Ortiz vs Berto II: Showtime Buys the Fight For January 28 or February 11
by Scott Christ on Nov 25, 2011 12:59 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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Late last night, ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reported that the rematch between welterweights Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto has indeed come together, and that the fight will take place on either January 28 or February 11.
But there's a surprise: Showtime, not HBO, will carry the fight.
Showtime bought the fight for $2.25 million, according to a source involved in the match, which was considerably more than HBO's initial offer of $1.75 million and just $100,000 more than HBO's final offer of $2.15 million, the same amount it paid for the first bout.
... "Showtime's offer was the highest in the marketplace," DiBella told ESPN.com on Thursday night. "It's good to know that they're in the game and that a fight of this quality had interest from both networks. Competition in the marketplace is a good thing. As Andre Berto's promoter, I am very grateful for the loyalty and investment HBO made in Berto over the years, and I know Andre is also."
I guess for those of us waiting to find out what new Showtime Sports leading man Stephen Espinoza would do in the chair left vacant by Ken Hershman, this is an answer.
[ Related: Espinoza Named Replacement for Hershman at Showtime ]
Landing this sort of fight may not be a game-changer for Showtime, but it does mean that there might be legitimate competition for fights of this level. While in the past HBO has bid against themselves to secure things like the career of Andre Berto or the Bradley vs Alexander fight, it appears as though common sense may be prevailing at HBO with Ross Greenburg out, and an aggressive Espinoza could "steal" some more fights like this one by picking and choosing where he wants to make a strong bid.
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I’ll second that. It will likely be a Grade A fight with B grade commentary. Showtime lacks a little bit.
by RRod806 on Nov 25, 2011 3:08 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
They employ arguably the three best commentators in U.S. boxing (Bernstein, Farhood, Tarver). Of course Farhood only works ShoBox and they insist on this Gus Johnson crap ruining their broadcasts.
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by Scott Christ on Nov 25, 2011 3:12 PM EST up reply actions
Well since us MMA fans have to put up with Gus Johnson on Strikeforce events
It’s only fair the boxing community gets to share our paid :D
by TheMysticalNinja on Nov 25, 2011 4:14 PM EST up reply actions
Doesn't Gus have a new contract with Fox or something?
I thought he was going to be phased out of Showtime duties as the new contract kicked in. Definitely didn’t follow the story closely but that’s what I remember hearing. It would be a huge blessing for combat sports fans to have him relegated to basketball and never try to astroturf excitement over boxing and MMA again.
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Pretty sure the contract said that it would not affect his MMA and boxing commitments
I respect your opinion even though it's wrong.
His Showtime contract is a separate deal.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Nov 25, 2011 6:53 PM EST up reply actions
Correct. He’s continuing on with combat sports duties at Showtime but is exclusive to Fox for other sports. The only part of his CBS relationship that continues is boxing/mma duties on Showtime.
Managing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 25, 2011 8:20 PM EST up reply actions
I feel they lack the excitement of HBO
The HBO cast are by no means perfect. But i have become so used to them as the voice of boxing.
I prefer the Showtime guys to be honest, mainly because I think that Tarver and Bernstein are better than either Max or Larry paired with Emanuel Steward. Bernsein and Tarver call fights, Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Larry Merchant call the narrative they want to call, sometimes ignoring what is going on in the ring.
It will be a good fight no matter who is broadcasting it. Good sign for Showtime though. I will probably be watching on Boxnation or something, so it doesn’t really matter to me.
Nobody will read this and care and why should they?
by Eoin_not_ian on Nov 25, 2011 3:18 PM EST up reply actions
It's really just Gus Johnson
HBO’s guys are comically bad now.
I respect your opinion even though it's wrong.
oooo boy are they terrible. they rarely sound like they want to be there, other then kellerman. which is why they tend to make up stories about whats happening in-ring. to keep themselves entertained.
by The Twillness on Nov 25, 2011 9:18 PM EST up reply actions
Have you HEARD HBO commentators recently???? Almost anything is better at this point…
Bob Arum would promote Lucifer himself if he could put asses in the seats.
Where is Merchant?
Its been a couple months since we seen Merchant call a fight. Maybe HBO is kinda making a turn for the better in the commentary department. Lampley does need to wise up bit tho.
I gave up on them after the Daud Yourdan vs. Name I Can't Remember (Caballero?) fight
Where Yordan was clearly losing the fight but Lampley thought the guy was taking such a beating that you’d have thought we were about to witness a death in the ring.
I respect your opinion even though it's wrong.
by SSreporters on Nov 26, 2011 12:22 AM EST up reply actions
Caballero, yes. And Merchant, so incensed and so motherly, left the commentary team to harass a Florida commission member. It was the DEVASTATING body slaps from Caballero. Did Lamps name-check Leavandar Johnson again during that one? I don’t remember.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Nov 26, 2011 2:28 AM EST up reply actions
I'm surprised by this
considering the investment HBO has made in Berto AND Ortiz.
Also, the numbers HBO did for that fight were very, very good, so why would they let it go like this?
