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Must See Boxing is Back on NBC
By Steve Kim (February 17, 2003)
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The worst kept secret in boxing was made official this past week. NBC, which has not televised boxing since 1992, will be going back into the squared circle in partnership with Main Events. And this time, it had nothing to do with Ferdie Pacheco's paintings. (If you don't get it, it's an inside joke within the boxing industry). Starting on May 3rd, NBC and Main Events will televise boxing for three consecutive Saturday afternoons from 3:30-5 p.m. ET.
"Obviously, it's been rumored to be in the making for a long time," said Carl Moretti, matchmaker of Main Events, "and amongst ourselves at the office it's almost been a year in putting the whole deal together. We're obviously very excited we were able to come to this point where there's an official announcement on the fights themselves and the dates."
It's seems to be a good fit on both ends. Main Events has a roster full of bright young prospects like Rocky Juarez, Francisco Bojado, Kermit Cintron, Juan Diaz, Malik Scott, Dominick Guinn and Darling Jimenez among others. NBC Sports, which not too long ago had major franchise sports like the NFL and the NBA, are now down to the likes of Arena Football, golf, figure skating, Notre Dame football and the Olympics.
"They liked the idea," said Moretti. "The programming fits for NBC and it was just over a lot of meetings, a lot of discussions on how the deal would be structured and how it would work. And we're at this point today."
NBC, like the other major networks had abondoned boxing after having a long and colorful history with the sport around the early '90s. Kathy Duva, the president of Main Events has a theory on why that occured.
"What happened was way back in the '80s when the franchise sports became terrifically important -- and that goes back to the Major League Baseball deal that was absolutely stupendous and then the NFL and NBA just followed -- what happened was that the networks that were putting boxing on as an opportunistic thing that fit into certain places when they wanted a rating, they suddenly had those huge 'nuts' they had to cover to pay the franchise sports the amount of money they had promised them. And you had sales people who were faced with a choice between selling this little boxing show or making comittments that were told by their bosses they had to meet in order to pay for the franchise sports.
"We got lost in that shuffle and that's what happened in a nutshell," she says. "And people blame a whole lot of things: bad sanctioning bodies, bad fights, bad fighters. You know what it was? It was economics, like everything else. The ratings that boxing would undoubtedly bring paled in comparison to the huge comittments that they had to the franchise sports."
Some have blamed the burgeoning license fees that were being handed out in the 1990s by the likes of HBO and Showtime, but Duva disputes that theory.
"I don't believe that and I'll tell you why," she explains. "There's a gulf between the small fights that are on cable: ESPN, Unvision, Telemundo. And the fights that are on the premium cable: Showtime and HBO networks. There's a gulf, we're talking about five-figure fees to seven-figure fees -- there's something in between and what happened, I believe, is that there were many competitive fights that could be made in that middle range area. But what happened was that there was no place for boxing period because there was just no money to pay for it. And if a client walked in the door and said 'Y'know, I'd like to do some boxing' that salesperson wasn't saying 'OK' that sales person said 'Well, I got some football I can sell you. Why don't you buy that instead?'
"We had absolutely no representation in this game looking out for the interest of this sport and we were competing with major franchise sports that had made huge deals with the networks and that's what squeezed us out in the beginning."
But as the ratings shrunk -- like they did in the NBA -- the networks are now changing their philosophies.
"What has happened now is that the networks are getting rid of the franchise sports," explained Duva, "because they're not producing ratings anymore and they need ratings. Now, they're back to boxing. We always get ratings."
And 'the Peacock' has had it's feathers plucked with the departure of the NFL and NBA from its heyday in the early '90s.
"They absolutely have some room for it," Duva said of NBC Sports. "They also have a new mandate which is to go out and become part of the process, as oppossed to a network that is selling air time. They have a company called 'NBC Ventures' right now and they've made a deal with the Arena Football League and now they're making a deal with boxing. Part of their mandate, as has been explained to me, is that they've been told 'We've got this vehicle that can go out and turn something into a huge success, rather than have people rent it from us. Why don't we have some ownership in what it is we're putting on the air?' And so they are much more amenable to the idea of entering a partnership where they can go out together and build-up a franchise."
