Ken Hershman, the vice present for sports programming at Showtime, came out swinging Tuesday when asked about HBO staging its own boxing events on dates that coincide with bouts for the Super Six Super Middleweight Tournament on Showtime.
When Andre Dirrell faced Arthur Abraham last Saturday in the second-round of the round-robin super middleweight tourney, a fight shown on Showtime, HBO televised a "Boxing After Dark" doubleheader from Las Vegas.
On April 24, when Mikkel Kessler and WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch meet in another second-round match in Denmark, HBO will televise a heavyweight bout between Chris Arreola and Tomasz Adamek from California.
On June 19, when WBA super middleweight champ Andre Ward and Allan Green meet in the final second-round matchup on Showtime, HBO will offer a 10-round welterweight non-title bout between junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley and Luis Carlos Abregu of Argentina from California.
Hershman tried to hold his tongue at first, saying, "That's a big coincidence." But asked his true feelings, Hershman delivered one of the bigger rip-jobs ever heard between the competing premium networks.
"I think it's intentional," Hershman said. "I think it's regrettable and I think it's unfortunate that they feel so threatened by this tournament that they feel that that's their answer. Why don't you put on better fights instead of worrying about what we're doing?"
Hershman's slam of HBO came during a Manhattan summit of the promoters involved in the Super Six Middleweight Tournament also called the World Boxing Classic. It features the six fighters in round-robin competition where points are awarded for eadch bout. The four fighters with the most points (2 for a win, 3 for a knockout) advance to the semifinals with the finals set for 2011.
Informed of Hershman's comments, Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports wasn't pleased.
"As usual, HBO will take the high road," Greenburg said. "We never counter program Showtime. We're proud of our 38 years of leadership in boxing on television, and we're looking forward to an outstanding schedule this spring and summer on HBO with the best fighters in the world in meaningful and important fights."
He added HBO never considers Showtime's programming when scheduling its boxing.
"There are limited weekends on any given month where we can position our fights," Greenburg said. "We never look at Showtime's schedule. I don't know it and I don't care when they go. We schedule for HBO and our subscribers and where we can get the most bang for our bucks. We wish (Showtime) all the best."
Except for his angst with HBO, Hershman is pleased with the progress of the Super Six tournament.
"As awareness for boxing and publicity for Showtime and publicity for these six champions, it's been off the charts successful," Hershman said. "Our ratings for these shows have grown. Saturday night was probably the highest rated show to date, and the feedback from fans has been universally positive."
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