By Joseph Herron: When HBO was putting on fights like Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera, Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward, and David Tua vs. Ike Ibeabuchi, the premium cable network was easily the universally recognized champion of boxing on television.
With their brilliant panel of commentators: Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, and Big George Foreman, no other network could match the overall coverage or product that HBO would deliver time and time again into millions of living rooms across the country.
While HBO continues to deliver quality fights, like Berto vs. Ortiz, we seldom see a continual stretch of great match-ups throughout the year. A great fight on Home Box Office is beginning to resemble an endangered species.
Already this year, Showtime, HBO’s rival network, has hosted tremendous battles, such as fight of the year candidate Brandon Rios vs. Miguel Acosta, Carl Froch vs. Glencoffe Johnson, Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Orlando Salido, and Brandon Rios vs. Urbano Antillon.
So when the news surfaced that Ross Greenburg, long time President of HBO Sports, was resigning after serving the company for 33 years, no one in boxing was taken by surprise.
Ross Greenburg stated in a recent interview, “When I started with HBO, I wasn’t a big fan of boxing.”
To return to boxing prominence, HBO must appoint someone who has a passion for the sport of boxing and recognizes a great fight when presented with one.
Don “War a Week” Chargin feels that he is that “someone”.
The Great Mr. Chargin has been recognized for his match making abilities and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame back in 2001 for his devoted efforts in improving the sport of boxing for over five decades.
“To regain the trust of the boxing fan, HBO must go after the big fights,” claims the famed boxing match maker. “They cannot be concerned with who the promoter is or who the fighter’s manager is; HBO must get back to recognizing great match-ups and pursing them aggressively.”
“HBO must not concern themselves with politics or favoritism; they have to stay focused on delivering to the public the best fights possible.”
Don recognizes that this is no easy task for those who aren’t familiar with the science of match making.
“A good fight is always hard to make,” admits Chargin. “Sometimes, you come across a manager who doesn’t want to put their fighters in tough fights or who will try to avoid the toughest possible contest to keep their fighters in their winning ways.”
“HBO has the strength to force their hand and shouldn’t be concerned with developing a fighter. They can’t worry about how this fighter is going to look six months to a year from now. HBO must be primarily concerned with putting on the best fights now.”
The great boxing match maker claims that this was the recipe for his long term success at the famed Olympic Auditorium, which was once heralded as the Madison Square Garden of the west.
“I was fortunate enough to be associated with Aileen Eaton at the Olympic Auditorium, and she never allowed us to have promotional contracts with these fighters and managers. Her favorite saying was, ‘if they don’t want us then we don’t want them’.”
“As a promoter, Aileen Eaton was so far ahead of her time,” observes Chargin. “She used to say that promotional contracts were unnecessary and didn’t give you the freedom to make the best matches possible.”
“We used to put on the best possible fights for the fans, and as a result, it was a fighter’s career ambition to fight at the Olympic Auditorium.”
That’s the kind of success HBO enjoyed for several decades. Now it seems that the boxing giant is on the verge of losing its appellation as the premier avenue to boxing stardom.
With HBO’s budget and his promotional and match-making talents, Don Chargin feels that in just a short amount of time, he could bring the network back to a period when it enjoyed exclusive boxing prominence.
“All I would need would be one year with the network and HBO would begin to see the kind of numbers that it enjoyed ten years ago,” professes “War a Week” Chargin. “That’s all I would need. Just give me one year and I would put the best fights on HBO.”
Chargin claims that boxing’s diminishing reputation as major sport in America could be rectified with one great fight.
“Boxing is the greatest sport on the planet,” believes the boxing hall of famer. “I know we’re in somewhat of a lull right now, but boxing can easily go to the forefront of professional sports with just one great fight.”
“Just one great performance on the big stage would have millions talking for months. I’ve seen it happen.”
HBO would be wise to listen to a man who has devoted his entire life to a sport that he has believed in for almost sixty years. A man who has seen legendary fights become a large part of American history and culture.
HBO simply stands on the shoulders of the great boxing minds who originally made this sport the legend that it is today, and if it hopes to reignite the flame that once burned so brightly, maybe Home Box Office should consult Don Chargin…one of boxing’s true architects.