Farewell Old Friend: Saying Goodbye to HBO Boxing

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By Brian “The Beret” Young

On Saturday night November 24th Dmity Bivol will square off with Jean Pascal in a fight that no matter the outcome will be in history books. Is it because of the WBA Light Heavyweight title that is on the line? Sure, championships still mean something. But mainly it is because it will be the last World Championship Boxing program on HBO, bringing to an end a 45-year marriage between the cable giant and boxing. A marriage that showed no signs of trouble and who’s divorce came as a shock to the boxing world.

It all began January 22nd 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica, when Big George Foreman KO’d Joe Frazier in the 2nd round, forever putting the phrase “DOWN GOES FRAZIER!” into the boxing lexicon (Howard Cosell famously yelled out the line, six times, on the ABC Wide World Of Sports re-broadcast of the fight). From that moment on boxing had a new home. ABC was still good, but HBO became great!

Over the next few years HBO brought legends such as Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis, Earnie Shavers, Michael and Leon Spinks, Alexis Arguello, Roberto Duran, a fresh faced Sugar Ray Leonard and my own personal hero, Larry Holmes. Even “The Greatest of All Time” Muhammad Ali entered the living rooms of those lucky enough to have this new thing called Home Box Office.

It wasn’t just boxing that HBO was bringing to sports fans. The network aired the Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam event starting in 1975 and was the broadcaster of the tournament in the United States until 1999. In 1977 a little show called Inside The NFL debuted on the “little” network where it remained thru 2008. HBO was a sports fans dream. You have to remember, this was the days of 3 networks and very minimal football coverage. All the NFL we got to see, other than local games, was found in those masterful highlight films put together by NFL films. However, it was boxing that would be the sport to become most associated with the network.

By the 1980’s HBO’s subscription rate exploded, as did their coverage of boxing. Great fighters were on almost every broadcast. We were introduced to fighters such as Wilfred Benitez, Salvador Sanchez, Dwight Braxton (before he was Dwight Muhammad Qawi), Matthew Saad Muhammad, Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor, Wilfredo Gomez, Hector Camacho, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. Julio Cesar Chavez and Livingstone Bramble. It was the era of the four kings, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and Leonard and it was HBO that gave us that action. It also introduced the world to the man who would become synonymous with boxing for years to come, a young devastating puncher named Mike Tyson.

The 1990’s started with the upset of the century when James Buster Douglas KO’d the “baddest man on the planet” Mike Tyson on Feb 10th 1990 and it was HBO that brought it to us fans. Even with the defeat of Tyson HBO was getting hotter than ever. There were new stars that HBO signed to contract. America was introduced to future Hall of Famer Prince Naseem Hamed as he first flipped into a ring in the USA against Kevin Kelly in December of 1997. Greats such as Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Michael Carbajal, Tommy Morrison, Roy Jones, JR. Oscar De la Hoya, James “Lights Out” Toney, Terry Norris, a young Canadian named Arturo Gatti, Riddick Bowe, and Lennox Lewis were not only the faces of boxing, but all those faces were on HBO.

Boxing was becoming so big that the network decided to have a spin off show. A sort of “minor league” of boxing, where up and coming fighters could get a shot on TV and hopefully make the “Big Leagues” of HBO World Championship Boxing. That show was called Boxing After Dark and would showcase lesser known fighters at a later than prime time hour. If there was any doubt the idea would work it’s very first broadcast put all those worries to rest. A double bill on the night of Feb 3rd 1996 introduced us to two men who would become legends and Hall of Famers. First, Johnny Tapia KO’d Giovanni Andrade in two rounds. The headliner was a fight that made the entire boxing world take notice. An unknown Mexican named Marco Antonio Barrera knocked out Kennedy McKinney in the 12th round in a fight that should have been fight of the year (no disrespect meant to Evander Holyfield’s 11th round KO of Mike Tyson).

Not everything HBO touched turned to gold, however. There was the failed show named KO Nation, HBO’s attempt to bring boxing to a younger, hipper crowed. Ed Lover worked as ring announcer and Fran Charles and Kevin Kelly called the fights while DJ’s spun hip hop (some pretty good jams actually) and dancers gyrated. The show lasted only one year. The only truly memorable event was on Feb 3rd 2001 as Hector Camacho, SR. and JR. co-headlined a card for the first father/son co-headlining double bill.

Boxing remained strong in the 2000’s even with significant competition from their rival Showtime and with ESPN getting back in the boxing game. But it was HBO that was still champ. With fighters like Bernard Hopkins leading the way into the new millennium.

Over the years HBO was not only the face but also the voice of boxing. Some of those voices belonged to some of the biggest names in sports broadcasting. Len Berman, Fran Charles, Howard Cosell, Don Dunphy, Bob Kostas, James Brown, Barry Tompkins, Bob Pappa, Max Kellerman and Al Michaels all took turns at hosting and doing color commentary. And boxing luminaries such as Jerry Quarry, Sugar Ray Leonard, Gil Clancy, George Forman, Lennox Lewis, Roy Jones, JR., Andre Ward, Bernard Hopkins and the great Emanuel Steward all worked the microphone as expert analysts.

But for most people my age when we think HBO we will think of Jim Lampley (with HBO 1988 thru present) and Larry Merchant (with HBO 1978 thru 2012) and “our unofficial scorer” Harold Lederman (with HBO 1986 thru present). These three men became the voice of generations of boxing fans, much like Don Dunphy and Howard Cosell were for generations past. I don’t think any of us will forget moments like Lampley’s exclamation of “It Happened, It HAPPENED!” when George Forman knocked out Michael Moorer to become the oldest man to win the Heavyweight Title. Or Larry Merchant’s response to Floyd Mayweather, JR.’s disgusting rant with “I wish I were 50 years younger and I would kick your ass!”. And Harold’s always response with a slight chuckle when Lampley would throw it over to him, and always finishing with simply “JIM!”.

HBO boxing became a part of our lives. It gave us the best fights and fighters for the past 45 years. We saw triumph and tragedy. Legends born and legends ride off into the sunset. We even saw a full-fledged riot in Madison Square Garden!

So, on Saturday night the 24th of November, 2018 I can guarantee three things:

1- Jim Lampley will tear up at some point (it’s ok Jim, I’m pretty sure I will as well)

2- Boxing on TV will never be the same again. PBC is a great series and Showtime has really stepped up its game, but that feeling of comfort and familiarity of HBO’s team just isn’t there

3- My cable bill will be noticeably less as of December 2018

Remember to reach out to me with any questions for the monthly Q&A, or suggestions for future articles or features.

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