progress into bona fide talents, going to fight down the road? The optimistic fans will throw Bellator right into my face. Look at what they've done! They've signed a bevy of great prospects, many of which are featured on the 2011 World MMA Scouting Report. They have notable names that fans will tune in to watch. Unfortunately, they are hindered by MTV2's decision to keep them on Saturday nights, going head-to-head with the UFC, and that's not their most glaring problem. Whether it's a start-up promotion or an established brand like Bellator, finding recognized veterans to prop up cards and draw in fans who wouldn't normally watch the card is becoming harder and harder to do. In fact, it's impossible to do these days. Bellator is going to find out quickly that Eddie Alvarez has nobody to fight. Same goes for the rest of their champions. What does any of this have to do with Showtime and HBO? In my opinion, Showtime's best option is to let Strikeforce go and start their own series. It isn't necessarily a promotion, more of a series of shows designed to build cheap programming and maintain subscribers. After the failure of EliteXC and the piece-by-piece stripping of anything worth a damn from Strikeforce by the UFC, Showtime's biggest issue has been outside forces crushing their MMA programming. The problem, however, is that there isn't any talent to build from. It's pointless for HBO to waste the money entering the market unless they want low budget, cheap programming regardless of name value. Same goes for Showtime. Even if they retain Strikeforce, it's going to be tough for them to gain enough steam to move away from sustainability into growth. The mere second a prospect begins showing signs of greatness, Zuffa will swoop in and sign him to a UFC contract. Smaller promotions in North America and beyond serve a purpose as development platforms for prospects, but I believe the days of spectacular growth, growth seen in two or three years in the market are gone. There isn't enough recognizable talent available to help small promotions gain eyes, and building prospects to a casual fanbase requires money to promote them. Even the latter is a risky endeavor. Will fans care more about Eduardo Dantas if they spend a lot of money promoting him? Who has he beaten? Who is Wilson Reis? Those are questions people will ask. Be honest and ask yourself... what fighters, outside of Zuffa, would you actually tune in to watch? Most will cite Bellator fighters, perhaps Nate Marquardt, Roger Huerta, or Shinya Aoki. How many of those are viable options for a promotion like Titan FC to bring in? Will that help them keep your interest for a prolonged period of time? Probably not. The point is that it isn't a large number. It's so small that there are barely any options for regional promotions looking to make an impact to consider.  This isn't the boom years of MMA any longer. The upward trend is slowly flattening out, and the UFC has come out as a massive presence. In North America, they dominate the landscape. Internationally, there is opportunity. More on that later. For promotions like Shark Fights and Titan Fighting Championships however, it doesn't look good. 

Posted in: promotion, hbo, strikeforce, sport, showtime

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Ken Hershman has been at Showtime since 1992, serving as the general manager of sports and event programming for several years. He has now expected to jump to HBO where he will replace Ross Greenburg. The most obvious sport this impacts is boxing as Hershman was one of the primary players in turning Showtime into a much more competitive network with HBO with a much smaller budget. Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook talks about the impact on the boxing world: HBO has already shown improvement in the second half of 2011, so Hershman coming on board should keep that momentum rolling. It's worth wondering what he's like with a major budget, though. There is a legitimate worry that he might get lazy with everything being that much easier. Things like the Super Six didn't come easy, and took a lot of work on his part. But doing something similar at HBO would, in theory, be far easier. This could be both a good and bad thing. Showtime has no successor in place for Hershman, and I wouldn't expect them to name anyone to a long-term position until 2012. As a boxing fan, without being corny, I'd like to tip my hat to what Hershman did at Showtime, and I feel good for him that his hard work has rewarded him with this opportunity. It's not about HBO being better at Showtime, but facts are facts, and HBO is the bigger fish. Hershman was absolutely, 100%, without question the man most qualified for the job at HBO Sports, and it's good to see that guy get it. Hershman was a big part of getting MMA onto Showtime (and CBS) and some MMA fans may even remember the pre-Zuffa owned Strikeforce days when Dana White would accuse Hershman and Showtime of being the ones actually running the promotion. Hershman responded to those claims to Sports Illustrated last June: We want to make sure that people understand our place in this sport. We're putting a lot of money and commitment into this sport. We're in it for the long run. We're not going anywhere, despite what anyone may suggest. All the kicking and screaming makes us hold true to that more firmly... I would say there isn't a network that I'm aware of that doesn't ensure the quality of what they put on the network meets whatever criteria they've established. There isn't one fight that gets on the air that I'm not satisfied meets the expectations that out subscribers hold us to. It would be irresponsible for me not to do otherwise. But to suggest that I'm running Strikeforce or controlling the matchups is ludicrous. The question becomes if Showtime will retain that commitment to the sport with Hershman's departure. Showtime execs are no doubt aware that Zuffa has been stripping Strikeforce for parts to beef up the UFC and that relationship seems likely to die the second the current TV deal is up. M-1 Global is likely to continue to be ratings death and even smaller ShoBox level boxing events will do better ratings for little more than the same price. Hershman's move to HBO isn't likely to bring MMA to that network either. Boxing remains a big part of HBO's identity and despite uninformed opinions that the network will eventually give up on the sport, they actually are investing even more in the sport. In 2012 the network is launching a midweek boxing show that will feature competitive fights on a smaller budget to try to aid the process of building up stars. Being realistic, there just aren't enough legitimate fighters outside of Zuffa control for either network to make any sort of long-term investment into MMA at this point. Bellator would be the only even somewhat reasonable option but their structure would have to change entirely as it simply doesn't work with the limited dates provided by the HBO and Showtime schedule. If we didn't already know that we were seeing the beginning of the end of MMA on premium cable, we should know for sure now.

