TheBuzz
TheBuzz
NBC affiliate KHNL
may gain from new
boxing telecastIt's unlikely to be anywhere near as baffling as the on-again-off-again on-again heavyweight bout between Mike Tyson and Clifford Etienne.
There may, however, still be tattoos.
For the first time since 1992, NBC will air professional boxing as part of its regular Saturday sports programming for three weeks starting May 3. NBC is essentially sharing a Main Events Inc.-promoted fight card with Spanish-language network Telemundo, which it owns, but which is not available in Hawaii. Telemundo gets the first hour, NBC gets the next 90 minutes.
Is there a local angle?
"Only if they were to pick up great Hawaii boxers," said John Fink, vice president and general manager of Hawaii NBC-affiliate KHNL-TV and WB-affiliate KFVE-TV. It would be a thrill, Fink said.
NBC has yet to identify the fighters it has lined up.
Waipahu flyweight Brian Viloria will be fighting in Hawaii on April 15, with no TV deal yet. He is ranked No. 10 by both the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Federation and was just named boxer of the month by the North American Boxing Federation.
Viloria's got your columnist's vote for a spot on a network card.
"Obviously, as goes this attempt to bring boxing back to network TV, you can expect if it's successful, to see more of it," Fink said.
He called boxing events true reality TV. "How much more real can you get than getting punched in the face?"
NBC's free-view fight debut from 9:30 to 11 a.m. isn't likely to clash with the appearance of a very popular pugilist the same day on HBO-Pay Per View.
Oscar De La Hoya will defend his superwelterweight title against Luis Armando "Yory Boy" Campas; the undercard features Erik "El Terrible" Morales' featherweight title defense against Fernando "Bobby Boy" Velardez.
Some of Hawaii's fight fans were among the 900,000 PPV customers who paid to see De La Hoya's 11th round knockout of Fernando Vargas last September.
It's unlikely the De La Hoya fight will air in Hawaii before the afternoon, leaving a few hours for necessary Saturday evils: the laundry, the house, the yard.
In any event, both main events bode well for Hawaii's NBC affiliate, Oceanic Time Warner Cable of Hawaii and Craig Wireless Honolulu Inc.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com