Maybe it has something to do with Hershman’s hiring not being official til January. Could be a timing thing that SHO took advantage of.
You know… Showtime used to bring certain fighters up on their air, and then the fighters would skip over to HBO for the big money, which kinda screwed Sho over. Here, they have reversed that.
It’s pretty amusing that after years of us bitching that HBO overpaid for Berto’s crappy fights, the minute he leaves HBO he makes … more. I’m one of those who bitched, but I’m finding the humor in it. Shut my mouth, I guess.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Why do you think he’s making more? I doubt Ortiz is taking less than a million. So it’s a very tough fight for Berto for Freddy Hernandez money.
Also, I may have read that this new Showtime boss Espinoza is an Al Haymon flunky, and that there might be an exodus of Haymon fighters to SHO. Any knowledge of this?
by HamzaWanderaWRSCO on Nov 25, 2011 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
I meant and should have said “his fights cost more.” It’s just $100,000 but it’s funny to me.
Espinoza is an Al Haymon flunky, and that there might be an exodus of Haymon fighters to SHO
Don’t know if he’s a flunky, but Showtime loses nothing bringing on guys like Berto and Kirkland or using more GBP guys, as long as they put them in good fights. Showtime isn’t likely going to start picking up Pacquiao or Mayweather fights (the Manny thing was a real one-off, it seems), but being more competitive at this level is good news for all of us. Or so I hope — it could also mean, if people get stupid, that one of the two networks won’t overpay for a good fight (you can overpay for good fights, yes) and so the other one allows a lesser fight for more than it’s worth just to have the fighter. Hershman has been smarter than that in the past, but the expectations for him are different now.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Nov 25, 2011 2:36 PM EST up reply actions
I wonder if Showtime got a bump in their budget for boxing after their success this year….
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
Maybe, but maybe not. Their budget has allowed them to spend about $3 million occasionally on a fight, as I recall. Not often. There might also be more money if Strikeforce isn’t as big in their plans.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Nov 26, 2011 2:29 AM EST up reply actions
I tihnk also due to the fact that
Strikeforce in mma are on its last legs on Showtime, they may have some more to spend on boxing when they’re not in the position to grow in that sport as much.
Of course they may get Strikeforce for really cheap and what I said doesn’t matter at all, but that side of Showtime Sports is disappearing even if nothing official has been announced.
http://fistonchin.com http://brightlightssports.com
I hope this is a new trend,
This will just be an added incentive for promoters to make good fights. Good fights deserve more money, especially at this level.
Great buy by Showtime
A lot of people saw the first fight, almost everyone I know that saw it liked it, and it’s just a smart use of funds. I hope they do market the hell out of it though. Buying something like this only helps if casual fans know they did. Advertising on CBS should help.
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I wouldn’t expect much CBS promotion, to be honest. Moonves wasn’t crazy about the promotion time spent on Pacquiao/Mosley at the expense of promoting other CBS shows, especially when it didn’t pay off in terms of additional viewers, and promoting actual Showtime fights seem off their radar. I’d like to be pleasantly surprised though.
WOW, I’m genuinely surprised by this move. I guess too early to tell what it all really means, but good to see SHO pony up the cake for a good feature fight. Maybe the network will have more money in the boxing budget this year, but it would only be a good thing if it becomes a competitive player with HBO.
As far as the “broadcast booth”, SHO has the upper hand. Outside of Kellerman and Steward (sometimes), HBO’s whole team sucks. Bernstein and Tarver are top-notch. Oh and for those who think Gus is the worst, you apparently don’t watch ShoBox lol. Curt Menefee is awful and would make ME sound good commentating a fight, and I admittedly would suck lol.
ive always thought curt was good considering the way he was brought into the business. might just be me.
by The Twillness on Nov 25, 2011 9:20 PM EST up reply actions
Curt at least doesn’t try to force excitement.
And he’s never just gone
ALCOHOL REHABright in the middle of a fight.
But yeah Menefee isn’t very good either. But Gus is the worst. I do like that he genuinely tries and I think he takes the job very seriously, but I don’t like Gus Johnson in any sport so it’s probably an impossible battle for him. I don’t like the talking head doofus one-liner spouting gibletheads on SportsCenter, either. None of it is for me. It’s all so phony and corny. Although I will say that watching the SportsCenter crew attempt to handle the Joe Paterno firing was about the funniest thing of the year. They were drowning.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Nov 26, 2011 2:32 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t like the talking head doofus one-liner spouting gibletheads on SportsCenter, either. None of it is for me. It’s all so phony and corny.
What you said right there lol. Somewhere along the line, sports broadcasting became about punchlines (thanks Chris Berman, asshole) and I think Gus fed into his own hype. As you mentioned, he takes the job seriously and I think his emotion is real and it’s good to see SOME emotion vs. a comatose AND clueless Menefee. Or that’s just my opinion lol.
Anything is better than Primetime Commentaters
They annoy me SO much! they feel more like WWE commentaters.
Skysports is so much better.
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