More on Epix getting involved in boxing with Vitali vs Solis

HBO and Showtime have dominated boxing on premium cable in the United States for decades. Now there is a new player poised to enter the fray.

Epix, a premium network, video-on-demand and online service launched in 2009 that is available in more than 30 million homes, will televise Vitali Klitschko's heavyweight title defense against Odlanier Solis from Cologne, Germany on March 19.

"I think boxing is still an important franchise on the TV landscape," Epix president and CEO Mark Greenberg said after completing the deal Wednesday.

The Epix deal for Klitschko-Solis was brokered by promoter Lou DiBella. Greenberg said he liked the idea of a heavyweight title fight kicking off the network's involvement in the sport.

"There is still something special about a heavyweight championship fight," he said. "Boxing is fun. There's a certain energy level to it. It's a fascinating sport."

Greenberg is quite familiar with boxing and its long-standing relationship with premium cable. He once worked at HBO as a marketing executive and then spent 17 years at Showtime -- including 10 of them overseeing the boxing franchise -- until leaving in early 2006.

When HBO and Showtime made a landmark deal for Lennox Lewis, who was exclusive to HBO, to defend the heavyweight title against Mike Tyson, who was exclusive to Showtime, in 2002 in what was then the richest fight in boxing history, Greenberg led the Showtime negotiating team.

Greenberg said that Epix, a joint venture between Viacom, its Paramount Pictures unit, MGM Studios and Lionsgate, with a massive library of more than 15,000 movies, has not yet committed to a long-term involvement with boxing. But Greenberg made it clear he is very interested in it.

"I don't want to say we have a boxing strategy per se, but I have been involved in one or two fights," he joked. "Obviously, most boxing promoters have been to my office to talk to me along the way. I think the boxing business has had its ups and downs, but it's still an interesting business. We saw this fight as a unique opportunity for us. It's a heavyweight championship fight. We're going to do it and see if it makes sense for us to do more going forward. But it's good for the business to have another place that does boxing."

Klitschko (41-2, 38 KOs), 39, will be making his sixth defense of his third title reign against 2004 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Solis (17-0, 12 KOs), 30, his mandatory challenger.

"If it does well for them it will be great for boxing," Shelly Finkel, Klitschko's adviser, said. "At one time there was no HBO or ESPN. New things come. Hopefully, Epix builds to something bigger for boxing. That could be a new source of revenue, a new player in the field, which is really good for everyone in the business."

The bulk of the money generated from the fight will come from Klitschko's rich television deal with German network RTL. Epix has signed on for American coverage and, according to multiple sources, is paying in the $150,000 neighborhood for the rights.

Greenberg did not want to discuss the rights fee he was paying. He said he would evaluate how things go with Klitschko-Solis before making a commitment to more fights and, perhaps, larger fees.

"Nothing is on the books going forward. No commitments, no obligations, but there are always lots of discussions," he said. "We'll see what kind of buzz comes out of this. People will evaluate it and then we will have the fight available [live and on replays] on our network and our website [EpixHD.com] and see how it performs. But premium cable can do boxing well. You don't have commercials at the end the rounds. This is an intriguing thing for us to explore and this interesting for us.

"We paid a reasonable license fee for what the show is. This is a good, smart event for us. I think people love a heavyweight championship fight. For us, the money [being spent] was well worth it to be in the heavyweight business on our first foray. The more casual fan tends to jump more into the heavyweights than other divisions, like the middleweights."

HBO and Showtime helped build their subscriber bases by offering top-level fights. Greenberg thinks it can also help Epix.

"I do know what the motivation is for driving subscriptions," he said, although Epix is not carried by DirecTV or Comcast cable systems.

Klitschko-Solis will air live at 6 p.m. ET on Epix, as well as be streamed live on its website, with a network replay at 10 p.m. ET. Replays, he said, will also be available on the website and via the network's on demand platform. He also said that while the live broadcast will only include the main event the replay could also include undercard action.

Greenberg said making the fight available live on its website was part of the network's strive for a younger audience.

"Many younger people prefer to use their laptops to watch content, so we'll do that and make boxing available to a younger audience," Greenberg said. "Anything that regenerates interest in the boxing category is only going to be a positive to the category."

