History of Beltway Boxing on HBO!

Saw an interesting item on The Sweet Science's Blog. Thirty-four years ago today, HBO started televising boxing.

It got me to thinking: How have Beltway Boxers fared on "The Network of Champions?"

Thanks to HBO.com and Boxrec.com, I was able to do some research that came up with some interesting bouts and numbers. Needless to say, HBO has never had a love affair with the Beltway, but some of our boxers were involved in some notable bouts.

Of course, any talk about Beltway Boxing on HBO has to begin with the greatest boxer to come out of our area, hall of famer Sugar Ray Leonard. The six-time world champion appeared on HBO 11 times from 1978-1989.

Leonard's first bout was on July 18, 1978 in Boston, MA against Dick Eklund. Leonard won a 10-round decision.

Leonard's third HBO bout would be a milestone as it was the first time HBO televised a bout from the DC area. On January 11, 1979, Leonard beat Johnny Gant by eighth-round TKO at the Capital Centre.

Leonard’s other appearances on HBO included both fights with Thomas Hearns, his first swan song bout against Kevin Howard, his championship wins over Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Don Lalonde and his third bout with Roberto Duran.

It would be 14 years before another Beltway Boxer other than Leonard would appear on HBO. I don’t count Riddick Bowe because although he fought out of Fort Washington, MD, he continued to claim Brooklyn, NY as his home. The next true Beltway Boxer to appear on HBO was Laurel, MD’s Percy “No Mercy” Harris. In his final bout on December 5, 1992, Harris lost by fourth-round TKO to a future star named Roy Jones, Jr. in Atlantic City.

Bowe, however, did figure prominently on May 22, 1993 when he headlined a card at RFK Stadium and defended his undisputed world heavyweight title against Jesse Ferguson. Also on the card would be a matchup of future hall of fame boxers as Roy Jones, Jr. defeated Bernard Hopkins. Unfortunately, neither man had blossomed into the stars they would become. The bout was a snoozefest.

For Beltway Boxing on HBO, this marked the beginning of a significant drought. HBO has not televised a card in the Beltway area since the RFK Stadium card. That’s 13 years and counting.

On February 9, 1996, a veteran Beltway Boxer got a close look at boxing’s future when Darryll “Terrible T” Tyson faced a young Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, it was not a long look as De La Hoya dropped Tyson with a vicious body shot in the second round to end the bout.

The end of the 1990’s saw more Beltway Boxers appear on HBO’s airwaves. Former two-time heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman of Baltimore made the first of 11 appearances on the network(tying him for the most among Beltway Boxers with Sugar Ray Leonard) on November 1, 1997 at the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY defending the USBA title and winning the IBF Inter-Continental title with a unanimous decision over Obed Sullivan.

On January 31, 1998, Rahman defended both belts with another unanimous decision over Jesse Ferguson in Atlantic City. Sharing co-feature honors on this card was Beltway legend and former three-time world champion Simon Brown. By this time, however, Brown was on the tail end of his great career and was seen as a solid name opponent. Such was the case when he was stopped in this title opportunity by Bernard Hopkins in the sixth round.
On December 19 of that year, “The Rock” lost a controversial bout in which he was stopped by David Tua in the 10th round in Miami, Fl. It would take almost an entire year before another Beltway Boxer appeared on HBO.

It was Rahman once again on November 6, 1999 when he would lose for the first of two times against Oleg Maskaev by eighth-round TKO.

The new millennium saw old, familiar Beltway names appear on HBO on February 26, 2000 in Madison Square Garden, Derrell “Too Sweet” Coley made his only appearance on HBO losing by seventh-round TKO to Oscar De La Hoya.

On May 20, 2000, Rahman would make his fifth appearance on the network as he would come from behind to beat South African Corrie Sanders by seventh-round TKO in Atlantic City.

The year 2001 saw one Beltway Boxer make his pro debut on HBO while four others appeared in four of the biggest bouts of the year. Clarence Vinson, a bronze medalist in the 2000 Olympics made an inauspicious pro debut on January 27 at Madison Square Garden. Vinson won a four-round unanimous decision over Adrian Valdez but was not well-received during the bout.

But 2001 would be the year of the Middleweight Championship Series at Madison Square Garden and two Beltway Boxers were prominent figures in the action as WBC champ Keith Holmes and WBA titleholder William Joppy looked to defend their titles. Unfortunately, their opponents were two future first-ballot hall of famers. On April 14, Holmes lost his title to IBF champ Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision. Then on May 12, Joppy dropped his crown to Felix Trinidad by fifth-round TKO.

In between those two middleweight bouts, HBO showed one of the biggest upsets in recent memory on April 21 in Carnival City, South Africa as Rahman stunned the boxing world by knocking out Lennox Lewis in the fifth round to win the WBC, IBF and IBO Heavyweight titles. The victory was voted the “Upset of the Year” by Ring Magazine. Rahman would not hold the title long as he was decimated by Lewis in the fourth round of the rematch shown on HBO on November 17 in Las Vegas.

Rahman’s defeat of Lewis in the first bout would also mark another milestone. This would be the last time a Beltway Boxer would win a bout on HBO (this does not include Winky Wright and DaVarryl Williamson who were born in DC but claim other cities as their hometowns).

In 2002, the HBO audience got their first look at former world flyweight and super flyweight champion Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson. On February 23 of that year, Johnson campaigned as a bantamweight in a rematch against Rafael Marquez in Las Vegas. The first contest saw Johnson thinking he had won the bout, only to find out back in his hotel room that he had lost a split decision. The rematch saw no controversy as Johnson was stopped in the eighth round of the bout.

On June 1 of that year, Rahman made his eighth appearance on “The Network of Champions” traveling to Atlantic City to face Evander Holyfield. Rahman left Boardwalk Hall with an eighth-round technical decision loss and a large lump on his head.

On March 29, 2003, Rahman came back to HBO in a rematch with David Tua in Philadelphia. Once again, controversy would reign as the two would fight to a 12-round draw.

July 12, 2003 saw the HBO debut of WBO Junior Welterweight champ DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley. This would be a title defense for Corley in which he would not be the favored fighter. That honor would go to Zab Judah. When the two met in Las Vegas, it was a close, split decision that favored the challenger Judah.

In 2004, three Beltway Boxers made unsuccessful bids on HBO. Corley challenged Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on May 22 in Atlantic City and lost a 12-round unanimous decision. On July 17, Teddy Reid made his only appearance on the network, losing by eighth-round TKO in Houston, TX. On December 4, Joppy returned in a losing effort, dropping an easy 12-round unanimous decision to Jermain Taylor.

In 2005, Corley made his third appearance on HBO, being stopped in the fifth round by Miguel Cotto on February 26 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Former WBA Junior Welterweight champion Sharmba Mitchell challenged Mayweather on November 11 in Portland, OR.

This year, Rahman has appeared twice on HBO. Now in his second term as WBC champion, Rahman fought James Toney to a draw on March 18 in Atlantic City. “The Rock” then lost his crown to Oleg Maskaev by 12th round TKO on August 12 in Las Vegas. The very next week, Mitchell was stopped in the fourth round by Paul Williams in Reno, NV.

HBO has been very particular over the years as far as Beltway Boxers are concerned; only 12 have been selected to appear on the “Network of Champions” mostly as opponents for better-known boxers. Other than Sugar Ray Leonard, only Hasim Rahman was able to achieve notable victories.