HBO officially drops Rigo

[ykdadamaja]

I don't think Floyd's fights have been more action filled then Rigos? Politics in boxing is so frustrating

Yup. It's politics. What Rigo should do is continue to unify the titles... someone has titles. Someone. Someone who people want to see. Fight them, and only them. Then HBO has to put you on the TV.

[FinitoElDinamita]

I don't think Floyd's fights have been more action filled then Rigos? Politics in boxing is so frustrating

Yup. It's politics. What Rigo should do is continue to unify the titles... someone has titles. Someone. Someone who people want to see. Fight them, and only them. Then HBO has to put you on the TV.

Floyd isn't consistently boring like Rigo though. He's been in some exciting scraps in his last few fights against Cotto and Mosley where he was the aggressor..

You are right. Rigo has to take the Hopkins route. Just keep winning until he can't be denied.

[uptoscratch]

This is one of the telling signs that boxing is a dying sport: the greatest talents are being shunned by the networks and the fans.

It's sad, but people don't give a fuck about the sweet science anymore.

It's not longer "hit and not get hit", it's "hit and get hit repeatedly".

Definitely. It looks like HBO wants to be in the brain damage business instead of the boxing business.

I think it's ignorant and short-sighted. People like winners. People are intrigued by and want to see athletes who have mastered their craft -- Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning.

Mayweather understands this and that's how he's always promoted himself -- "skills pay the bills" -- and it made him and HBO piles and piles of money. It almost defies belief that after the run HBO had with Floyd (not to mention Hopkins), that they would then turn around and decide that they can't be bothered to promote Rigondeaux.

Thank god at least for Kellerman, and for writers like this guy (2nd Annual Big Mac Awards: Rigo, Dibella, Bernstein Rule - TheSweetScience.com) who get it and aren't afraid to speak up about it.

[Beanflicker]

People are intrigued by and want to see athletes who have mastered their craft -- Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning.

For sure. It's a shame, because nobody bashes Kobe Bryant or Peyton Manning for playing responsibly and smart. Nobody complains that Peyton didn't throw enough risky hail mary passes, or that he didn't get sacked enough. The networks don't go to the coach of the Patriots and say "hey, Tom Brady is completing way too many short passes and the fans are getting bored, can you put some rookie in there instead who'll throw some exciting interceptions and get killed by passrusher every 3rd play?"

Nobody gives a shit that the winning football team takes a knee at the end of the game to run out the clock. Wouldn't it be more exciting if instead they went balls out to score another touchdown? Of course it would, but nobody expects them too.

Why can't boxing fans have the same respect for the sweet science? It seems we have no desire to see A-level talent, when it's much more exciting to see C and B-level guys because they don't have the same skill and end up getting punched in the head and bleeding more. Then people shit on the A-level guys because they fight in a way that a) gives them the best chance of victory and b) lets them take the least amount of damage possible.

When you see guys like Abdusalamov who'll be lucky to ever walk and talk with his wife and kids again, winning without getting brain damage seems like the way to go.

[gest12645]

I love HBO but Showtime is the future .

[J_Undisputed]

The thing is HBO bought Rigo for this. http://youtu.be/-hTiWyQUJKk

In hopes that him and Donaire(off the monteil ko, the darchinyan dismantling, etc) would battle it out for supremacy. No Matter who won and who lost, HBO would win. The one who lost is somewhat of an enigma/headcase now and the one who won is now fighting guys from his bicycle. Now when you consider, the line up they have as far as exciting fighters go. Rigo, Gamboa, Ward and the Klits... I'm surprised the guy in charge hasn't hung himself yet. Then you have schills like ledderman and Lampley trying to drown it in gravy talking about technical these guys are and quoting their records and last exciting fight they had over and over and over.. Kellerman talking out of his @$$ and directors turning the cameras on the fighters wives and fathers in the audience for the human interest side of things just so Lampley can tell us some interesting tidbit about them.

As far as ratings go..their still sinking. Pac only fights 2 -3 times a year, Martinez is still ailing and may never be the same. Chavez jr. cant even lay off the captain crunch enough to stay in a weight division for longer than a month. Are we really that surprised?

