Showtime Championship Boxing Explained

Genre:Sports, Boxing
Creator:Showtime
Country:United States
Company:Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. (1986–1988)
Showtime Networks (1988–2023)
Channel:Showtime
Related:ShoBox: The New Generation

Showtime Championship Boxing is a television boxing program that aired on Showtime. Debuting in March 1986, it was broadcast live on the first Saturday of every month. Showtime Championship Boxing, which was very similar to HBO World Championship Boxing, featured Mauro Ranallo on play-by-play, Al Bernstein as the color analyst, Jimmy Lennon (Sr. and Jr.) as ring announcers, and Jim Gray as reporter.

A sister program, ShoBox: The New Generation, has occasionally aired on Friday nights, featuring fights between boxing prospects. Showtime has also occasionally aired limited cards on the CBS broadcast network since 2012, with the telecasts billed as a special edition of Showtime Championship Boxing rather than being billed as a CBS Sports broadcast.

With the announcement in October 2023 that Showtime Sports will be closing at the end of year, any future sports programming on the network will be branded under the CBS Sports branding.[1]

Notable fights

Commentators

Brian Custer served as host of the program from 2015-2023. The main broadcast team featured Mauro Ranallo on blow-by-blow, Al Bernstein as chief color analyst and (when he was available) boxer Abner Mares as an analyst. Amir Khan, Austin Trout, and Daniel Jacobs have served as guest analysts. The third role was previously filled by Antonio Tarver, Ferdie Pacheco, Bobby Czyz, and Paulie Malignaggi among others. Veteran Jim Gray served as chief reporter. Steve Farhood was the "unofficial scorer". Previous top commentators include Steve Albert and Gus Johnson.

The New Generation features Barry Tompkins on blow-by-blow, and Raul Marquez and Brian Campbell as the expert analysts.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Deitsch . Richard . Showtime Sports shutting down; boxing to leave network . 2023-10-20 . The Athletic . en.
  2. Web site: Nigel Benn vs. Gerald McClellan. BoxRec.
  3. Web site: Green's quick KO is best of the year. ESPN.com. 28 December 2005 . 19 June 2017.
  4. Web site: 19 December 2012. Return to network TV a hit for boxing. ESPN.com. 26 June 2016.
  5. Web site: Showtime, CBS Team Up for Full Day of Live Boxing Dec. 15. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160921212528/http://fightnetwork.com/news/6383175:showtime-cbs-team-up-for-full-day-of-live-boxing-dec-15/. 21 September 2016. Fight Network. 26 June 2016.
  6. Web site: CBS Welcomes Boxing Back to Primetime. Sherdog. 26 June 2016.
  7. Web site: Joshua-Breazeale on Showtime: CompuBox Historical Review. BoxingScene. 26 June 2016.
  8. Web site: Keith Thurman edges Shawn Porter by unanimous decision, retains title. ESPN. 26 June 2016 . 26 June 2016.
  9. Web site: Thurman-Garcia does strong rating for CBS. Bad Left Hook (SBNation). 5 March 2017 . Vox Media. 7 March 2017.
  10. Web site: Thurman vs. Garcia on March 4 to be on CBS. 2017-01-18. The Ring. en-US. 2017-01-20.
  11. Web site: Keith Thurman vs. Danny Garcia to headline Showtime Boxing's return to CBS. CBS Sports. 7 March 2017.
  12. Web site: PBC Boxing: Keith Thurman vs. Danny Garcia live results, online discussion. Bloody Elbow (SBNation). 4 March 2017 . Vox Media. 7 March 2017.
  13. Web site: HBO and Showtime will share April 29 Joshua-Klitschko heavyweight telecast. USA Today. 1 May 2017.