We no longer have a potential HBO/Showtime conflict on September 9th. The sanctioning body mandated rematch between titlist Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares has instead been moved to October 7th to avoid sharing the date with HBO’s September super flyweight tripleheader.
This type of move is a no brainer for both networks and promoters, but all too often it does not happen. Instead, they split their audience, hurting ratings for both shows. Here this could have been doubly the case too as Leo Santa Cruz (33-1, 18 KOs) and Abner Mares (30-2-1, 15 KOs) II will be at the Staples Center in Los Angeles while HBO’s show featuring Chocolatito Gonzales (46-1, 30 KOs) trying to avenge his controversial decision loss to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1, 39 KOs) will be nearby at the Stub Hub center in Carson, California.
The threat of splitting both the televised audience and the live gate was enough for common sense to prevail. Anschutz Entertainment Group is credited with brokering the deal between the competing networks and promoters. These both will be excellent shows and fight fans should be grateful that AEG was able to assist in this matter.
