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| Remembering when there was regular boxing on television |
Let's face it - almost a year into the PBC experiment, we're all missing ESPNs Friday Night Fights. Sure, a lot of people are blaming Al Haymon for this and I understand that to a certain degree. If I've got this right, we were told ESPN would get (bigger) fights once a month, after all, yet that clearly isn't happening. Last I heard, ESPN wouldn't have boxing on until April. What's more, the PBCs record has been spotty lately when it comes to its premiere (no pun intended) matchups.
Still, it isn't a shaky substitute that we're truly upset about here here - it's the loss of the consistency FNF offered. For FNF was a pretty reliable program, showcasing up and coming fighters on the same network and in a timely fashion. What's more, Fox Sports 1 cards at 11 pm eastern standard time on a Tuesday night aren't filling the void.
The feeling among the decision making set may have been fans would prefer seeing name fighters once a month to "no names" once a week. If true, then that, my friends, was a mistake. If all people wanted to watch were the top dogs, no one would watch regular season football, baseball, basketball or hockey. Sure, FNF may have been second tier, but hey, we all like second tier sometimes. Second tier can be good. What's more, it makes the top tier stuff more special.
At any rate, I think we can all agree it's turning into a tough winter for fight fans. Nothing is happening really, aside from announcements for upcoming matches. No doubt ESPN's April card will probably be good. Yet, in my opinion at least, two months of FNF might have been even better.
