"Breaking news! This event is now going to be fully supported by HBO Pay-Per-View, including having their production and broadcast team. This reinforces the strength of this event," stated Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer as he revealed that the September 18 clash between Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora will in fact be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View. Schaefer revealed the news earlier today during a press conference in Los Angeles to officially announce the September 18 card, which will take place at the Staples Center during the Mexican Independence Day weekend.
Indeed, the news comes as somewhat of a surpise. When word of the proposed matchup was originally leaked, HBO showed little interest in participating in it's distribution, leaving Golden Boy Promotions under the assumption that they would be forced to carry the burden of the production on their own. In fact, up until today, virtually everyone involved with the promotion was under the impression that it would be an independent pay-per-view. So why the change of heart?
Well, it might have something to do with the fact that HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg was unable to land the highly-anticipated mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in the 2010 calendar year. With Pacquiao vs. Margarito being the only highly-profitable pay-per-view event left this year, perhaps Greenburg is trying to exceed his quota in hopes of relieving some of the pressure that he's been under from the higher-ups. That's really the only rational explanation I could come up with for HBO to even think about supporting a pay-per-view event being headlined by a fighter who's fresh off of a dominant, lopsided unanimous decision loss.
Keep in mind that Shane Mosley is the "A-side" of this promotion, meaning he's the guy collecting the fattest paycheck. Also consider that earlier this year, in January, HBO was going to give it's subscribers a matchup between that same Shane Mosley and undefeated WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto for free, broadcasting it on HBO World Championship Boxing. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the only thing that's changed in Shane Mosley's career since January was that loss to Mayweather; a lackluster performance to say the least. Meanwhile, Sergio Mora, during that same timeframe, surprisingly scored one of his rare knockouts over Calvin Green....Calvin who?
Can someone, anyone other than Richard Schaefer, please tell me again why HBO is supporting this pay-per-view? Perhaps Ross Greenburg can release another short statement explaining his change of heart.
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