After last week’s decision to stop broadcasting live boxing after 45 years, various members of the HBO boxing family came forward to discuss the decision. First was the consistently eloquent Larry Merchant, who compared HBO’s trajectory to that of a great prizefighter saying, “Once upon a time we were a promising kid. Then a challenger. Then a champion. A great champion. A long-time champion. And then a has-been who finally retired. So long, champ."
Next was Jim Lampley, who said that he saw the writing on the wall after so much of HBO’s talent went elsewhere, and the cost of buying back all those fighters proved to be unwieldy.