Because Everything Isn't Exclusive, All The Time!

February 3, 2006

Boxing2006 has learned that HBO is close to announcing fights between
middleweight champ Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright (April), and also Antonio Tarver and Bernard Hopkins (June). Negotiations are also underway with the undefeated junior welterweight champ, Ricky Hatton of England for a May fight on the network.
 

EXCLUSIVE:
HBO To Announce Two Big Fights, Working On A Third:
 Written by William Trillo
Stung by criticism that Showtime in 2005 made inroads into HBO's longtime grip on boxing's best fights, the network has gone into an aggressive mode and is targeting many of the biggest players in the fight game.
 
Sources close to the Taylor-Wright middleweight championship fight say the primary reason promoters Gary Shaw and Lou DiBella -- who left the negotiating table in December bitter and angry, have sat back down at the insistence of their respective fighters.
 
Taylor, the source says, wants this fight to happen. He has not been happy the way he has been perceived as ducking Wright and asked DiBella to try again, which led the promoters to get a postponement of the purse bid until Feb 9.
 
In wright's case, Winky explored other money fights after talks broke down, but was unable to find a suitable one. At 34, Wright knows he must make money while he can, which is why Shaw is talking to DiBella again. Chalk one up to the power of big fighters, because these two promoters REALLY hate each other..
 
Talks had broken down because of a squabble over purse split. DiBella insisting on a 60-40 based on Taylor having the belts. Shaw insisted that Wright was the bigger boxing star and wanted a 50-50.
 
When the deal is finalized look for this "compromise:"  The split will be 55-45, and while some will consider that a compromise on DiBella's part, it isn't. Sources say that when the talks broke down, DiBella had already put a 55-45 offer on the table, which Shaw rejected.
 
Boxing2006 also has learned that to make this fight happen, HBO had to chip in with some incentives. Word is HBO guaranteed Shaw that if Wright beats Taylor, the rematch will be very favorable and lucrative for the new champ. If Wright loses, HBO will give Winky two more quality fights on the network with nice paydays built in. This enables Shaw to make Wright happy, a special concern to the promoter since Wright has formed his own promotion company.
 
TARVER'S CAMP, meanwhile, had hoped to iron out the details of his fight with Hopkins earlier this week so an announcement could be made, but were still tying up loose ends yesterday. "It's going to happen," a source close to the negotiations said emphatically.
 
Tarver's decision to fight Hopkins was due partly because HBO appears to have given him assurances that he will replace Jones as an HBO commentator.
 
Both Tarver and Lennox Lewis auditioned for HBO on the undercard of the Pacquiao-Morales fight, and each did well. Floyd Mayweather also auditioned but was just so-so.
 
Tarver would seem to be the logical choice, since right now he has been more visible to the public after two high profile victories over Roy Jones Jr.  Tarver will also be exposed to millions of people when he plays a starring role in "Rocky VI."
 
Lewis, meanwhile, has not fought in two and a half years, is retired and living in England -- which would almost rule him out because of the frequent meetings HBO's announcers attend with producers and network execs.
 
Tarver also earned points with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg when he showed up for the last two press conferences while Jones blew them off. A glib and colorful speaker, Tarver saved those press conferences for HBO by himself, a fact not lost on Greenburg.
 
Also factoring into Tarve's decision was his failure to secure a big money fight with Mike Tyson. After Tyson balked, Tarver surveyed the field and realized there are no big paydays out there after Rocky Balboa, so he accepted overtures from Hopkins that have been on the table for a month.
 
         The Hatton-HBO Deal
 
The buzz leaked out earlier this week that Ricky Hatton, the undefeated WBA and IBF junior welterweight had signed a deal with Showtime was very premature.
 
Boxing2006 has learned Hatton has been talking with HBO, and knows if he wants to make big money, the network
has all the big aces under contract: Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto and Arturo Gatti.
 
What's also been written on some boxing sites was that Hatton might fight Mayweather as his first American bout. Aint true!
 
"Hatton-Mayweather will absolutely not happen in May, if ever," a source close to the negotiations told Boxing2006. "At the least, Hatton wants 2 or 3 big paydays before fighting Mayweather in a high risk fight in which Mayweather would want all the big money.
 
Gatti and Cotto could be very big fights for Hatton with much less risk. Either HBO contract player fighting Hatton at Madison Square Garden would be huge, you'd have 8000 Brits flying over.
 
