Thirty-six years ago a small cable outfit in New York City was launched, primarily with the objective of being a movie channel. America was then at arguably it's greatest point in history with low crime rates, a still-healthy nuclear family and plenty of boxing was available for free from your trusty antenna. HBO had a seed of an idea to bring good quality fights to their (very small) base of subscribers as a way to gain more market share. At the time, the three major networks were bringing a regular slate of action to the masses,with the bigger fights being shown in arenas by way of closed-circuit television. Initially, the upstart cable outfit figured to be a way for promoters to make a little more revenue from a title fight. HBO picked a corker of a title fight to announce their arrival on the boxing scene with the Frazier-Foreman massacre from Kingston, Jamaica. It would have been inconceivable then to think of just how powerful the cable giant would become, especially as it pertains to the sweet science.

This Saturday, HBO will invade historic Quebec City to televise the hotly anticipated rematch to the controversial Bute-Andrade title fight from Montreal last year. In that bout, IBF Super-middleweight champ Lucien Bute out-boxed the gritty challenger Librado Andrade over the course of the fight but was tiring late. Bute was spent and trying to survive with 30 seconds left in the final round when he was bludgeoned to the canvas in a corner. Many critics were swayed by the Showtime announcers (specifically Steve Farhood,who called for a Warren Commission inquiry) who thought that Andrade was robbed of a victory. I must admit that referee Marlon B. Wright (who should be barred from the building Saturday) didn't make things easy for Librado in the last round. Wright persisted in over-officiating by breaking up/stepping between the fighters as Bute struggled to keep his hands up. Andrade was too anxious to rush Bute (who rose at the count of 8) as there were only two seconds left (all ref Wright wanted was for Librado to start from the ropes; not 5 feet in. Alas, controversy sells (ask Paulie Malignaggi) and has facilitated a better payday for these fighters and attracted HBO to "la belle province" for a taste of the passion that electrifies local boxing matches. Make no mistake here, HBO is making this trek because they are fully aware of the (Euro-like) atmosphere that makes for great production value and is pleasing to the home viewer. Try to compare a fight from Quebec or Wales to one from Foxwoods which is comprised of a crowd of seniors who receive a free hotdog and pop if they take a comp'ed fight ticket.

Bawdy Shots:

Manny Pacquiao put on a brilliant display of speed, footwork and angles in breaking down Cotto last week. I tend to agree with Teddy Atlas though, Cotto is not close to the force he was before Margarito.

I have to hand it to promoter Dan Goosen in getting a judge and a referee from California to be "impartial" officials for the Kessler-Ward fight on Saturday. Good display of switch-hitting by Ward but he was allowed to hold all night, opened 3 cuts on Kessler (head-butts) and was never going to lose a decision in Oakland.

The Cotto/Pac fight generated over 1.25 million ppv sales. Combine that with the Mayweather-Marquez (1 million) and you have the combined ppv sales for any of the last seven mixed martial arts shows. Just saying...

I will be covering the fight ringside in Quebec this weekend in the former home of the Nordiques. I believe that Bute should garner a clear decision (the intangible being his stamina/Andrade's determination). I will share my views and adventures in the next blog (maybe photos too).