By: Sean Crose
In what is likely no surprise to anyone, it was announced today that Showtime would no longer broadcast boxing. Rumors have been circulating for weeks, but now that the truth is out, fans will have to get used to the fact a network that’s delivered boxing since Marvin Hagler defeated John Mugabi in a 1986 middleweight championship classic will be broadcasting the sweet science no more. Showtime’s parent company, Paramount, has deemed the sport is simply not a good fit for its future plans.
“As we evolve our strategy to more efficiently allocate resources and align our content offering across the business, we’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with boxing and other content produced by the Showtime sports team,” the company said in a statement. “Showtime will continue to air and support the remaining 2023 boxing slate and honor obligations through the end of the year.”
This is about as big a story as one can get in boxing. After decades on pay cable, the sweet science is now leaving it behind – courtesy of the cable networks themselves (HBO got out of the fight business years ago). This is either dreadful news for the sport, or very good news, as it’s pretty much a universally accepted fact that boxing in it’s current state has been a mess for years. Things like promotional and network politics have kept big fights form being made, which naturally results in a sport not nearly as intriguing as it should be.
With that being said, there’s no way to tell this early on the impact Paramount’s decision will have. Some of the biggest names in the business, however, clearly see this as an opportunity to strengthen the sport. “Today is a really important day for boxing,” tweeted the hugely popular Ryan Garcia. “HBO and Showtime defined our sport for a generation and now they are both out . All us boxers need to make this our collective fight. We gotta be thinking about marketing, new audiences, investors, global, all of it. Boxing is still the greatest sport in the world. We just gotta reimagine it.”
Undisputed welterweight titlist Terence Crawford concurred. “I couldnt agree more @RyanGarcia,” he tweeted. “The system we have isn’t going to fix this. We gotta think different. Look at every other sport is building empires by doing it right. Us fighters need to come together. We can fight in the ring but work together for our sport and our families.”
Social media influencer turned boxer Jake Paul then responded in the affirmative to Crawford’s response. “I’m all the way in,” he posted.