Professional boxing and Showtime have a storied history, but after 37 years, their partnership is coming to a close. Paramount announced Tuesday it is shutting down Showtime Sports at the end of 2023.
Here’s what you need to know:
“As we evolve our strategy to more efficiently allocate resources and align our content offering across the business, we’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with boxing and other content produced by the Showtime sports team,” Paramount Global said in a statement.
Showtime will air the remaining 2023 boxing slate and other programming obligations through the end of the year.
Showtime Sports comes to a close five years after its competitor HBO discontinued its boxing programming after 45 years.
The end of a boxing era
If you are an old-school boxing fan, it is a sad headline to see: Showtime Sports is getting out of the fight game. The network featured some of the sport’s most iconic names — Marvin Hagler, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Manny Pacquiao — over a 37-year history of bouts.
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For decades Showtime Sports and HBO Sports defined the country’s top boxing matches. The move, per SBJ, was initiated by corporate parent Paramount and will lead to layoffs, as well as the end of Showtime’s sports documentaries and digital programming arm. A sad day. — Richard Deitsch, sports media writer
Backstory
Showtime Sports aired its first boxing match on March 10, 1986, between Hagler and John Mugabi at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Showtime and HBO quickly became rivals as both networks sought to broadcast the top boxing matches.
In 1990, Showtime shockingly snagged Tyson from HBO and signed him to an exclusive pay-per-view deal. Twenty-three years later, Showtime made another major move by signing Floyd Mayweather away from HBO. Mayweather had seven fights on Showtime pay-per-view, including his historic 2015 bout with Pacquiao and his 2017 bout with Conor McGregor.
One of Showtime’s biggest bouts this year came in late July when it aired the undisputed welterweight championship fight between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. Crawford put on a boxing masterclass to defeat Spence after a referee stopped the bout in round nine.
(Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
Showtime Sports shutting down at end of 2023, bringing an end to boxing on the network
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