Main Events and NBC go back a long ways going back to their 'Tomorrow's Champions' series that was a weekend staple on their network in the early '80s that featured the likes of Bobby Czyz, Alex Ramos, Tony Ayala Jr., Tony Tucker and Johnny Bumphus. And although the Duva family has since gone through a civil war after the untimely death of Dan Duva i 1996, which saw Lou Duva, the family patriarch, and his son Dino, leave the company and form their own, the history of these two organizations made it easier for Kathy Duva to get her foot back in the door at NBC.
And her sales pitch was pretty simple and straight-forward.
"That basically boxing was an idea who's idea had come again," she said to NBC. "That the idea of the network going out and rejecting the franchise sports that had become too fat and expensive and wanting to get a little more entrepenueral and go out there and build sports. I walked in one day and said 'Look, real men box, women box now and real sports fans watch it and you don't have to got out and create a new sports for them to watch- there's one here right now and they'll be happy to tune into it.' So the idea is, rather than face the task and start from scratch and build a new sport because we don't want to pay for the established sport, it's saying 'Hey, we are a really, really effective buy for an advertiser. We bring wonderful demographics, far better than conventional wisdom."
And despite rumors from within the industry, Main Events did not just buy airtime from NBC.
"No," insisted Moretti, who is also the V.P. of Boxing Operations for Main Events. "This is the biggest thing, it had nothing to do with a time-buy. The structure of this deal is such that we're not buying time from NBC, no one is. It's clearly a model that was worked on where no one gets hurt, everybody's bringing something to the table, but it truly is not a time-buy and quite frankly, when was the last time you heard of a promoter that bought anything other than the IBF heavyweight title for a million dollars and a Range Rover?"
Only in America, only in America.
This partnership seems an awful lot like the relationship NBC has with
the Arena Football League. Moretti notes that there is not a set licensing fee, but a semi-loose budget that he will work under to make the fights that appear on the network.
One of the more interesting aspects of this deal is that Telemundo will be airing fights for one hour in conjuction with the shows on NBC.
"In one of the conversations that we had with NBC, we were talking about the fact that NBC had acquired the Telemundo network and was looking for a way to create some sort of synergy with that network," explained Duva. "And I mentioned the fact that I noticed that sitting through many of our fights recently -- and I had sat through some other peoples fights -- I began to notice that Carl Moretti's undercards are a lot better than most people's and it's a shame how many fights people don't get to see.
"So rather than waste those really terrific fights and an opportunity to expose other fighters, why not take some of those fights and put them on Telemundo while we're doing the earlier bouts on the card and then switch over to NBC for the feature and co-feature? And years ago when we used to do fights on NBC regularly, they used to have something called 'SportsWorld' and that was the main event and then there was an earlier fight or vice versa. And we would do two seperate broadcasts, it would be part of an anthology series and the other part would just be by itself. So the idea of doing this as two shows was not alien to them and NBC liked the idea because it presented a way for them to draw Telemundo into the processing.
"This will really be the first time that there will be a bilingual-Anglo-Hispanic broadcast in this way. There will be one broadcast in Spanish, the host who will be speaking Spanish will then in turn, turn it over to the audience at NBC at some point and then will come back on the air in English."
This looks like a shrewd strategic move, especially in light of the fact that the Latins are becoming the most dominant force in the boxing marketplace and they are among the fastest growing population in this country. Top Rank led by Bob Arum's manuevering of fighters like Oscar De La Hoya and Erik Morales is a great example of how the business has changed in the
last decade. Will Main Events go down the same road?
"There's no edict coming down from anybody that says it has to be an all-Hispanic show," claimed Moretti, who's company has had huge success with Fernando Vargas, themselves. "It is going to be somewhat Latin flavored early on, we'd like to feature Rocky Juarez and Francisco Bojado in the first show and Kermit Cintron is someone we think has a bright future and we
think will shine very well on NBC. But we also have a slot for Nate Campbell. I think you'll see a little bit of everything."
And what level of fights should we expect on NBC?
"Competitive fights, we just want competitive fights," says Moretti. "You wont see any title fights here, if a small title is involved in a fight, then so be it. But we're just looking to make competitive matches under the budget we're working with. And when it's all said and done and the fights are over, I think you'll see competitive fights with all the guys that are in the show."
These three initial shows will be critical -- not only for the fighters being showcasd- but for Main Events, who hopes to secure more dates in the future from NBC.
