Showtime Championship Boxing Explained
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
- "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler defeated John "The Beast" Mugabi in an 11th-round knockout on the debut broadcast of Showtime Championship Boxing on March 10, 1986. On the same undercard, Gaby Canizales defeated Richie Sandoval (who subsequently almost died from the blows received in this bout) and Thomas Hearns defeated James Shuler, who died a week after this bout in a motorcycle accident.
- Mike Tyson headlined multiple pay-per-view heavyweight fights, including:
- Evander Holyfield also headlined:
- Pernell Whitaker vs. Julio César Chávez
- Nigel Benn defended his WBC Super-Middleweight title against Gerald McClellan in a dramatic fight that almost turned tragic by winning on a tenth-round technical knockout at London, England, on February 25, 1995. McClellan subsequently spent two months in a coma due to a massive brain injury and suffered blindness, impaired hearing, and inability to walk. Benn himself suffered from a broken nose and jaw, urinating blood and a shadow of a brain injury.[2]
- Diego Corrales defeated José Luis Castillo for the WBC lightweight title in a 10th-round TKO on May 7, 2005. The fight is almost universally regarded as the best fight of 2005.
- A ShoBox match between Sechew Powell and Cornelius Bundrage on May 6, 2005, featured an extremely rare double knockdown. Both threw simultaneous rights to the chin, although the referee didn't score any single knockdowns, possibly due to the shock of the occurrence.
- A ShoBox match between Allan Green and Jaidon Codrington, on November 4, 2005, was won via a knockout by Green 18 seconds into the bout.[3] It was named the "Knockout of the Year" by The Ring.
- The four fight series of Israel Vázquez and Rafael Márquez. Marquez won the first fight on March 3, 2007, after Vazquez couldn't continue after round 7. Vázquez would knock out Marquez in the sixth round of their second fight on August 4, 2007. This fight won Fight of the Year and Round of the Year (Round 3) honors for 2007 by The Ring. Their 3rd fight was considered to be the most exciting, which took place on March 1, 2008. Vazquez won the fight by split decision, after an incredible twelfth-round which saw Vázquez knock Márquez into the ropes, which prevented Marquez from hitting the canvas, resulting in a critical knockdown in the closing seconds of the fight. This fight was recognized as Fight of the Year for 2008 by Ring magazine as well. Marquez won their fourth fight by a third-round technical knockout.
- Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley was aired on May 7, 2011.
- As part of the build-up to Amir Khan vs. Carlos Molina on December 15, 2012, Showtime presented a fight between Leo Santa Cruz and Alberto Guevara on the sister CBS broadcast network, in its first boxing telecast since 1997.[4] [5]
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. signed with Showtime in 2013. His fights comprise:
- On June 25, 2016, CBS broadcast a WBC welterweight championship fight between Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman, marking the first boxing event broadcast on CBS in primetime since 1978. The telecast, although part of the Premier Boxing Champions arrangement, was produced by Showtime and billed as Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS presented by Premier Boxing Champions.[6] [7] Thurman retained the WBC title via a unanimous decision.[8]
- On March 4, 2017, CBS aired Thurman's WBA/WBC welterweight unification bout against Danny García. Once again, the fight was broadcast in primetime as a Showtime presentation of Premier Boxing Champions. The fight, which Thurman won in a split decision, received a 2.2 Nielsen rating (a 22% gain over Thurman vs. Porter).[9] [10] [11] [12]
- On April 29, 2017, Showtime broadcast the Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko fight from Wembley Stadium in London to unify the WBA (Super), IBF and IBO heavyweight titles. Uniquely, both Showtime and HBO held rights to the fight, but only Showtime held rights to broadcast it live.[13]
- On December 1, 2018, Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury was aired from Los Angeles.
- On January 19, 2019, Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner was aired from Las Vegas.
- On November 6, 2021, Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant fight held in Las Vegas, when Canelo becomes the first-ever undisputed world super-middleweight champion.
- On April 16, 2022, the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Yordenis Ugás fight was held from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Which Spence won by a 10th round TKO and became the Unified Welterweight Champion.
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
- Web site: Deitsch . Richard . Showtime Sports shutting down; boxing to leave network . 2023-10-20 . The Athletic . en.
- Web site: Nigel Benn vs. Gerald McClellan. BoxRec.
- Web site: Green's quick KO is best of the year. ESPN.com. 28 December 2005 . 19 June 2017.
- Web site: 19 December 2012. Return to network TV a hit for boxing. ESPN.com. 26 June 2016.
- 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.
- Web site: CBS Welcomes Boxing Back to Primetime. Sherdog. 26 June 2016.
- Web site: Joshua-Breazeale on Showtime: CompuBox Historical Review. BoxingScene. 26 June 2016.
- Web site: Keith Thurman edges Shawn Porter by unanimous decision, retains title. ESPN. 26 June 2016 . 26 June 2016.
- Web site: Thurman-Garcia does strong rating for CBS. Bad Left Hook (SBNation). 5 March 2017 . Vox Media. 7 March 2017.
- Web site: Thurman vs. Garcia on March 4 to be on CBS. 2017-01-18. The Ring. en-US. 2017-01-20.
- Web site: Keith Thurman vs. Danny Garcia to headline Showtime Boxing's return to CBS. CBS Sports. 7 March 2017.
- Web site: PBC Boxing: Keith Thurman vs. Danny Garcia live results, online discussion. Bloody Elbow (SBNation). 4 March 2017 . Vox Media. 7 March 2017.
- Web site: HBO and Showtime will share April 29 Joshua-Klitschko heavyweight telecast. USA Today. 1 May 2017.
