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Bob Arum: Showtime will leave boxing within the next year

Bob Arum thinks the time of boxing on premium cable is over.

Terence Crawford v Jeff Horn Official Press Conference Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

He was a new age Nostradamus when he came on Everlast “Talkbox” and talked about HBO not being long for the boxing world.

Two months later, the plug was pulled on the HBO boxing program.

Bob Arum is no fool, not even slightly, and his sagacity hasn’t dimmed noticeably though he turns 87 on December 8. That’s why ears perked when he went on the Randy Gordon and Gerry Cooney Sirius show Monday, and aimed his laser sights at Showtime’s boxing program.

”Both HBO and Showtime are competing for viewers with Netflix,” said Arum, taking a bow for the Saturday effort by Terence Crawford on ESPN.

”So every dollar that they have has to go into what they’re really great at — providing entertainment. HBO certainly has done it. They have really, really good, good programming. And so does Showtime.

“So I’m predicting also that within the next year Showtime will be exiting from boxing because, as great as they’ve been for boxing, they don’t belong. Does FOX belong in boxing? Of course they do. They’re a regular network that has a lot of sports. ESPN is perfect for boxing. That’s where it’s going. The world never stays the same. It always changes. Their time has now passed.”

Now, critics of that critique will note that the writing was on the wall at HBO, and the Showtime program doesn’t seem to be on the wane. So, time will tell if Arum’s prediction record gets bolstered — or the Bobfather’s acumen on this occasion wasn’t A-grade.

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