HBO's strange stance on Chagaev
Posted Jun. 5, 2009 at 04:38pm
By Brian Doogan
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Remarkably, HBO will not broadcast the June 20 Wladimir Klitschko-Ruslan Chagaev bout in the U.S.
Kery Davis, senior vice president of sports programming for HBO, suggested that Chagaev would not be recognized if he were to walk down the street, which may be true, but how many heavyweights would be recognized by the public today?
Calvin Brock? Ray Austin? Lamon Brewster? Sultan Ibragimov? Tony Thompson? Hasim Rahman? David Haye?
All of these Klitschko opponents (or scheduled opponents in the case of Haye) were deemed worthy by HBO, yet Chagaev does not cut it, apparently.
The former amateur world heavyweight champion from Uzbekistan, who beat legendary Cuban Felix Savon in the 1997 world championships in Hungary, is ranked No 3 by THE RING and is unbeaten in 26 bouts.
He holds victories over Nikolai Valuev (ranked No 5 by THE RING) and John Ruiz (No 10) and in the wake of Haye’s injury there could be no more compelling challenger for Klitschko, who has lost three times in 55 encounters, given that he will not box his brother, Vitali (No 2).
The fight almost certainly will be picked up by another network in the U.S.
Kery Davis, senior vice president of sports programming for HBO, suggested that Chagaev would not be recognized if he were to walk down the street, which may be true, but how many heavyweights would be recognized by the public today?
Calvin Brock? Ray Austin? Lamon Brewster? Sultan Ibragimov? Tony Thompson? Hasim Rahman? David Haye?
All of these Klitschko opponents (or scheduled opponents in the case of Haye) were deemed worthy by HBO, yet Chagaev does not cut it, apparently.
The former amateur world heavyweight champion from Uzbekistan, who beat legendary Cuban Felix Savon in the 1997 world championships in Hungary, is ranked No 3 by THE RING and is unbeaten in 26 bouts.
He holds victories over Nikolai Valuev (ranked No 5 by THE RING) and John Ruiz (No 10) and in the wake of Haye’s injury there could be no more compelling challenger for Klitschko, who has lost three times in 55 encounters, given that he will not box his brother, Vitali (No 2).
The fight almost certainly will be picked up by another network in the U.S.
