HBO World Championship Boxing: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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{{Short description|American tvTV sports series (1973–2018)}}
{{Infobox television
| name = HBO World Championship Boxing
| image = Title card for HBO World Championship Boxing, 2013.png
| caption = WCB title card, from 2013 to 2018
| genre = [[Boxing]] telecasts
| camera = [[Multicamera setup|Multi-camera]]
| picture_format = 1080i (HDTV)
| audio_format = Surround sound
| runtime = Various
| creator =
| developer =
| producer =
| executive_producer =
| presenter = [[Jim Lampley]] <br /> [[Max Kellerman]] <br /> [[Roy Jones, Jr.]]
| starring = Various
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer = [[Ferdinand Jay Smith III]]
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| country = United States
| location = Various boxing stadiums
| language = English<br>[[Spanish language|Spanish]] ([[secondary audio program|SAP]] & HBO Latino)
| company = HBO Sports
| network = [[HBO]]<br>HBO Latino<br>[[truTV]]
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| last_aired = {{end date|2018|12|08}}
| num_seasons = 45
| num_episodes =
| list_episodes =
| related = ''[[Boxing After Dark]]''<br>''[[MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout]]'' ▼
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
▲| related = ''[[Boxing After Dark]]''<br>''[[MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout]]''
| website =
}}
'''''HBO World Championship Boxing''''' (in later years stylized in its title card as '''''HBO Boxing – World Championship''''') is an American sports [[television program|television series]] on premium television network [[HBO]]. It premiered on January 22, 1973, with a fight that saw [[George Foreman]] defeat [[Joe Frazier]] in [[Kingston, Jamaica]].
HBO's [[pay-per-view]] distribution arm, '''TVKO''' was formedfounded in December 1990, whichand debutedthen launched in April 1991 with [[Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman]], was rebrandedbecoming '''HBO PPV''' in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|title=HBO and Showtime Climb Into the PPV Ring|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/90-OCR/BC-1990-12-24-OCR-Page-0028.pdf|periodical=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|via=World Radio History|page=28|format=PDF|date=December 24, 1990|access-date=July 29, 2020}}<br>{{cite web|title=HBO and Showtime Climb Into the PPV Ring|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/90-OCR/BC-1990-12-24-OCR-Page-0029.pdf|periodical=Broadcasting|via=World Radio History|page=29|format=PDF|date=December 24, 1990|access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>
On February 3, 1996, HBO debuted a spin-off program, ''[[Boxing After Dark]]'', with the fight between [[Marco Antonio Barrera]] and [[Kennedy McKinney]] as its inaugural telecast.
On September 27, 2018, HBO announced they would be dropping boxing from the network following its last televised match on October 27, although there were two additional airings, one on November 24, 2018 and the last on December 8, 2018. Various issues in the boxing business, including the influx of streaming options (such as [[DAZN]] and [[ESPN+]]) and issues with [[boxing promoter|promoters]], along with declining ratings and loss of interest in the sport among HBO's subscribers, made continued carriage of the sport untenable. HBO's long-term move to upscale dramatic programming and an ownership transfer of parent [[WarnerMedia]] to [[AT&T]] also played a role in the decision, with an HBO executive commenting that "HBO is not a sports network."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/sports/hbo-boxing.html|title=HBO Says It Is Leaving the Boxing Business|last=Matthews|first=Wallace|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 27, 2018|access-date=September 27, 2018}}</ref>▼
▲On September 27, 2018, HBO announced they would be dropping boxing from the network following its last televised match on October 27, although there werethough two additional airings, one on November 24, 2018 and theDecember last8 onwere Decemberits 8,last 2018editions. Various issues in the boxing business, including the influx of streaming options (such as [[DAZN]] and [[ESPN+]]) and issues with [[boxing promoter|promoters]] and competing entities such as [[Premier Boxing Champions]], along with declining ratings and loss of interest in the sport among HBO's subscribers for other ring sports such as [[mixed martial arts]] and [[professional wrestling]], made the continued carriage of the sport untenable. HBO's long-term move to upscale dramatic programming and, an ownership transfer of parent [[WarnerMedia]] to [[AT&T]], then [[Warner Bros. Discovery]], where the company's sport division became focused on [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]] as [[TNT Sports (United States)|TNT Sports]], and re-focus around the upcoming streaming service [[Max (streaming service)|HBO Max]] also played a role in the decision, with an HBO executive commenting that "HBO is not a sports network.". The network cancelled its last sports-related program, ''[[Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel]]'', at the end of 2023.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/sports/hbo-boxing.html|title=HBO Says It Is Leaving the Boxing Business|last=Matthews|first=Wallace|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 27, 2018|access-date=September 27, 2018}}</ref>
