HBO World Championship Boxing
HBO World Championship Boxing | |
---|---|
Multi-camera | |
Running time | Various |
Production company | HBO Sports |
Original release | |
Network | HBO HBO Latino truTV |
Release | January 22, 1973 December 8, 2018 | –
Related | |
Boxing After Dark MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout |
HBO World Championship Boxing (in later years stylized in its title card as HBO Boxing – World Championship) is an American sports
HBO's pay-per-view distribution arm, TVKO was founded in December 1990, and then launched in April 1991 with Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman, becoming HBO PPV in 2001.[1]
On February 3, 1996, HBO debuted a spin-off program, Boxing After Dark, with the fight between Marco Antonio Barrera and Kennedy McKinney as its inaugural telecast.
On September 27, 2018, HBO announced they would be dropping boxing from the network following its last televised match on October 27, though two airings on November 24 and December 8 were its last editions. Various issues in the boxing business, including the influx of streaming options (such as
In March 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery revived the HBO Boxing brand as an free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel that are available on Tubi and Amazon Freevee, that showcases some boxing bouts that aired on World Championship Boxing and Boxing After Dark, as well as some boxing-related episodes of 24/7.[3]
Memorable events
Famous matches broadcast on World Championship Boxing include:
- the Rumble in the Jungle, in which Muhammad Ali regained the world heavyweight title from George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974;
- the Thrilla in Manila, the final encounter between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier and HBO's first program when the service uplinked to satellite in 1975;
- Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns I and II
- When Wilfred Benítez beat Roberto Durán
- Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney, for the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship;
- the Battle of the Champions, when Aaron Pryor beat Alexis Argüelloin their first fight;
- Carnival of Champions, in which Wilfredo Gómez beat Lupe Pintor, and Thomas Hearns beat Wilfred Benítez;
- Hector Camacho beat Rafi Solis- both fights shown on the same night, days after they had taken place
- Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns fight, billed as The War;
- Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman, billed as The Battle of the Ages;
- Thunder Meets Lightning, in which Julio César Chávez beat Meldrick Taylor with two seconds remaining in the twelfth round;
- Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, in which Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion of the world at age 45;
- James "Buster" Douglas's stunning upset of Mike Tyson for the undisputed world heavyweight title in Tokyo, Japan;
- Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II;
- Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward trilogy, in which the first fight, Ward beat Gatti by majority decision, while Gatti beat Ward twice, in second and third fights by unanimous decision;
- Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez tetralogy, in which the first fight ended in a split draw where Burt Clements incorrectly scored 113-113, despite three knockdowns, the second fight ended in Pacquiao winning by split-decision with the knockdown scored in round three as the difference in the fight, the third fight, in which Pacquiao won by majority decision and the final fight of the rivalry resulting Márquez knocking out Pacquiao in the sixth round with one second left;
- Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya;
- The World Awaits - Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC super-welterweight title;
- Undefeated" - Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat Ricky Hattonto retain the WBC welterweight title with a TKO in the 10th round;
- The Dream Match - The Welterweight match between Manny Pacquiao (moving up 2 weight classes) against Oscar De La Hoya (moving down 1 weight class). Pacquiao won by technical knockout before the 9th round began (De La Hoya retired on his stool);
- Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao, when Mayweather outpointed Pacquiao over 12 rounds in one of the most widely seen fights around the world in boxing history (on May 2, 2015, simulcasted with Showtime);
- outpointing of Miguel Cottoby 12 round unanimous decision on a November 21, 2015.
- Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin I &II. Canelo took on GGG in 2017 and 2018. Both fights were very close and are still disputed today, with the first fight ending in a draw and the second ending in a win, via majority decision, for Canelo.