 
               FREITAS, RAHEEM, JULIO 
 
Going back to its debut style 10 years ago this month, look for HBO's series, "Boxing After Dark" to put on some terrific young talent, guys that have not gotten enough exposure to burst out. In recent years, B.A.D. morphed in a version of World Championship Boxing, letting top young prospects get away to Showtime's copy cat series, "ShoBox."
 		 
Scheduled April 29 on B.A.D. will be a terrific matchup of lightweights Zahir Raheem, who beat Eric Morales before the Mexican boxer fought Manny Pacquiao, against Acelino Freitas.

HBO also plans to put one of the top young prospects in boxing, welterweight Joel Julio (26-0, 23 KOs) on the undercard of it's Feb. 25 pay-per-view card which features Fernando Vargas against Shane Mosley.

 
HBO has been working with Golden Boy Promotions to bring some of Oscar De La Hoya's exciting prospects to B.A.D. All in all, it's obvious the big Gorilla that is HBO Boxing has woken up and thrown down the gauntlet to Showtime.
 
                     King Out In The Cold
                     For Rahman-Toney?
 
When Goosen-Tutor wanted to put James Toney into the ring with then champion John Ruiz in 2003, Dan Goosen was faced with a decision.
 
King wanted a deal which would give him options on a percentage of what Goosen-Tutor would make if Toney won and then wanted to fight the other title holders, two of which are contracted to King. Plus King had Rahman slated to fight Vitali Klitschko for the other crown.
 
Knowing if he had to negotiate on a fight by fight basis, it could take weeks and months of backdoor haggling, and Toney would end up making less money, so Goosen cut the deal. That means King will not be promoting the Rahman-Toney fight March 18, but will get an undisclosed but sizable piece of the action.  A sensible move by Goosen, since at 37 Toney doesn't have time to wait weeks and months to fight.
 
Why did Goosen-Tutor sign Toney in April of 2002 when the boxer was 33, and had beaten 10 straight decent but hardly top flight fighters?
 
Goosen saw that Tony had a lack of interest in his career, was not motivated, BUT still winning. The two sat down, Goosen laid out the kind of commitment he wanted from Toney, which at that point was what Toney wanted to hear, and both have prospered by the signing.
 
Goosen had a longstanding relationship with Toney which went back to the days when the promoter worked three years for Top Rank, which had Toney under contract at about the time of the Jones fight in 1994.
 
Obviously if King and Arum has seen what Goosen say, or believed Toney would be where he is today, they would have jumped on him...
 
Stay tuned to Boxing2006 for an important development in the pay-per-view business!
 
Pulling out all stops, Greenburg is also working on a fight for Manny Pacquiao in his native Phillipines, where he is the most popular man in the country, a "rock" superstar.
 
HBO plans to fly its entire crew to the Phillipines this summer, where the fight is almost certainly going to be held in an outdoor stadium, guaranteeing a huge gate. Virtually every TV in the Phillipines will also be tuned to the fight.
 
No opponent has been selected, but HBO is hoping to make it a title fight, with both WBA junior lightweight champion Vincente Mosquera and WBO belt holder Jorge Barrios being considered, among others. Pacquiao is the number one ranked opponent for both sanctioning bodies.
 
Often criticized for putting on uncompetitive fights, HBO now has a series of very good fights on its first half schedule.
 
Arturo Gatti-Thomas Damgaard kicked of the year with a typical Gatti crowd pleaser. Then came early "Fight of the Year" candidate Pacquiao-Morales.
 
On Feb. 11, Fernando Vargas and Shane Mosley will fight on HBO pay-per-view. While neither is in his prime, their skill levels are pretty equal, and this could turn out to be a surprisingly good bout.
 
Unbeaten  Miguel Cotto, often mentioned as a mega-fight foe for Ricky Hatton and Mayweather, takes on Gianluca Branco on March 4, on World Championship boxing. This should be a slugfest.
 
Two weeks later comes the much anticipated heavyweight championship fight between title holder Hasim Raheem and James Toney, who is in the midst of a remarkable comeback. HBO has elected to make this strong fight available to subscribers.
 
On March 25, Marco Antonio Barrera tries to win a fourth division title -- something no Mexican fighter has ever done -- when he takes on IBF lightweight champ Jesus Chavez, again available to subscribers.





 

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