Have Sky shot themselves in the foot ?

[bfchunk]

Barry Hearn in the background at 1.30. De La Hoya goes - Sky made a big mistake, Hearn with the party line "You must be joking"

De La Hoya seems pretty genuine at being annoyed with Sky, and that his people will be in discussions with Primetime.

If that's the case, Adam Smith ought to cosy up to Arum sharpish as GBP could be off Sky for a while.

[TheCobra]

Am I the only one who found Eddie Hearn pretty repulsive in some of these interviews? I applaud the Hearns/Matchroom for getting back into boxing, I think it's a very godo thing, but he came across a bit slimy in some of the interviews, not dead keen on him. A good salesman though.

[leforge]

Barry Hearn in the background at 1.30. De La Hoya goes - Sky made a big mistake, Hearn with the party line "You must be joking"

De La Hoya seems pretty genuine at being annoyed with Sky, and that his people will be in discussions with Primetime.

If that's the case, Adam Smith ought to cosy up to Arum sharpish as GBP could be off Sky for a while.

I bet Khan will end up on sky again money talks.

[gobbles]

Barry Hearn in the background at 1.30. De La Hoya goes - Sky made a big mistake, Hearn with the party line "You must be joking"

De La Hoya seems pretty genuine at being annoyed with Sky, and that his people will be in discussions with Primetime.

If that's the case, Adam Smith ought to cosy up to Arum sharpish as GBP could be off Sky for a while.

Hearn works for Sky. His company supplies seven sports to Sky thousands of hours of TV. If Sky disappeared tomorrow, so would Matchroom Sports. He is not going to ever utter a word that is anti Sky.

[bfchunk]

I agree. Was just highlighting the conflict between the pro and anti-sky teams there. Would not expect anything else by Hearn.

Perhaps more surprising is fact this is up on Hattons website. De La Hoya not complimentary of Sky.

[Superheavy]

Interestingly, Primetime are part owned by Richard Desmond, who owns Channel 5 (as well as the Star and the Express) so there might be some kind of cross promotion/coverage.

Anyone who reads Private Eye (and their close monitoring of this issue) will note that this is pretty much a given - the guy never misses an opportunity to use his newspapers to plug his other products.

[Crease]

Have Sky shot themselves on the foot?

I would say maybe.

The flagship fighters in the UK are the World Champions and Sky might have lost one within the last 10 days.

If what De La Hoya says is true, then Sky have lost Amir Kahn.

They never paid that much attention to Carl Froch.

They won't get exclusive coverage for the Haye vs Klitchsko fight(s) because that will be with the German broadcaster.

So that only leaves Ricky Burns and Nathan Cleverley. Though they have got good fighters like Matthew Hatton and Kell Brook.

This is a sad state of affairs. Sky should be shwoing the public the cream of the crop, not the likes of Darren Barker (no disrespect to him).

[oliverfennell]

Primetime have been known to charge less for some PPV's. E.g. Hopkins vs Pascal was £10, Steiglitz last fight was a fiver, as was Holyfield vs Botha.

You're saying charging a fiver for Holyfield-Botha was a good thing?

[Counter-puncher]

De La Hoya seems pretty genuine at being annoyed with Sky, and that his people will be in discussions with Primetime.

the words 'De La Hoya' and 'genuine' don't fit well in the same sentence, for my money.

[stujones]

Primetime have been known to charge less for some PPV's. E.g. Hopkins vs Pascal was £10, Steiglitz last fight was a fiver, as was Holyfield vs Botha.

You're saying charging a fiver for Holyfield-Botha was a good thing?

No, I'm just saying that primetime are not rigid with their prices. They could charge less for lesser Golden Boy shows.

[fasteddie]

if this is true then we get to see alot more boxing on uk tv than sky have been showing cause there are fights every week that golden boy show but sky dont bother putting it on,the only thing that bothers me is we got mosley vs mayweather for free on sky, the future fights from gbp will be ppv if this is true they have signed a deal will primetime

[liamlion]

Interestingly, Primetime are part owned by Richard Desmond, who owns Channel 5 (as well as the Star and the Express) so there might be some kind of cross promotion/coverage.

Anyone who reads Private Eye (and their close monitoring of this issue) will note that this is pretty much a given - the guy never misses an opportunity to use his newspapers to plug his other products.

Its not uncommon mate... no different to The Sun and the News of the World heavily plugging sports on their back pages that are shown on Sky

[jtourettes]

Wow, sounds like Sky could be in trouble if they lose Khan and the GB shows. I think that they will be hitting panic stations right now and are probably selling the rights to the Premiership, other football packages, England internationals, rugby, cricket, fishing, darts, speedway, wrestling, tennis and golf in order to ensure that they keep a hold of fights that go out in the early morning and attract a minor, but dedicated, audience.

Could Sky go into receivership if they fail to placate Oscar by this Thursday? Will I still be able to record things on my magic box? Advice please.

I think people are over-egging this situation somewhat. Khan isn't that much of a PPV attraction (if the rumours are to be believed) and ODLH will always sell to the highest bidder. It will be business as usual for Sky and GBP. The Khan 'smay take it personally though.

[Deserter]

Wow, sounds like Sky could be in trouble if they lose Khan and the GB shows. I think that they will be hitting panic stations right now and are probably selling the rights to the Premiership, other football packages, England internationals, rugby, cricket, fishing, darts, speedway, wrestling, tennis and golf in order to ensure that they keep a hold of fights that go out in the early morning and attract a minor, but dedicated, audience.