A famous incident occurred on July 11, 1996 during the Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota fight at Madison Square Garden, in which a confrontation between Golota and Bowe's entourage after Golata's disqualification for delivering low blows to Bowe, resulting a chaotic and violent brawl between the boxers' respective entourages and fans. During the fight, HBO's commentary team had to evacuate their ringside position (with George Foreman helping to protect his fellow commentators after unsuccessfully attempting to put an end to the fighting; the commentators' table was destroyed in the brawl), resulting in several minutes of commentary-free coverage of the melee before Jim Lampley was able to resume coverage of the incident from several levels above. Larry Merchant and Foreman remained in the ring providing coverage as tempers continued to flare into punch-ups between spectators. The credits rolled over footage of NYPD officers entering MSG and beginning to make arrests.[4][5]
World Championship Boxing has also had three
Additionally, a video game carrying the brand name HBO Boxing was released for the PlayStation in 2000, which was published by Acclaim Entertainment under their Acclaim Sports banner.
Commentators
The main broadcast team was Jim Lampley on blow-by-blow, with former and future ESPN reporter Max Kellerman as color commentator, replacing Larry Merchant, who retired in December 2012. For the last two years of Merchant's contract he and Kellerman alternated telecasts.
The analyst position was held (when he was available) by former multiple-division world champion
For pay-per-view fights,
Harold Lederman, a former boxing judge, served as "unofficial scorer," giving his scorecards after every three rounds, sometimes two. Lederman also used to voice-over the rules under which the fight would be conducted before handing back to Lampley for pre-fight introductions; however the rules were later simply flashed on-screen to save time. Former judge Steve Weisfeld also appeared in this role, usually when Lederman's daughter Julie was judging a fight and as such Harold could not be on television due to the conflict of interest.
Michael Buffer was an unofficial member of the team as ring announcer for most HBO fights.
Chon Romero was one of the commentators for HBO Boxing's Spanish telecasts.[10]
Former commentators include: Marv Albert, Len Berman, Barry Tompkins, Fran Charles, Gil Clancy, Howard Cosell, Don Dunphy, Sugar Ray Leonard, Al Michaels, Jerry Quarry and Dick Stockton.
International broadcasts
Prior to 2009,
See also
- Boxing After Dark— a television boxing program airing on HBO from 1996 to 2018
- KO Nation— a short-lived television boxing program that aired on HBO from 2000 to 2001
- Showtime Championship Boxing— a television boxing program airing on Showtime from 1986 to the present
- ShoBox: The New Generation— a television boxing program airing on Showtime from 2001 to the present
- Top Rank Boxing on ESPN— a television boxing program airing on ESPN
- Premier Boxing Champions— a boxing promotion organized by Al Haymon and a television boxing program airing on multiple broadcast and cable networks from 2015 to the present
References
- ^ "HBO and Showtime Climb Into the PPV Ring" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 24, 1990. p. 28. Retrieved July 29, 2020 – via World Radio History.
"HBO and Showtime Climb Into the PPV Ring" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 24, 1990. p. 29. Retrieved July 29, 2020 – via World Radio History. - ^ Matthews, Wallace (September 27, 2018). "HBO Says It Is Leaving the Boxing Business". The New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ^ "Watch HBO Boxing". Tubi. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ "'Riot' follows Bowe's victory Golota's low blows stop bout; corners, crowd then join fray". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ^ Andrew Golota vs Riddick Bowe 1996 The Riot Fight at MSG, retrieved 2023-02-08
- ^ "TruTV to broadcast boxing series". ESPN.com. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ "Turner Sports Returns to the Ring With HBO and SpiderCam on Friday Night Knockout on truTV". Sports Video Group. May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ "HBO Latino Enters the Ring". Multichannel News. October 9, 2002. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "HBO Latino Launches New Boxing Series, Generación Boxeo, Debuting Exclusively, Thursday, April 27". WarnerMedia (Press release). April 24, 2006. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "ENTREVISTA A CHON ROMERO ANALISTA DE HBO DONDE HABLA DE COTTO, JUANMA, PACQUIAO, BRONER ENTRE OTROS TEMAS". MR.BOXING.
External links
- HBO Boxing (HBO's Boxing website, updated weekly)
- HBO Boxing Schedule