"Absolutely," agreed Duva. "We think of May as kind of a pilot series, we're going to use this to kind of learn how to do this again, get the bugs out and see what works and what doesn't and then come back -- we hope -- with another series like it in the forseeable future."
And if they do move forward, a key tool -- at least for Main Events -- in devloping and marketing a fighter will be restored. There is a direct correlation to the current fighters who are pay-per-view forces and how much commercial airtime they once recieved.
"That's part of the pitch we made to NBC," explained Duva. "Now's the time to build the new generation because what happened was, that to this day when you watch pay-per-view fights, the big names in pay-per-view are still: Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, the guys who can do in excess of 500,000 buys, there aren't very many of them. Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson -- all these guys were exposed on network television. Even Roy Jones, who was shown in the Olympics on prime-time on network television.
"The only name I could come up with and I'll give us a little credit for it, that has been able to surpass the 500,000 buy mark who was never on network TV is Fernando Vargas. And there is a whole generation (of fighters) that's missing, that could never be the kind of names they would have been. And part of what we are explaining to the fighters who are fighting on the series is that this is your opportunity to go out and market yourself to a wide audience that will perhaps one day follow you to pay-per-view."
And who knows, if this series is successful and on-going, perhaps other networks might be willing to throw their hat into the boxing ring.
"Once Macy's see's what Bloomingdale's does, they jump on it," is Moretti's analogy. "Hopefully, it rubs off and that all the networks get involved in it and I don't see why it wouldn't. We came to a model that's going to work for everybody and we're excited about it and I think as long as you put on competitive fights, then there's certainly an audience for it and Saturday
afternoons go back to what it was like in the '70s and '80s."
TELEFUTURA
Main Events had a trio of prospects on Telefutura this past Friday night, who you might be seeing on NBC in the near future.
Darling Jiminez is a lightweight prospect that I like. He improved to 14-0-2 with an eight round verdict over Leonardo Rojas. Darling is not a real heavy-handed puncher but with the way he stays in the pocket and throws sharp combos, he makes for good fights. I haven't seen him in a bad fight yet.
Kermit Cintron made his return with a six-round stoppage of Frankie Sanchez. Because he's a Puerto Rican welterweight, the natural comparisons are made to Felix Trinidad. 'The Killer' is a solid prospect, but I don't see the next 'Tito'. Cintron is about as big a 147-pounder as you'll ever see but he is very vulnerable to movement. And despite his knockout percentage -- 17 KOs in 18 wins -- I think his power is a tad overated.
The wild-card in all this and the most intriguing guy I saw was Archak Termeliksetian, a Brazilian welter, nicknamed 'the Shak Attack'. Now, I really don't know if this guy can fight, but I know this, he can punch. He just doesn't hit guys, he goes right through them. He has that God-given ability to lay guys out.
In stopping Arthur Medina in one round, he improved to 4-0, all four by first round stoppages. Who knows what happens when someone stands up to him and hits him back -- maybe he collapses faster than America Presents -- or maybe he's the real thing.
Which ever it is, I want to see more of this guy.
BOXEO DE ORO
I was decidely more unimpressed with prospect Kelson Pinto and his blowout win over the 42-year old Richard Savage on 'HBO Latino' this past Thursday night in El Paso, Texas.
Pinto is a big, strapping jr. welterweight with a good punch, but he's been moved very carefully by manager Ricardo Maldonado. Pinto has very good size and range but has holes defensively and not very quick. I think he's full level below the likes of Mohammed Abdullaeve, Miguel Cotto and Jeffrey Resto.
NOT-SO-SLICK
It was a tough Saturday night for Cincinnatti boxers. Tim Austin and Ricardo Williams went out like the Bengals.
Austin got stopped just as it looked like he was taking over his bout with Rafael Marquez. Of course there was talk of rebuilding, moving up in weight and all the usual rhetoric, but realistically, this probably ends the book on one of the most mismanaged and underpromoted fighters in recent memory. The question is, who's more at fault the manager (Carl
King) or the promoter (Don King) or Austin himself, for being content in that situation and never doing anything about it. It's like a battered wife that never leaves the abusive husband.
