''Showtime Championship Boxing'' is a television boxing program airing on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

. Debuting in March 1986, it is broadcast live on the first Saturday of every month. ''Showtime Championship Boxing'', which is very similar to ''

HBO World Championship Boxing ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' (in later years stylized in its title card as ''HBO Boxing – World Championship'') was an American sports television series on premium television network HBO. It premiered on January 22, 1973 with a fight that ...

'', features

Mauro Ranallo Mauro Domenico Ranallo (born December 21, 1969) is a Canadian sports announcer, commentator and mental health advocate. He is currently signed as a play-by-play announcer with MMA organization Bellator, and also performs play-by-play duties for b ...

on play-by-play,

Al Bernstein Al Bernstein (born September 15, 1950) is an American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, recording artist, and speaker. Journalism career In the 1970s, Bernstein was a newspaperman, working at Lerner Newspapers in Chicago. He eventually b ...

as the color analyst,

Jimmy Lennon Jimmy Lennon Sr. (April 13, 1913 – April 20, 1992) was a ring announcer for boxing and professional wrestling matches. Early life Lennon sang as a young boy in church and later formed a singing group, The Lennon Brothers, with his brothers in V ...

(Sr. and Jr.) as ring announcers, and Jim Gray as reporter. A sister program, ''ShoBox: The New Generation'', occasionally airs on Friday nights; these broadcasts feature fights between boxing prospects. On limited occasions, Showtime has aired cards on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

broadcast network, with the telecasts being billed as a special edition of ''Showtime Championship Boxing'' rather than being billed as a

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

broadcast.

Notable fights

* "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler defeated John "The Beast" Mugabi in an 11th-round knockout on the debut broadcast of ''Showtime Championship Boxing'' on March 10, 1986. On the same undercard, Gaby Canizales defeated

Richie Sandoval Richard Sandoval (born 18 October 1960) is an American retired professional boxer and former Lineal and WBA Bantamweight Champion. Sandoval was a silver medalist at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico and was a U.S. Olympian during his ...

(who subsequently almost died from the blows received in this bout) and

Thomas Hearns Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowe ...

defeated

James Shuler James Shuler (May 29, 1959 – March 17, 1986) was a U.S. Olympic and professional boxer from Philadelphia known as "Black Gold." Amateur career Shuler was trained by Joe Frazier. Shuler did not participate in the 1980 Olympics due to t ...

, who died a week after this bout in a motorcycle accident. *

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

headlined multiple pay-per-view heavyweight fights, including: **

Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock, billed as ''The Fight of the Year'', was a professional boxing match contested on March 18, 1991 at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada, USA. At the time the two fighters were the top two ranked contenders for the WBC, ...

and

Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock II Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock II, billed as ''The Rematch'', was a professional boxing match contested on June 28, 1991. It was the second time the two fighters fought that year, as their Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock, first bout in March was m ...

Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley, billed as ''He's Back'', was a professional boxing match contested on August 19, 1995. The match marked the return of Mike Tyson to professional boxing after over four years away due to his 1991 arrest and subsequent ...

(He's Back), which marked his return after serving three years in prison. **

Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II, billed as ''The Championship: Part I'', was a professional boxing match contested on March 16, 1996 for the World Boxing Council, WBC heavyweight championship. Background Frank Bruno, at that time, had been a pro ...

and Christy Martin vs. Deirdre Gogarty on the same program. **

Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson, billed as ''Liberation'', was a professional boxing match fought on September 7, 1996 for the WBA heavyweight championship. The fight was part of a pay-per-view event produced by Don King Productions and carried o ...

Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as ''Finally'', was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship on November 9, 1996, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Neva ...

and

Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II, billed as ''the Sound and the Fury'' and afterwards infamously referred to as ''The Bite Fight'', was a professional boxing match contested between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson on June 28, 1997, for the ...

