Dirrell-Abraham Bout Moved Back 3 Weeks, But Still Not Free of HBO Competition

One of my recurring themes over the past few months has been repeatedly wishing that HBO and Showtime would stop counterprogramming each other with cards on the same nights, because it's not good for the health of the sport in the U.S.

I've been especially irritated about HBO insisting on putting fights on the same weekends as the second round robin fights of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic. From a competitive standpoint, I understand why they're doing it, but I don't like it.

A few days ago, word came down that Andre Dirrell had a minor back injury, necessitating the move of his bout with Arthur Abraham from March 6 to March 27. Though that's never the kind of news you like to hear, the silver lining was that at least it got away from HBO's card on the 6th, a doubleheader featuring Devon Alexander-Juan Urango and Cory Spinks-Cornelius Bundrage.

I was happy for about five minutes. Then I remembered that HBO also has a broadcast all but set for the 27th, a card that looks even better than the previous one with Marcos Maidana facing Victor Cayo and Ali Funeka getting a well-deserved rematch with Joan Guzman. Crap.

I'm not blaming this one on HBO, as its plans for the 27th have been known for a little while (though as far as I can tell, there's no site finalized for that card - time to get cracking on that one, no?). And some of the congestion is due to HBO's ambitious boxing schedule for the next few months, something I wholeheartedly applaud.

Still, looking at the whole picture strictly from a fan's perspective, it stinks that none of these fights will get the spotlight they probably deserve, and that viewers will have to make choices multiple times this spring. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that there's a little basketball tournament going on in late March too, which obviously will take some eyeballs away.

But it is what it is, I suppose. Let's move on to...

SHOE SHINING

As reported by various sources and confirmed by the Showtime Sports site, boxing is still on for March 6. Vic Darchinyan, who qualifies as must-see in my book, becomes the headliner as he steps in with Rodrigo Guerrero, and Lenny Zappavigna faces Fernando Angulo in a fight that was always on the card but wasn't originally going to be televised. Though the broadcast has been rebranded as a ShoBox show, props go to Showtime for keeping it at 9 pm Eastern instead of shoving it back to a later time...

Though it's been common knowledge for some time, it was only yesterday that Allan Green was confirmed as the next Super Six opponent for Andre Ward, making it "officially official," as I like to say. Green certainly isn't lacking for confidence, saying to the AP of his tournament foes, "I know I can beat any of them." That won't be ab easy task, but Green's power certainly makes him a livelier underdog than the man he replaced, Jermain Taylor...

In terms of "Stories I Wish Would Go Away," James Toney's continuing flirtation with MMA ranks right up near the top of the list. But I can't fault a guy for wanting to make a few extra bucks, especially these days, and The Ring's William Dettloff recently offered a well-written examination of why Lights Out shouldn't be blamed for that either.

Posted by The Franchise