It’s the end of an era… Showtime Boxing is ending it’s almost 40 years of boxing. The reasons are being presented as a Paramount decision, after the merger, having something to do with money cutting efforts but I don’t think that is the case, I think it’s more complicated than that. HBO used to be where all the big boxing matches were made and the platform was known to many as the mecca of boxing. Then, out of nowhere, HBO makes a decision to focus on its entertainment side while getting rid of its sports division in 2018. The outcome of that decision was notable. HBO went from 140 million subscribers to a little less than 80 million subscribers. That was immediately following its decision to get rid of its sports division. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that happened and I’m expecting the same thing for Showtime. It will see it’s memberships dwindle as sports fans wait to see who is going to take the mantle as the next mecca of boxing. I, for one, am considering leaving Showtime and waiting for the next big boxing streamer, almost wrote steamer, as some are. If ESPN+ decides to take up the mantle by hosting big time boxing, which seems like a very good place for boxing, then they have some waters to navigate.

The first and most notable obstacle is finding a way to get rid of these promoters with exclusive contracts to networks, which has been an obstacle in putting up good fights in the past. The decision of these promoters to have exclusive deals with networks is what is killing boxing. PBC with Showtime, Top Rank with ESPN, Eddie Hearns with DAZN and these fighters, with these multiple fight deals with these promoters, are now tied to these networks and can’t fight on any other network without permission or they have their career stalled, like what happened to Mikey Garcia, which is just insane. The way to fix it is, to either get rid of the promoters and just let the networks promote without multiple fight deals or for the promoters to stop signing deals with networks and just go on a fight to fight basis with the networks. The other thing that can be done to fix this is to do what Terrence Crawford did, just go on a fight to fight basis with any promoter and have a lawyer that negotiates with the promoters. Terrence Crawford is right when he says that fighters should have all the control, they are the business. Without boxers, there is no boxing. Promoters are just middle men, they aren’t necessary for the sport, boxers and networks are.

In the end, if the promoters want to stay relevant, they need to do what their bosses tell them to do, which is set up the fights they want set up. Who are the bosses?…. the boxers.