Usually, it’s hard to comprehend let alone justify why HBO and Showtime schedule telecasts head to head on the same Saturday night.
This Saturday, however, it’s a little easier to understand.
Welterweights Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Carlos Baldomir square off on HBO pay-per-view, and heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich (23-1) meets challenger Shannon Briggs (47-4-1) on Showtime, both slated as 7 p.m. MST telecasts.
Those two title fights will begin a fight-filled November of telecasts in which the only open Saturday is Thanksgiving weekend.
On Nov. 11 on HBO, another heavyweight champ, Wladimir Klitschko (45-3), will defend his International Boxing Federation title against unbeaten Calvin Brock (29-0).
Then Nov. 18, on HBO, two of the biggest little men in boxing, Manny Pacquiao (42-3-2) and Erik Morales (48-4), will slug it out in their rubber match, a rematch of Pacquiao’s stunning 10th-round knockout victory in January.
Hopefully, these bouts will live up to the hype and there won’t be a turkey before the holiday.
Although Mayweather is unbeaten in 36 bouts and widely considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the sport, Baldomir’s 43-9-6 record contains no losses in 21 bouts during the past eight years.
He has fought his entire 13-year career as a 147-pound welterweight. Against Mayweather, who won titles at 130, 135 and 140 pounds before moving up to 147 last year, Baldomir figures to be the naturally bigger man.
Perhaps of more significance, he is trying to extend his “Cinderella Man” run to three consecutive upset victories after beating Zab Judah and mauling Arturo Gatti in his past two fights.