Posted in: hbo, sport, showtime, network, hershman

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Ken Hershman has stepped down from his position as executive vice president and general manager of Showtime's sports and events programming, reportedly in favor of a position at rival premium-cable outlet HBO. Hershman, has long been considered a supporter of MMA and will apparently replace Ross Greenburg, who recently stepped down from his role as president of HBO Sports and was not necessarily a believer in the sport. Despite his past support of MMA, Hershman and UFC president Dana White have often failed to see eye-to-eye, and the two have often traded verbal barbs in the media.

Posted in: hbo, sport, president, hershman, ken hershman

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After Floyd Mayweather Jr. landed a clean (both in its effectiveness and legality) left hook-straight right combination that put down the headbutting Victor Ortiz, Larry Merchant entered the ring for his usual post-fight shenanigans. He pressed Mayweather on the "unsportsmanlike" blows, which Mayweather deflected ("Protect yourself at all times.") and celebrated ("And that's all she wrote."). Merchant questioned Mayweather three times about the ending, and sounded like he was phrasing it a fourth way until Mayweather cut him off, telling Merchant he's never given him (Mayweather) a fair shake, he doesn't know "s***" about boxing, and that HBO should fire him. Merchant now famously retorted, telling Mayweather he would "kick his ass" if he were 50 years younger. UFC President Dana White has let his feelings be known about the fight, ultimately placing blame on referee Joe Cortez for his inability to control the action after the headbutt. White spoke to MMA Fighting about the Mayweather-Merchant altercation following the bout: "I actually thought that that was very embarrassing for HBO," the UFC president said. "The guy is senile, he's out of his mind. He's up there berating Floyd, but Floyd can't say anything back to you? You've been disrespecting guys your whole career, and guess what, you can go back 60 years, you're not kicking Floyd's ass, okay? Give me a break. And what's Floyd going to do? A 102-year-old guy just said that to him." Now, I don't think HBO should fire Merchant for this situation. (He should...be fired...for...sounding...like...he would...rather...be...watching...Golden Girls reruns...from...the comfort...of his...home.) But this was a less-than-professional, though hilarious, moment for Merchant. And, in my opinion, it came on the heels of Mayweather saying nothing that hasn't been said by viewers of HBO boxing over the last few years. Merchant came dangerously close to assaulting a fighter in the ring, his "if I was 50 years younger" qualifier and 1931 birth year saving him from that accusation. Yet, like the Ortiz situation, it's Mayweather who is portrayed as the villain.

Posted in: mayweather, hbo, floyd, year, merchant

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The Sports Business Journal has a report on the Time Warner synergy in promoting the Mayweather-Ortiz fight set to go this Saturday. This was the first time that HBO received help from its other outlets to promote a PPV fight. Notably, CNN ran HBO’s 24/7 series over its network as well as having Victor Ortiz and Oscar de la Hoya on “Piers Morgan Tonight.” Promotion of the fight was run during Anderson Cooper’s show on CNN and on TBS during its airing of Major League Baseball. More promos were shown online at SI.com, Time.com, CNNMoney.com and Forbes.com. Mayweather also appeared on TBS’ “Conan” on Monday. HBO will also bulk up its boxing promotion by adding “24/7 Overtime Live” after the finale of the 24/7 series Friday. It will also include a 6 hour block of boxing as well as 24/7 reruns prior to the PPV Saturday. In addition, the Audience Network (formerly the 101) on DirecTV has been playing reruns of Mayweather-Mosley and Ortiz-Berto. HBO aspires to break the sports PPV record set by Mayweather-de la Hoya which did 2.4 million PPV buys. Payout Perspective: The article is an interesting look at what will likely be the new model for promotion of a big boxing PPV.  I’ve noticed that on DirecTV the PPV price for this fight has gone up $5 to $69.99 (for HD). The move was definitely fostered by Showtime taking Pacquiao-Mosley away from the HBO franchise this past spring. Not sure how the synergy is adding to the PPV buys but if you were to look at the box office, the extra promotion is not helping attendance as Bad Left Hook reports (via Dan Rafael) that the fight is far from a sell out as the MGM Grand is calling its VIPs to take tickets. Its unlikely that the PPV record will be threatened with this fight. However, the cross promotion of the fight across the Time Warner family is something we should see in the future.

Posted in: fight, ppv, promotion, hbo, time

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