, the latter of which ended with Tyson disqualified for biting off part of Holyfield's right ear. **

Mike Tyson vs. Francois Botha Mike Tyson vs. Francois Botha was a professional boxing match on January 16, 1999. Tyson won the match by knocking out Botha in the fifth round. Background After Tyson's controversial fight with Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997 which saw Tyson ...

Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota, billed as ''Showdown in Motown'', was a professional boxing match contested on October 20, 2000. Background After serving a 15-month ban because of his actions during his 1997 match with Evander Holyfield, Tys ...

Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson, billed as ''Lewis–Tyson: Is On'', was a heavyweight professional boxing match that took place on June 8, 2002, at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee. The defending unified WBC, IBF, IBO, and '' The Ring'' c ...

(joint collaboration with HBO) *

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

also headlined: **

Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as "The Moment of Truth", was a professional boxing match contested on October 25, 1990, for the World Boxing Association, WBA, World Boxing Council, WBC, and International Boxing Federation, IBF heavyw ...

Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II was a professional boxing match contested November 8, 1997 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships. Background After Riddick Bowe vacated the WBC Heavyweight title in 1992 followed by George Fo ...

* Pernell Whitaker vs. Julio César Chávez *

Nigel Benn Nigel Gregory Benn (born 22 January 1964) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 1996. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and the WBC super-middleweight ti ...

defended his WBC Super-Middleweight title against

Gerald McClellan Gerald Allen McClellan (born October 23, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 1995. He is a two-time middleweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 1991 to 1992, and the WBC title from 1993 to ...

in a dramatic fight that almost turned tragic by winning on a tenth-round technical knockout at

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, on February 25, 1995. McClellan subsequently spent two months in a coma due to a massive brain injury and suffered blindness, impaired hearing, and inability to walk. Benn himself suffered from a broken nose and jaw, urinating blood and a shadow of a brain injury. *

Diego Corrales Diego "Chico" Corrales Jr. (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2007. He was a multiple-time world champion in two weight divisions, having held the IBF super featherweight title from 199 ...

defeated

José Luis Castillo José Luis Castillo (born December 14, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2014. Generally considered one of the best lightweights of his era, he is a two-time world champion at that weight, having held the WB ...

for the WBC lightweight title in a 10th-round TKO on May 7, 2005. The fight is almost universally regarded as the best fight of 2005. * A ''ShoBox'' match between

Sechew Powell Sechew Powell (born June 6, 1979) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014 and challenged for the IBF junior middleweight title in 2011. Early life Powell was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn of Jamaican ...

and

Cornelius Bundrage Cornelius Bundrage (born April 25, 1973) is an American professional boxer. He is a two-time former world champion, having held the International Boxing Federation, IBF junior middleweight title twice between 2010 and 2015. In 2006 he was a con ...

on May 6, 2005, featured an extremely rare double knockdown. Both threw simultaneous rights to the chin, although the referee didn't score any single knockdowns, possibly due to the shock of the occurrence. * A ''ShoBox'' match between

Allan Green Allan Lamar Green (born September 20, 1979) is an American professional boxer. He is a former NABO super middleweight champion, and has challenged for world titles at both super middleweight and light heavyweight. Amateur career Green had a ...

and

Jaidon Codrington Jaidon "The Don" Codrington (born June 5, 1984 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an American professional boxer. He fights at Light Heavyweight out of Queens, New York and had a record of 20 wins and 2 losses, with 16 wins by knockout. A contestant ...

, on November 4, 2005, was won via a knockout by Green 18 seconds into the bout. It was named the "

Knockout of the Year '' The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and has named a Knockout of the Year since 1989, based on the magazine's writers' criteria. Knockouts of the Year by decade 1980s * 1989: Michael Nunn ''KO 1'' Sumbu Kalambay 1990s * 1990: Terr ...

" by ''The Ring''. * The four fight series of

Israel Vázquez Israel Vázquez Castañeda (born December 25, 1977) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2010. He is a three-time super bantamweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2004 to 2005; and the WBC, ''The R ...

and

Rafael Márquez Rafael Márquez Álvarez (; born 13 February 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer and current head coach of Spanish team Barcelona Atlètic. Nicknamed '' El Káiser'', he is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and o ...