In March 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery revived the HBO Boxing brand as an [[free ad-supported streaming television]] (FAST) channel that are available on [[Tubi]] and [[Amazon Freevee]], that showcases some boxing bouts that aired on ''World Championship Boxing'' and ''Boxing After Dark'', as well as some boxing-related episodes of ''[[24/7 (American TV program)|24/7]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tubitv.com/live/400000083/hbo-boxing|title=Watch HBO Boxing|website=Tubi|access-date=April 5, 2024}}</ref>
==Memorable events==
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* the [[The Battle of the Champions (boxing)|Battle of the Champions]], when [[Aaron Pryor]] beat [[Alexis Argüello]] in their first fight;
* [[Carnival of Champions]], in which [[Wilfredo Gómez]] beat [[Lupe Pintor]], and [[Thomas Hearns]] beat [[Wilfred Benítez]];
* [[Marvelous Marvin Hagler|Marvin Hagler]] [[Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Durán|defeats Roberto Durán]] and [[Hector Camacho]] beat [[Rafael Solis (boxer)|Rafi Solis]] - both fights shown on the same night, days after they had taken place
* Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns fight, billed as [[The War (boxing)|The War]];
* [[Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman]], billed as The Battle of the Ages;
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* [[Buster Douglas|James "Buster" Douglas]]'s [[Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas|stunning upset]] of [[Mike Tyson]] for the undisputed world heavyweight title in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]];
* [[Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis]] and [[Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II]];
* [[Arturo Gatti]] vs. [[Micky Ward]] trilogy, in which the first fight, Ward beat Gatti by majority decision, while Gatti beat Ward twice, in second and third fights by unanimous decision;
* [[Manny Pacquiao]] vs. [[Juan Manuel Márquez]] tetralogy, in which the first fight ended in a split draw where Burt Clements incorrectly scored 113-113, despite three knockdowns, [[Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Manny Pacquiao II|the second fight]] ended in Pacquiao winning by split-decision with the knockdown scored in round three as the difference in the fight, [[Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez III|the third fight]], in which Pacquiao won by majority decision and [[Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV|the final fight of the rivalry]] resulting Márquez knocking out Pacquiao in the sixth round with one second left;
* [[The Fight of the Millennium]], when [[Felix Trinidad]] beat [[Oscar De La Hoya]] by twelve rounds majority decision.
* [[Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya]];
* [[Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.|The World Awaits]] - [[Floyd Mayweather, Jr.]] beat [[Oscar De La Hoya]] for the WBC super-welterweight title;
* [[Floyd Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton|Undefeated]]" - Floyd Mayweather, Jr. beat [[Ricky Hatton]] to retain the WBC welterweight title with a TKO in the 10th round;
* [[Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao|The Dream Match]] - The Welterweight match between [[Manny Pacquiao]] (moving up 2 weight classes) against Oscar De La Hoya (moving down 1 weight class). Pacquiao won by technical knockout before the 9th round began (De La Hoya retired on his stool);
* [[Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao|Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao]], when Mayweather outpointed Pacquiao over 12 rounds in one of the most widely seen fights around the world in boxing history (on May 2, 2015, simulcasted with [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]]);
* and [[Saul Alvarez|Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez]]'s [[Miguel Cotto vs. Saúl Álvarez|outpointing]] of [[Miguel Cotto]] by 12 round unanimous decision on a November 21, 2015.
* [[Canelo Álvarez|Saul "Canelo" Alvarez]] vs [[Gennady Golovkin]] I &II. Canelo took on [[Gennady Golovkin|GGG]] in 2017 and 2018. Both fights were very close and are still disputed today, with the first fight ending in a draw and the second ending in a win, via [[majority decision]], for Canelo.