On the flip side, Ricardo Williams 'chickened' out, you could say, against Juan 'El Pollo' Valenzuela, who got the fight on two days notice. The similiarities to Francisco Bojado's lost last year to Juan Carlos Rubio are eerie. First off, Williams' loss to Valenzuela is one year to the day of Bojado's loss to Rubio. Also, Valenzuela was a late replacement for the very
same Rubio that out-hustled 'Panchito' last year. Also, like the Bojado-Rubio fight, the heavy underdog would come in and out-fight and out-gut the heavily hyped Olympian to take a well earned decision. Both Williams and Bojado came into their respective fights out of condition and seem to take their foes lightly.
Williams' work ethic and desire have always been questionable at best, Stanley Roberts/John Williams/Marcus Dupree/Chris Brown/Benoit Benjamin-like at worst. The kid has simply been spoiled his whole life
and nothing has changed two years into his pro career. If he wasn't our country's best hope for an Olympic gold medal in 2000, more than one source has told me that he would have been booted from the team. He had
regular run-ins with head coach Tom Mustin over his less-than-Spartan work ethic.
Lou DiBella spent a lions share to secure his services out of the Olympics ($1.4 million in a signing bonus) and so far you could say he isn't getting much bang for the buck. Not only has Williams been beset by hand problems, but he's been reluctant to take off-contract fights to aid his development. For 'Slick Rick' it's either HBO or bust. And even then, in his last two bouts on the network, he still had problems at the scales.
And it could be time for a shake up in the corner. It looked like the Apollo Theater in his corner because it was purely amateur night over there. The bottom line is if you think you got a thoroughbred, then you don't get a sumo wrestler to ride him. In this case, father (Ricardo Sr. ) doesn't know best.
Which brings me to my next point, I was wondering why HBO boxing analyst Emanuel Steward was bending over backward to praise Williams at all costs- even though he seemed to be taking a shellacking in certain rounds? Well, a few sources have told me that Steward had come to an agreement earlier to train Williams in Detroit after this bout. In fact Williams even wore a KRONK T-shirt to a press conference earlier in the week according to an eye witness.
Without Steward or anyone else from HBO coming clean on this during the broadcast, I saw a huge conflict of interest because Steward was incredibly biased in his reporting of the fight and Jim Lampley seemed to be following his lead. Thankfully, Larry Merchant was there to provide a voice of reason. They had you believing that what Williams was putting on an act of courage -- perhaps it was, after all it does take two to tango and make a great fight -- but what should have been pointed out more was how Valenzuela was flat out taking the fight to Williams.
Steward kept pointing out how Williams was basically facing a jr. middleweight and what insurmountable odds Williams had to overcome. Huh? You take a close look at Valenzuela's record and you'll see that most of his fights took place between 135-140, a weight that seems to be foreign to Williams nowadays. Williams was facing Juan Valenzuela, a blown-up lightweight, coming in on two (count'em, TWO) days notice -- not Fernando
Vargas. Gimme a break. And then Jim Lampley talked of what a disadvantage it was for Williams with the weigh-ins being a day before the fight. Again, Valenzuela is a lightweight -- one that isn't close to
being in shape himself -- and Williams hasn't come close to weighing in at the jr. welterweight limit in a while.
This fight was not lost at the scales, it was lost in the prior weeks and months by Williams with his 'work' ethic.
Never before had a blown-up, somewhat out-of-shape lightweight, with a record of 15-6, with a current two bout losing streak, with only two days notice, been so daunting. Poor lil' Ricky, he never had a chance, I
guess.
Not only should Williams not be fighting above 141 pounds as Steward pointed out, more than one person would agree that he should probably sacrifice to get himself down to 135. Williams, for all his skills and quickness, doesn't really punch that well and isn't that elusive for being a supposedly slick southpaw. Like Merchant always says, and said again on Saturday night "When you don't take a fighter seriously, that fighter can become a serious problem."
Or something to that effect, and it proved to be true once again this past weekend.
NACHO ORDINARY TRAINER
How 'bout some praise for Nacho Beristain, who doesn't get the credit for being one of the sport's best teacher/trainers in the game.
Lost in the hoopla that is the great achievement of the Marquez brothers (two titles in less than one month, that's some good stuff), Beristain has been there from day one to develop both Juan Manuel and Rafael.
Go back on this guys history and you'll see that if you give him some talent to work with, he will help mold champion after champion.
For Questions or Comments
E-Mail Steve Kim at k9kim@maxboxing.com
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