. Marquez won the first fight on March 3, 2007, after Vazquez couldn't continue after round 7. Vázquez would knock out Marquez in the sixth round of their second fight on August 4, 2007. This fight won Fight of the Year and Round of the Year (Round 3) honors for 2007 by '' The Ring''. Their 3rd fight was considered to be the most exciting, which took place on March 1, 2008. Vazquez won the fight by split decision, after an incredible twelfth-round which saw Vázquez knock Márquez into the ropes, which prevented Marquez from hitting the canvas, resulting in a critical knockdown in the closing seconds of the fight. This fight was recognized as Fight of the Year for 2008 by ''Ring'' magazine as well. Marquez won their fourth fight by a third-round technical knockout. *

Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley, was a welterweight fight for the WBO welterweight championship. The bout was held on May 7, 2011, at MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won by unanimous decision and retained his WBO welterweight championship. The ...

was aired on May 7, 2011. * As part of the build-up to Amir Khan vs. Carlos Molina on December 15, 2012, Showtime presented a fight between

Leo Santa Cruz Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts a ...

and Alberto Guevara on the sister

broadcast network, in its first boxing telecast since 1997. *

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...

signed with Showtime in 2013. His fights comprise: ** Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero ** Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Álvarez **

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana, billed as ''The Moment'', was a boxing welterweight championship fight. It was held on May 3, 2014 in the MGM Grand Garden Arena at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Valley, Las ...

and

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II, billed as ''Mayhem'', was a world championship boxing match held on September 13, 2014, in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, United States. The fight was won by Mayweather via unanimous decisio ...

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as the ''Fight of the Century'' or the ''Battle for Greatness'', was a professional boxing superfight between undefeated five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and eight-division worl ...

(joint collaboration with HBO) ** Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto **

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor, billed as ''The Money Fight'' and ''The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History'', was a professional boxing match between undefeated eleven-time five-division boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. ...

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Logan Paul Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Logan Paul, billed as "Bragging Rights", was an exhibition boxing match between former five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and YouTuber Logan Paul. It took place on June 6, 2021, at the Hard Rock Stadium ...

* On June 25, 2016, CBS broadcast a WBC welterweight championship fight between

Shawn Porter Shawn Christian Porter (born October 27, 1987) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2021. He is a two-time former welterweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2013 to 2014 and the WBC title from 2018 ...

and

Keith Thurman Keith Fitzgerald Thurman Jr. (born November 23, 1988) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 2015 to 2019 (promoted to Super champion in 2017), and the WBC title fr ...

, marking the first boxing event broadcast on CBS in primetime since 1978. The telecast, although part of the ''

Premier Boxing Champions ''Premier Boxing Champions'' (PBC) is an ongoing series of televised boxing events connected to manager Al Haymon. PBC was initially promoted as an effort to return boxing to mainstream broadcast and cable television, as opposed to premium chann ...

'' arrangement, was produced by Showtime and billed as ''Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS presented by Premier Boxing Champions''. Thurman retained the WBC title via a unanimous decision. * On March 4, 2017, CBS aired Thurman's WBA/WBC welterweight unification bout against

Danny García Danny Óscar Garcia (born March 20, 1988) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), WBC, ''Ring'' magazine and lineal light welterweight titles betwe ...

. Once again, the fight was broadcast in primetime as a Showtime presentation of ''Premier Boxing Champions''. The fight, which Thurman won in a split decision, received a 2.2 Nielsen rating (a 22% gain over Thurman vs. Porter). * On April 29, 2017, Showtime broadcast the Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko fight from

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to unify the

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

and IBO heavyweight titles. Uniquely, both Showtime and HBO held rights to the fight, but only Showtime held rights to broadcast it live. * On December 1, 2018,

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury was a professional boxing match that took place on December 1, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Undefeated defending WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder faced undefeated challenger and f ...

was aired from Los Angeles. * On January 19, 2019,

Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner, was a boxing match for the WBA (Regular) welterweight championship. The event took place on January 19, 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the fight by unanimous decision and re ...

was aired from Las Vegas. * *On August 29, 2021

Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley was a Cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight Professional boxing, professional crossover boxing match contested between American YouTuber Jake Paul and American mixed martial artist Tyron Woodley. The bout took place at ...

