Last week I touched on the passing of Alex Wallau, who embarked on a long and successful run as an ABC executive (eventually becoming their president in 2000). But to anyone growing in the 1980's as a boxing fan, he was the boxing analyst for the network.
Believe it or not, there was a time when the likes of ABC, NBC and CBS would air the sport on a regular basis. Get this, they would even televise the sport in prime time.
Later on, I learned that Wallau (who helped break in Jim Lampley) was more than just a talking head. He was an actual 'fight guy'. One that loved the sport, respected the tradition of it, and cared about its standing. While he called the fights, it turns out that he also green lit many of them for the network.
Wallau and Jim Lampley
Back then, you had executives like Mort Sharnick at CBS and then later the likes of Jay Larkin at Showtime who I describe as 'guardians at the gate'. They were the ones entrusted to approve fights that would appeal to the boxing fan. They actually had the best interest of not just their network, but the fans in mind. Well, at least in theory.
Quite frankly, these individual no longer exist in this role. And the sport and its followers have suffered as a result.
"I think that's correct," said Lou DiBella, who expertly played that role for HBO during their glory days as the flagship network for the game. His official title at the time was Senior Vice President of Programming but he was best known for being their boxing czar. DiBella's greatest contribution was creating the 'Boxing After Dark' series, which launched in 1996.
"But also, I think it's' a little different. See, I think the guy who runs Netflix Sports would argue that he is picking up the product that is more interesting to their viewers," he said. "They're looking for the most numbers. They're not looking out for the sport of boxing. I think the difference was with Wallau, with myself, and Jay Larkin (of Showtime), who was limited by his partnerships, had the same sensibilities."
Which was pretty simple: was a particular fight up to standards for our audience?
"There was a feeling that if we were going to put our foot down about the best fighting the best, making the best matches, and not only that: just trying to minimize the real garbage," said the outspoken DiBella.
"Wallau had a real hard time, like Larry Merchant, like Lampley, and others, swallowing shit. They had a hard time swallowing shit and right now, people don't have such a hard time swallowing shit. They make excuses for it," DiBella stated.
But here's the reality of the modern business, no longer are networks really an open shop who purchase what they deem to be the best available bout but are now warehouses for a singular promoter who gives them all their content with very little quality control in place. So, in essence, they sign up for the shit (that DiBella speaks off)
DiBella states, "There's nobody internally at most of the networks, most of the streaming services that have any feel for boxing, any knowledge of boxing, or any desire to give a purist fan what their looking for."
Seriously, when was the last time a network executive kiboshed a fight that was foisted upon them by their promoter of choice?
"The lines are muddied between dogshit and good stuff, what's a big fight. When hardcore fans are actually starting to talk about Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis, and stuff like that and try to analyze them as real fights," lamented DiBella. "It shows you how the world has changed completely. And the universe of boxing fans who say, 'Oh, these are the greatest times, ever!!' -- no, they're not, man. Their different times."
Lou DiBella
In the role that Wallau and DiBella played, at times you had to be willing to be the bad guy and be vilified at the expense of long-term working relationships.
"Wallau was a very opinionated guy, I guess I was too. When you're that way, you make friends, but you also make enemies," said DiBella, who had many noted battles with the likes of Don King and Bob Arum during his reign at HBO. "But there was no question that he was true to what he bought and there was no question that he had a discerning eye, and he wasn't afraid to speak it.
"Now who gives a f*ck? And that's the biggest tragedy of it."
Now, the role is played by corporate suits. Boxing to them is just a minor convenience for them as they look to move up the corporate ladder as they seek more important roles. DiBella says, ''It's hard to find one who cares enough to surround himself or hire anybody that does. I mean, it's not so hard to figure out who out there might be able to help you to navigate the waters."
Ring Magazine
But even as networks in the past had less restrictions, they all eventually got into exclusive multi-fight deals with fighters, and eventually their (mis)mandatory title fights. This could cause a few problems in terms of maintaining a certain standard.
"It did and it didn't,'' explained DiBella, "because I still had the ability to say no. That being said, I ate some shit with the organizations and the four-belt world, which I had to navigate. You're always going to get some garbage."
That, though, came with a caveat.
"If I take garbage, you have to give me what I want next," said DiBella.
Teddy Brenner, the legendary matchmaker, had three basic principles for making a fight: is it a good one, is there a public demand for it, and will it lead to something else, eventually? "That's the litmus test,'' said DiBella, who agreed with that philosophy. "85-to-90 percent of the time we missed the test. We failed the test. That's just a fact. If you think I'm a hater... go ahead and say that."
Netflix
But while you can state that if every platform that broadcasts boxing would be better off with their version of Larkin (who once coined the phrase, ''great fights, no rights''), do they even want the hassle? Or is it just about having content for their subscribers?
"They have no desire. I don't think they care. I don't think they care about the sport," DiBella said, bluntly. "They're more intrigued by Mike Tyson coming out of retirement. I mean, the guy who's spending the money at Netflix Sports is more interested in Jake Paul and Tyson, than quite frankly the next Canelo-Crawford."
3KR
This week's episode of 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' with Mario Lopez and I features a return in-studio visit with Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions...
THE 3KR #107 | ERIC GOMEZ TALKS BOOTS ENNIS VS VERGIL ORTIZ, RYAN GARCIA AND CANELO'S LOSS
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