By Chris Williams: We just saw Floyd Mayweather Jr. leave HBO to sign with Showtime/CBS after having been with HBO for the last 26 of his fights since 1998. Mayweather Jr. signed a six-fight deal with Showtime, and that contract will likely finish out Mayweather’s career.
HBO tried to keep Mayweather, but they lost out in a bidding battle with Showtime. The next superstar that could potentially leave them is WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s), who HBO has yet to lock in with a long term multi-fight contract like the one that Mayweather just signed with Showtime.
HBO might want to lock Broner down as fast as possible in case Showtime snatches him up as well. Right now, HBO can get Broner for a good price if they sign him long term, but if they wait he’ll either leave them for Showtime or he’ll get so popular that it’ll cost them a lot more to sign him.
Broner would do well if he were to leave HBO for Showtime because he could team up with Mayweather and piggyback on his undercards to get a ton of attention from casual boxing fans. That would be a really fast way for Broner to become a superstar.
With Mayweather now forced to fight twice a year in order to fulfill his six-fight contract in the 30 months allotted by Showtime, it’ll give Broner a lot of opportunities to fight on his undercard to show off his talent for American boxing fans.
Staying with HBO is a good alternative for Broner if they’re willing to give him a long term contract for top dollar that will match the kind of money he might get from Showtime. If Showtime is able to get pick Broner to add him to their collection of growing super star fighters, they’re going to greatly enhance their network. However, it’s hard to imagine HBO will allow a second top fighter to slip away from them. They’re going to do their utmost to try and keep Broner.
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