A famous incident occurred on July 11, 1996, during the [[Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota]] fight at Madison Square Garden, in which a confrontation between Golota and Bowe's entourage after Golata's disqualification for delivering low blows to Bowe, resulting a chaotic and violent brawl between the boxers' respective entourages and fans. During the fight, HBO's commentary team had to evacuate their ringside position (with George Foreman helping to protect his fellow commentators after unsuccessfully attempting to put an end to the fighting; the commentators' table was destroyed in the brawl), resulting in several minutes of commentary-free coverage of the melee before Jim Lampley was able to resume coverage of the incident from several levels above. Larry Merchant and Foreman remained in the ring providing coverage as tempers continued to flare into punch-ups between spectators. The credits rolled over footage of NYPD officers entering MSG and beginning to make arrests.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Riot' follows Bowe's victory Golota's low blows stop bout; corners, crowd then join fray |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-07-12-1996194006-story.html |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=Baltimore Sun}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Andrew Golota vs Riddick Bowe 1996 The Riot Fight at MSG |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4LcsGSfADU |language=en |access-date=2023-02-08}}</ref>
''World Championship Boxing'' has also had three [[spin-off (media)|spin-off]] series,: ''[[Boxing After Dark]]'',; ''[[KO Nation]]'',; and ''[[MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout]]''—a, a weekly broadcast co-produced with [[Turner Sports]] for sister cable network [[TruTV]], while its. [[multiplexMultiplex (television)|multiplex]] [[Spanish -language|Spanish]] channel HBO Latino aired its two spin-off series ''Oscar De La Hoya Presenta Boxeo De Oro'' (focused on fighters from De La Hoya's [[Golden Boy Promotions]]) and ''Generación Boxeo''.<ref name=espn-trutvtoprank>{{cite web|title=TruTV to broadcast boxing series|url=httphttps://www.espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/12588467/top-rank-trutv-partner-live-boxing-series|website=ESPN.com|date=30 March 2015 |access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref><ref name=svg-trutvknockout>{{cite web|title=Turner Sports Returns to the Ring With HBO and SpiderCam on Friday Night Knockout on truTV|url=http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2015/05/turner-sports-returns-to-the-ring-with-hbo-and-spidercam-on-friday-night-knockout-on-trutv/|website=Sports Video Group|date=May 2015 |access-date=2 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite webnews|title=HBO Latino Enters the Ring|url=https://www.multichannel.com/news/hbo-latino-enters-ring-136521|periodical=[[Multichannel News]]|date=October 9, 2002|access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=HBO Latino Launches New Boxing Series, Generación Boxeo, Debuting Exclusively, Thursday, April 27|url=https://www.warnermediagroup.com/newsroom/press-releases/2006/04/24/hbo-latino-launches-new-boxing-series-generaci-n-boxeo-debuting|website=WarnerMedia|date=April 24, 2006|access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>
Additionally, a video game carrying the brand name ''[[HBO Boxing (video game)|HBO Boxing]]'' was released for the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] in 2000, which was published by [[Acclaim Entertainment]] under their Acclaim Sports banner.
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[[Harold Lederman]], a former boxing judge, served as "unofficial scorer," giving his scorecards after every three rounds, sometimes two. Lederman also used to voice-over the rules under which the fight would be conducted before handing back to Lampley for pre-fight introductions; however the rules were later simply flashed on-screen to save time. Former judge Steve Weisfeld also appeared in this role, usually when Lederman's daughter Julie was judging a fight and as such Harold could not be on television due to the conflict of interest.
[[Michael Buffer]] was an unofficial member of the team as ring announcer for most HBO fights. Even [[Showtime Championship Boxing]] ring announcer [[Jimmy Lennon Jr.]] subbed for Buffer occasionally and Buffer occasionally subbed for Lennon on [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] boxing programming.
[[Chon Romero]] was one of the commentators for HBO Boxing's Spanish telecasts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrboxingpr.com/noticias/entrevista-a-chon-romero-analista-de-hbo-donde-habla-de-cotto-juanma-pacquiao-broner-entre-otros-temas|title=ENTREVISTA A CHON ROMERO ANALISTA DE HBO DONDE HABLA DE COTTO, JUANMA, PACQUIAO, BRONER ENTRE OTROS TEMAS |work=MR.BOXING}}</ref>
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==International broadcasts==
Prior to 2009, [[The Sports Network|TSN]], a basic-cable sports channel in [[Canada]], held the Canadian broadcast rights to most HBO boxing events, often airing them live (with ads inserted between rounds) if they did not conflict with other sports properties on the channel. SinceFrom January 2009 to the series' end, ''HBO World Championship Boxing'', and other HBO boxing events, have aired live on [[HBO Canada]] with later repeats on TSN.
==See also==
* ''[[Boxing After Dark]]''— a television boxing program airing on HBO from 1996 to 2018
* ''[[KO Nation]]''— a short-lived television boxing program that aired on HBO from 2000 to 2001
* ''[[Showtime Championship Boxing]]''— a television boxing program airing on [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] from 1986 to the present2023
* ''[[Showtime Championship Boxing|ShoBox: The New Generation]]''— a television boxing program airing on Showtime from 2001 to the present2023
* ''[[Top Rank Boxing|Top Rank Boxing on ESPN]]''— a television boxing program airing on [[ESPN]]
* ''[[Premier Boxing Champions]]''— a boxing promotion organized by [[Al Haymon]] and a television boxing program airing on multiple broadcast and cable networks from 2015 to the present
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{{Turner Sports}}
{{Boxing on television}}
{{Boxing}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hbo World Championship Boxing}}
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[[Category:1990s American television series]]
[[Category:2000s American television series]]
[[Category:2010s American television series]]
[[Category:2018 American television series endings]]
[[Category:Boxing television series]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:HBO original programming|World Championship Boxing]]
[[Category:TruTV original programming]]