Here’s wishing you a Happy New Year from my white cement bunker in the hills of Central Mexico. This is Part Two of my take on a Year in Review piece, highlighting the best and worst of 2017. We saw a lot of good stuff this past year, but also a lot of bullshit and rampant stupidity…
If you want to check out Part One, click HERE.
Anyway, on with this look backwards:
HBO’s Continued Fall
HBO Boxing continued it’s downward spiral, averaging just slightly over 707,000 viewers for its main events in 2017 (down from over 867,000 in 2016 and over 1.21 million in 2015). All in all, HBO Boxing ratings are down more than 37% since 2015. While subscriptions, and not ratings, are the lifeblood behind premium cable networks like HBO, the network can’t be pleased by the fact that they have lost more than a third of their boxing audience in three years and as much as 200% of their boxing audience over the course of a decade (Remember when “heads were gonna roll” back in 2007 when Calzaghe-Kessler only brought in 1.6 million viewers? HBO suits would do happy somersaults in their offices if any card did that well now). Or maybe HBO doesn’t care all that much anymore about HBO Boxing, and that’s why fight fans are getting Friday Night Fights-level bouts for their premium subscription dollars.Whatever the case, it’s clear that HBO Boxing is failing, big time, and maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s time for boxing to ditch premium cable for a more fan-friendly, growth-friendly business model.
ESPN Becomes a Player
HBO’s failure might present a golden opportunity for ESPN to finally get a firm grip on high-end boxing. The basic cable sports giant announced a multi-year deal in 2017 with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions to broadcast several premium-level cards per year as well as help produce a handful of pay-per-view shows. So far, several shows into the deal, the results seem to be a mixed bag, despite some aggressively positive spin from ESPN and Top Rank publicists. July’s debut show, which featured a Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn main event, drew an average of 3.1 million viewers and the December 9 Vasyl Lomachenko-Guillermo Rigondeaux card averaged 1.73 million viewers. Aside from these two shows, the ratings seem pretty much on par with what HBO can deliver, which is somewhat disappointing since ESPN reaches a much larger number of households. Scheduling issues with the network have affected the shows on many occasions and, of course, there are the growing pains involved in re-introducing a marginalized sport to the mainstream sports world, so a relative slow start to the deal is to be expected. Not surprisingly, the boxing media that tore Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions apart when they produced overall similar TV ratings on ESPN, is much more patient when it comes to Top Rank’s ESPN performances. Hopefully, the shows will click and start to bring in more of the new/curious fans because, as I’ve written here many times before, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Lomechenko: New Superstar or Empty Vasyl
Super featherweight Vasyl Lomachenko is the new “it" guy when it comes to eager, doe-eyed fans and media. There’s no denying that the two-time Olympic gold medalist from the Ukraine is a special talent, but “how special" is the question. While fans and media rush to anoint him pound-for-pound king and an “all-time great," others remain somewhat cautious, pointing out that his tremendous feats have all come against fighters he was heavily favored to beat. Most recently, Lomachenko, himself, questioned the weight of a stoppage-by-retirement victory over Guillermo Rigondeaux because of the fact that he held so many advantages over the smaller, older Cuban. Time-- and perhaps a rise up to lightweight-- will tell whether the fawning praise regarding Lomachenko is justified or just another case of an easily-impressed media going off half-cocked.
Errol Spence Arrives
Before 2017, the potential greatness of Errol Spence Jr. was just a theory. But in May, the talented prospect went into IBF champ Kell Brook’s own UK backyard to prove that he was more than just a prospect. Spence would rough up and stop the defending champ to take home the belt and, in doing so, confirm that he was, indeed, a special fighter. However, Inactivity and a lack of push in the months that followed effectively killed much of the buzz he had stirred up with his thrilling performance abroad. Spence is scheduled to defend his title January 20 against Lamont Peterson and vows to be more active in 2018-- something that can only be a good thing for both himself and the boxing world at large.
Magno’s Wishes for 2018
Let me close out this two-part Year in Review piece by laying down my wishes for the coming boxing year:
That somebody beats Adonis Stevenson for the WBC light heavyweight belt he holds hostage in Canada...A definitive finish to Canelo-Golovkin 2...That business doesn’t get in the way of Terence Crawford being able to prove that he’s the best fighter (and welterweight) in the world...That boxing prospers on free (or at least basic cable) TV and moves away from HBO/Showtime premium cable...Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder...Danny Garcia finds his fire and purpose as a fighter...Errol Spence vs. Keith Thurman...That Sergey Kovalev gets humbled yet again...Mikey Garcia vs. Vasyl Lomachenko...That the Charlo Brothers, Demetrius Andrade, and other American talents get the attention they deserve by the American boxing press...That fans wake up and realize just how much of what they think they know about the business of boxing is actually propaganda dished to them by industry stooges serving as media...
May you all have a healthy and stellar 2018 (even the haters, losers, and my online stalkers)
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.