[boxing prospect]

The fact the crowd emptied out for his fight with Agbeko said everything you need to know about the relationship between Rigondeaux, Top Rank and HBO. What Rigondeaux needs is a willing dance partner, what HBO need to do is think outside of the box, what Arum needs to do is make sure their will be a crowd and what Rigondeaux needs to do is either adjust his style (unlikely) or take less money.

I've been saying on other forums for a while that what Rigondeaux needs is to be on a Macau against a Japanese guy. Rigondeaux v Hasegawa would be fun as Hasegawa tends to go out on his sword and has speed to match Rigondeaux that'd be a good one and Japanese gamblers would be there to back their guy meaning their would be an audience.

If Rigondeaux's minimum fee is as high as rumoured you can understand HBO pissing on him in fairness. He's talented but can't draw shit to flies. Why pay big bucks for someone who has a negative effect on the audience?

[FinitoElDinamita]

The fact the crowd emptied out for his fight with Agbeko said everything you need to know about the relationship between Rigondeaux, Top Rank and HBO. What Rigondeaux needs is a willing dance partner, what HBO need to do is think outside of the box, what Arum needs to do is make sure their will be a crowd and what Rigondeaux needs to do is either adjust his style (unlikely) or take less money.

I've been saying on other forums for a while that what Rigondeaux needs is to be on a Macau against a Japanese guy. Rigondeaux v Hasegawa would be fun as Hasegawa tends to go out on his sword and has speed to match Rigondeaux that'd be a good one and Japanese gamblers would be there to back their guy meaning their would be an audience.

If Rigondeaux's minimum fee is as high as rumoured you can understand HBO pissing on him in fairness. He's talented but can't draw shit to flies. Why pay big bucks for someone who has a negative effect on the audience?

I agree that a willing dance partner would do him well...

Speaking of Hasegawa. He has the experience to give Rigo a fight, he'll put up alot more than AGbeko im sure.

WHat i really want to see is Shinsuke Yamanaka move up and face Rigo...

[El Kabong]

Perhaps HBO sees the writing on the wall in terms of the talent that Showtime have gathered and the only way to win this war is to beat them in views......problem is, all out wars like Gatti-Ward and Corrales-Castillo are very hard to predict in the planning stage. You can set up matches where the styles SHOULD mesh but then the brawl never materializes.

[zhubin]

The best pure boxer outside of Mayweather...and HBO basically says "fuck off." Disgraceful.

[boxing prospect]

I agree that a willing dance partner would do him well...

Speaking of Hasegawa. He has the experience to give Rigo a fight, he'll put up alot more than AGbeko im sure.

WHat i really want to see is Shinsuke Yamanaka move up and face Rigo...

Yamanaka has said he's looking for bouts with LSC and Moreno in 2014. I dare say he'll have to fight Iwasa in 2014 as well. Don't think he much fancies fighting Rigo.

[El Kabong]

I don't think Floyd's fights have been more action filled then Rigos? Politics in boxing is so frustrating

Yup. It's politics. What Rigo should do is continue to unify the titles... someone has titles. Someone. Someone who people want to see. Fight them, and only them. Then HBO has to put you on the TV.

Didn't help Wladimir with HBO

[Spicoli]

I don't think Floyd's fights have been more action filled then Rigos? Politics in boxing is so frustrating

Yup. It's politics. What Rigo should do is continue to unify the titles... someone has titles. Someone. Someone who people want to see. Fight them, and only them. Then HBO has to put you on the TV.

Didn't help Wladimir with HBO

But at least he got the second oppurtunity on hbo, but I'm not sure he helped himself to shine either if we're honest. I think Hbo is equallt to blame for its half ass promotion and a polished push on Rigo. They brought Agbeko straight off the rust bin, no co feature, rebuild etc and relied on his previous all out approach, reputation. Hbo is and always has been so damn full of itself, its flavor of the month and more than a few rushed products. I look forward to Showtime enjoying an expanding future.