Last Saturday, when Top Rank CEO Bob Arum and adviser Sampson Lewkowicz both revealed that WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. would indeed defend his title against Sergio Martinez on September 15th, boxing fans immediately assumed that they would be forced to choose between dueling pay-per-views, as Golden Boy Promotions had already held a conference call to announce a Showtime Pay-Per-View event dubbed "Knockout Kings", featuring WBC jr. middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez defending his title against former welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on the same date. Although Arum and Lewkowicz have been very vocal about moving forward with their event on September 15th, advising Golden Boy Promotions to move their date to avoid going head-to-head, Martinez's own promoter, Lou DiBella, has been uncharacteristically quiet and officials from HBO have yet to confirm their involvement.
Unlike HBO, Showtime has already voiced their commitment to broadcast Alvarez vs. Ortiz on September 15th. In fact, according to Stephen Espinoza, the Executive Vice President/General Manager of Showtime Sports, plans are already in place to produce a four-part "All Access" series, in English and in Spanish, that will air on Showtime as well as CBS leading up to the bout. "Canelo Alvarez is one of the most entertaining and charismatic fighters in the sport and there's nobody better to headline the card on Mexican Independence Day," Espinoza would tell ESPN.com. "Canelo is one of the biggest superstars in Mexico and we have full confidence he will develop into one in the United States."
Although Top Rank announced Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez as a September 15th HBO Pay-Per-View event on their official Twitter page, it is unclear at this point if HBO will indeed move forward and go head-to-head with Showtime. During a recent interview, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer essentially threatened HBO that he would "take notice of that" if they did decide to participate in a dueling pay-per-view. "And by the way, HBO knows...if they are going to go and play those games, going against a pay-per-view with us, and supporting that kind of behavior, supporting the behavior of going in the same city, all of that.....I'll take notice of that," Schaefer would tell Rick Reeno of Boxingscene.com. "HBO knows exactly why Canelo went to Showtime and I'm not going to go and discuss that in the press. They know exactly why and I'm not going to say anything, but when the time comes I will. Arum has been able to get away with bullying everybody, but he knows that he can't bully me. He was never able to and he never will. And he knows that. It is what it is."
Although HBO may back down due to Richard Schaefer's threats, I wouldn't expect Bob Arum to do the same. Don't be surprised if Arum fully plans on moving forward with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fighting on the weekend of Mexican Independence Day, despite the fact HBO is rumored to be holding October 6th as a backup plan. The question is, without the backing of HBO, will Chavez Jr. still be fighting Sergio Martinez on September 15th? According to sources, Chavez Jr. has yet to sign a contract, and as previously stated, promoter Lou DiBella has been far too quiet on the subject of the fight, making you wonder just how much of a done deal this fight really is. Without the financial support of HBO, it's highly doubtful that Arum is going to guarantee Martinez the type of money he's expecting to get in a proposed 60/40 split. If HBO does bulk at moving forward on the September 15th date, "Lonesome" Bob may opt to do it on his own as an independent Top Rank pay-per-view, substituting Martinez with former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik instead. Truth be told, he might be hoping to do that anyway.
Given that HBO will be the deciding factor on whether or not Martinez is actually standing across the ring from Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on September 15th, something tells me that there will be some very concerned individuals sitting on the edge of their seats this Saturday night, when Victor Ortiz faces off against Josesito Lopez. If Lopez can pull off the upset, that will drastically change the plans of a lot of people and could ultimately shift the balance of power in boxing.
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