, fight held in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

which ultimately Paul won by split decision, later resulted in a

rematch ''Rematch'' is the first US-released Sammy Hagar compilation album. After Sammy left Capitol Records for Geffen in 1981, and after Rick Springfield had a hit with the Hagar-penned "I've Done Everything for You", this collection was released to ...

. * On November 6, 2021,

Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant, Billed as Road to Undisputed was a super middleweight Unified championship, unification professional boxing match contested between WBA (Super), World Boxing Council, WBC, WBO and The Ring (magazine), ''The Ring ...

fight held in Las Vegas, when Canelo becomes the first-ever undisputed world super-middleweight champion. * *On December 12, 2021, the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley II, rematch was held in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

which Paul ultimately won by a 6th round KO. *On April 16, 2022, the

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Yordenis Ugás Errol Spence Jr. vs. Yordenis Ugás was a professional boxing welterweight unification bout between WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., and WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Box ...

fight was held from

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. I ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, Which Spence won by a 10th round TKO and became the Unified Welterweight Champion.

Commentators

Brian Custer Brian Custer (born December 7, 1970) is an American sports broadcaster who serves as the host for ''Showtime Championship Boxing''. In July 2021, Custer joined ESPN as the host of '' SportsCenter'' and a play-by-play announcer on '' ESPN College ...

, currently serves as host of the program. The main broadcast team features

on blow-by-blow,

as chief color analyst and (when he is available) boxer Abner Mares as an analyst. Amir Khan,

Austin Trout Austin Dwayne Trout (born September 18, 1985) is an American professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) light middleweight title from 2011 to 2013. He is also a three-time light middleweight world title challenger; challenging twice for the IB ...

, and Daniel Jacobs have served as guest analysts. The third role was previously filled by

Antonio Tarver Antonio Deon Tarver (born November 21, 1968) is an American former professional boxer and boxing commentator. In boxing he competed from 1997 to 2015, and held multiple light heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Unified), WBC, IB ...

, Ferdie Pacheco,

Bobby Czyz Robert Edward Czyz ( ; born February 10, 1962) is an American retired boxer and commentator. Czyz was a two-division world titlist at light heavyweight and cruiserweight. Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey. He grew up in Wanaque, New Jersey an ...

, and

Paulie Malignaggi Paul "Paulie" Malignaggi (; ; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017 and has since worked as a boxing commentator and analyst. He held world championships in two weight classes, including ...

among others. Veteran Jim Gray is chief reporter. Former top commentators include

Steve Albert Steve Albert (born Stephen Aufrichtig in Brooklyn, New York;April 26, 1952) is a former American sportscaster. He has served as a play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, New York Mets, and Phoe ...

and Gus Johnson. ''The New Generation'' features

Barry Tompkins Barry David Tompkins (born May 2, 1940) is an American sportscaster. He is better known for his work as a boxing commentator, but he has covered football and other sports. Early life Tompkins was born and raised in San Francisco. Career KCBS, K ...

on blow-by-blow, and

Steve Farhood Steven "Steve" Farhood (born 15 February 1957) is an American boxing historian and analyst. His life Farhood was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lebanese parents. Farhood served as editor-in-chief of '' The Ring'' and ''KO Magazine''. He also ser ...

and Raul Marquez as the expert analysts.

References

External links

* {{Boxing on television Boxing television series Showtime (TV network) original programming CBS Sports 1986 American television series debuts 1990s American television series 2000s American television series 2010s American television series 2020s American television series English-language television shows Championship Boxing

Notable fights

Commentators

See also

References

External links