Greenberg said he was in the process of putting together an announcing team for the fight.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=6129689

Wonder if it will be a free stream on the Epix site?

gomez1012 wrote:Wonder if it will be a free stream on the Epix site?

if they are smart!!!! You entice people to order the channel down the road if they decide to do boxing full time.

captainanddew wrote:

gomez1012 wrote:Wonder if it will be a free stream on the Epix site?

if they are smart!!!! You entice people to order the channel down the road if they decide to do boxing full time.

yep

Especially if only a few cable providers carry their network

Who is other Greenberg kidding? HW fights like this don't mean anything in the US. Why Showtime and HBO ditched it. It's better off on ESPN were hardcore fans, who'd be the only ones interested, can watch it

GrantZilla wrote:Who is other Greenberg kidding? HW fights like this don't mean anything in the US. Why Showtime and HBO ditched it. It's better off on ESPN were hardcore fans, who'd be the only ones interested, can watch it

I think casual fans still are more willing to watch a heavyweight fight than any other weightclass, so he has a point there. If you know nothing about the sport you still get the spectacle of a huge guy like Wlad hitting another huge guy like Solis. Only when you know something about the sport do you realize how bad that division is compared to others.

Hardcore fans will watch anything (as we all know). If Greenberg wants to attract attention to this network he can toss around "The Heavyweight Championship of the World" and still pretend that carries some prestige.

Solis brings loads of Cuban-Americans, and even other non-cuban latinos, as well as Vitali's fan base which is considerable.

What else could they program exclusively for 150 grand that will fill a 90 minute block?

The Klits have no fanbase in the US and neither does Solis. Just be like Vitali vs Gomez part two. Again why Showtime and HBO passed on it. People at Showtime proven they know a good fight and what get interest.

Add on having another pay channel getting into boxing not good for the sport. Especially one not even available a lot of cable providers. Having ESPN getting more interested in boxing is better. Why the fight should be on there.

GrantZilla wrote:The Klits have no fanbase in the US and neither does Solis. Just be like Vitali vs Gomez part two. Again why Showtime and HBO passed on it. People at Showtime proven they know a good fight and what get interest.Add on having another pay channel getting into boxing not good for the sport. Especially one not even available a lot of cable providers. Having ESPN getting more interested in boxing is better. Why the fight should be on there.

Grant you're just too good at this forum business. Why the fuck are us "hardcore" fans being unrealistic about Solis' chances against Vitali?? this isn't going to be an exciting fight, it's going to be another Klitschko vs Briggs/Peter/Gomez/Arreola type beatdown. Solis vs Austin summed up Solis' chances in this fight for me. he's another fat, out of shape, meatball-physiqued, half a foot shorter than Klitschko opponent with basic boxing skills and no unique athletic ability. do you know where Solis is going to be all night?? he's going to be at the end of a Klitschko jab, jab, jab, right hand, jab, jab, right hand, clinch. Showtime knows what's up with that and why the fuck would they want to buy this shit just to have more casual viewers complain about the state of the game. it's an embarrassment that we as fans are, more in hope than anything, hyping up Solis chances based on stuff he did back in the amateurs. and he only had an overdue/extended amateur career where he had to be successful because he is Cuban. These are facts, Solis is 6'1 and has weighed between 245-260lb in his last few outings, i've never seen him throw more than 50 punches in a round, Vitali throws up to 80 per round, Klitschko is 6'7 and weighs about 250lb solid lean muscle. Vitali hasn't lost a round in a fight since coming out of retirement, Solis just about finished off Ray Austin where he couldn't finish off his exhausted opponent and let the referee do that job for him. Solis was made to follow Austin around that whole fight at the end of a jab, Solis was flat footed and resembled more of a heavy bag than World Champion, Solis didn't even have success in mounting up pressure on his opponent, no head movement/foot movement......

anyway, i guess what i'm trying to say is that Showtime and HBO know that with all the criticism the HW division has got this is not a fight they need to be showing.

Solis vs Vitali is one of the few HW fights I am interested in. If Solis gets in shape he could give old Vitali some trouble.

Saw this in the comment section

Just for some info, since I would really enjoy watching this fight and have no idea what epix is, I checked their website. The online portion has a 14 day free trial, no credit card needed, and the article stated they will stream it online. So I am thinking I will wait a couple of weeks and if the offer is still available I will sign up so the fight happens during my free trial. Thought some of you fight fans might be interested as well.