Could Sky go into receivership if they fail to placate Oscar by this Thursday? Will I still be able to record things on my magic box? Advice please.

[Bomber 1]

I bet Khan will end up on sky again money talks.

I said exactly the same thing, I think your spot on! Money talks and sky will take primetime the cleaners when it comes to Amir facing Bradley! When they see the cheque from primetime and compare it to sky's one I'm sure they'll reconsider, DLH is all about keeping Amir happy right now, it'll change IF he loses!! GBP won't be there to pick up the pieces if it goes wrong!

I hear they treat fighters great, Anyone who has Amir will treat him great as he is a commodity!! The kid has ££££ written all over him, I'm sure whoever is paying the most money that's what network Amir will be on! Make no mistake, Primetime v Sky is a mismatch with only 1 winner! It's all about if sky really want it?? I personally think they will..

[Autobarn]

if khan isn't a major PPV draw, and given that the impressive undercard collapsed, why should sky put khan on PPV?

khan's fight was a crappy mess, another get-a-good-lead-then-butt-the-opponent-and-go-home-early.

bradley fight could be a waste of time because both have stopped opponents with their heads.

[stujones]

Yeah, all those fighters who had a sizeable weight advantage as he moved up to challenge them - disgusting cheater. Damn him for moving up to fight bonafide world champions in the weight class above - Chavez, Whittikar, Sturm, Vargas, Reulas, Hopkins etc - curse him.

[jtourettes]

if khan isn't a major PPV draw, and given that the impressive undercard collapsed, why should sky put khan on PPV?

khan's fight was a crappy mess, another get-a-good-lead-then-butt-the-opponent-and-go-home-early.

bradley fight could be a waste of time because both have stopped opponents with their heads.

Still don't think Khan - Bradley is going to happen next myself. I expect to see Khan in with JMM or even Judah.

[earsjohn]

You have to think that the Khans have backed themselves into an unenviable position in which Amir keeping on winning is fundamental to his TV career. It's quite feasible that he loses a fairly uneventful UD to Bradley in a fight in Vegas that will not be on PPV in the US and will either be on normal Sky or Primetime here. In this event, where does he go? He comes back to the UK with tail between his legs, apologises to Sky and the fans that he's told he expects to be based in the US for the next few years or attepmpts to rebuild in the States. Not sure how loyal GBP would be to him, especially if the Bradley fight is not a big draw. Maybe a rematch with Maidana or a step up to 147 against Ortiz?

[stujones]

I think Khan vs Ortiz in inevitable win, lose or draw vs Bradley. However, you've got to take some chances in this game - and people are talking like at 24, Khan is drinking in the last chance saloon - come on.

I personally think he has a great chance against Bradley, who is not a one punch KO artist - cannot say any of his victims at world level have excelled since and I think Khan's work rate will be too much.

I don't think Benny Ricardo's comments when Jim Rosenthal asked for the American Perception of Khan was fake or false - America want him, Maidana vs Khan did very well in the states and America want more.

If there is scope for Ortiz to comeback after quitting vs Maidana and expressing that he doesn't want this, soon followed by an unispired draw - there is plenty of reasons' Khan can come back - he has the excuse of the weight making issues already lined up.

Not that I seriously think he needs them, I think he handle Bradley comfortably enough. One thing I did notice is that McCloskey (although not a noted puncher) did catch Khan with a nice right hand, Khan didn't flinch.

[Crease]

Although I do agree with the sentiments earlier that if Sky offered Khan enough money... They will get Amir and De La Hoya back on track.

[Chambers2]

I'd bet money that if you put the same bill on Primetime and Sky (not at the same time) then the Sky PPV would get x times more views than the Primetime one would (mainly due to it being easier to order through Sky)..........

..... if the above is true which I expect it to be then I can't see future Khan clashes (such as Bradley) being on Primetime

[oliverfennell]

Primetime have been known to charge less for some PPV's. E.g. Hopkins vs Pascal was £10, Steiglitz last fight was a fiver, as was Holyfield vs Botha.

You're saying charging a fiver for Holyfield-Botha was a good thing?

No, I'm just saying that primetime are not rigid with their prices. They could charge less for lesser Golden Boy shows.

Gotcha. Yes, it is a bit daft that SBO charge the same price for all, whether it's Khan-Salita or Mayweather-Hatton.

[mickey1975]

This might sound a bit silly to us,but we are all hardcore fans with decent knowledge of the sport(most of us).But would Bradley do that many more buys in this country than McCloskey? With Dudey you have the Irish factor which definately at least doubled the live gate on Saturday.I went to the Prescott and Kotelnik fights and the upper tier was not even open.The 'casual' will not have even heard of Bradley.At least they had the Irish to count on buying in this fight.

[Chambers2]

This might sound a bit silly to us,but we are all hardcore fans with decent knowledge of the sport(most of us).But would Bradley do that many more buys in this country than McCloskey? With Dudey you have the Irish factor which definately at least doubled the live gate on Saturday.I went to the Prescott and Kotelnik fights and the upper tier was not even open.The 'casual' will not have even heard of Bradley.At least they had the Irish to count on buying in this fight.

Good point, but they would be able to market Khan-Bradley in a different way to the McCloskey fight as it's a fight to be the best at 140. Whether that would bring in more buys than the McCloskey entourage did is up for debate