Fox Announces Batch Of PBC Fights; We Hope Ho-Humdingers Over-Deliver

This is the time of exploding platforms and rights deal bonanzas, but, I must be honest, I am worried.

I am feeling like we might be in an era of quantity over-riding quality, with virtual leagues and clusters cementing and keeping some of the matches that we fight fans want to see from getting mode.

Forgive me, it could be a pre-holiday malaise or a hangover from over-indulging in the ingestion of “news.” But the Tuesday afternoon in LA roll-out of Fox fare put forth by Premier Boxing Champions didn't get me jazzed.

And I wasn't alone….

Sportscaster Chris Myers presided over the 45 minute event, which touched on the length of the deal, and shared how many bouts will screen on Fox and FS1, and that included dates for some of the PBC standouts who'll be doing their thing in the Fox rings. Sad to say, a lack of energy and crackle in the room, which looked sparse, with the hardcore fight writer types sitting and tapping on keyboards and phones as they reacted to matchups, wasn't helped by the matches themselves.

I'm not alone–on social media, people wondered why some of the A grade talent is being paired with B grade opposition, instead of other A teamers. Now, let me intellectually honest here, and more that this dynamic isn't found solely in that room or promotional umbrella. We're seeing too many showcases, still, even as the DAZNs and ESPNs make fans of pugilism pleased with the regularity of their programming.

To shift gears toward a middle ground stance of equanimity, I'm sure that some of the fights that weren't floating my boat at this rollout will indeed play out to be fan friendly and memorable. OK, so the Dec. 22 at Barclays Center event has left some fans bummed that the Charlos aren't being pitted against other young guns, like Jarrett Hurd and Danny Jacobs…but maybe that is an issue more so for Mark Silverman and the folks who send the checks to Al Haymon. This is an old song and we hear it sung every year—promoters and managers and those who help control the talent will try and spin the risk to reward ration to a place where they can keep elevating their fighters' worth, while taking on minimal risks. The problem there is that too many showcases mean too little drama, too few humdingers which leave you re-playing frenetic action in your mental DVR.

Fair to say that the March 16 Errol Spence vs Mikey Garcia showdown received as much hubbub from media in attendance as any announce bout. But…that fight will be having fans dipping into their pocket, to pay a PPV surcharge, to satisfy the purse asks for the two A graders.

The rollout of the announce team didn't send excitement ripples out; I'm happy to get more Boom Boom Mancini, but Lennox Lewis is at his best on throwback YouTube videos and his delivery and level of incisiveness will not have improved since HBO let him go.

Boxing will be back in Brooklyn Jan. 26, and it will be interesting to see what sort of drawing power Keith Thurman has after such a lengthy time away from the ring. I'd expect him to handle Josesito Lopez with relative ease, and expect the Barclays crew to not have the easiest time getting their attendance to that 12,000 region that they'd come to expect from Golden Boy shows into events promoted by Lou DiBella. Time will of course will tell…

As always, I hope to be pleasantly surprised whenever I'm feeling twinges of negativity. The fan in me will want to be proven wrong… But Silverman's statement of “The 2019 PBC schedule kicks off with high-stakes action and excitement, making FOX the premier home for boxing and the continued leader in live sporting events” will be challenged mightily if and when the Showtime crew gets past their PPV forays and gets back to booking value for subscribers.

Also, the fights on ESPN promoted by Top Rank regularly win our “Who Won the Weekend” Monday morning quarterbacking effort.

So, yeah, Fox will have to have more than a bit of luck to live up to the Silverman standard. Here is the release Fox sent out after the rollout: