Longtime boxing manager Bill Cayton says he has sold his extensive library of historic fights to ESPN for more than $80 million, but won’t use the money to gild retirement. Rather, the 80-year-old has gotten hired as an ESPN consultant and makes it clear he sees that as a hands-on job.
He envisions nurturing “Big Fights Friday Night Boxing”–a project set to debut Oct. 2, combining live bouts with classic fight tapes from his library–from a 2 1/2-hour slot on ESPN2 to a network program on ABC.
Cayton says it will be “like years ago, when Friday night fights were big ratings winners on network TV.”
As promising as his plans are, there are troubling aspects:
– Cayton says his ESPN contract permits him to “continue to manage fighters (such as Vinny Pazienza and Omar Sheika) on a limited basis.”
– Successful boxing promoter J. Russell Peltz has joined Cayton as a network matchmaker, which had been the domain of ESPN’s Bob Yalen.
– Cayton wants new talent for the Friday show, and has recommended replacements for 18-year ESPN analyst Al Bernstein and blow-by-blow announcer Bob Papa.
Cayton and ESPN spokesman Dan Quinn say they don’t see a conflict of interest if Cayton-managed or Peltz-promoted fighters wind up on ESPN2 telecasts. Fights for the telecasts, Cayton insisted, will be chosen on merit.
“My boxers would be treated like all others,” he said. “The mere fact that these are my fighters doesn’t constitute a conflict of interest.”
Quinn said Cayton and Peltz “won’t have final say on who will fight on ESPN. We’re looking for compelling programming. Whoever brings us the best fights and best contracts will get on the air.”
Quinn said the network hopes to keep Bernstein “in some capacity as a major part of ESPN boxing,” but not necessarily as the analyst on the new show.
Bernstein said: “I’ve received no official notification from ESPN about any changes, and I have two years remaining on my contract.”
Wag the Cubs? After the much-anticipated Kerry Wood versus Randy Johnson matchup for Saturday’s Cubs-Houston Astros game on Fox Sports was scotched, “I have no doubt that the Cubs got a lot of phone calls from Fox people,” said Vince Wladika, Fox Sports senior vice president of media relations. “But to suggest we’d call to try to influence the rotation is absurd.”
So why were there so many calls? Fox’s promotion department needed to verify whether to pull already airing Johnson-Wood spots for the Saturday telecast. Likewise, Fox Sports production needed to know whether to proceed with Saturday’s planned opening segment on great “fireballer pitching duels of the past,” Wladika said. Fox Sports News called “because they needed to report it,” he said.
While Fox Sports has certain rights to Saturday games due to its exclusive contract with Major League Baseball, he said: “Our money has no pull on what happens on the field. Are we disappointed? Sure. So is every baseball fan in America.”
Garage band: Phil Simms, in town to promote CBS’ return to NFL telecasts this fall, summed up his shift from NBC analyst in a three-man booth last season to CBS analyst alongside Greg Gumbel: “It’s easier to park two cars than three cars in a small garage.”
Overtime: Although Friday’s “deadline” passed without a bid from Fox Sports, the NHL’s TV rights haven’t been officially granted to Walt Disney Co., which bid a staggering $600 million for five years.
Fox, which has an NHL contract through next season, contends the league is obligated to disclose details of the Disney (ABC/ESPN) bid to Fox before the network officially declares itself in or out for the next five years.
Sofa surfing: HBO Sports “Boxing After Dark” at 10 p.m. Saturday pits always exciting lightweight Arturo Gatti against Ivan Robinson, plus unbeaten junior middleweight Fernando Vargas against Darren Maciunski. . . . When the ESPN Radio Network adds newly purchased WMVP-AM 1000 this fall, the renamed ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago will be the network’s flagship station. . . . NBC Sports coverage of the WNBA playoffs tips off at 3 p.m. Saturday on WMAQ-Ch. 5 with the Charlotte Sting hosting the defending champion Houston Comets. . . . Syndicated special “Speedvision: NASCAR at 50,” hosted by renowned driver Richard Petty, airs at 11 a.m. Sunday on WMAQ-Ch. 5.
P.S.: Permit me to belatedly pass on this message on my voice mail from NBC sportscasting stalwart Dick Enberg, about Jack Brickhouse: “We throw the words `passion’ and `compassion’ around rather loosely, just as we do the word `great,’ but all of those adjectives describe the way he approached his work as a sportscaster. . . . More importantly, he had a great passion and compassion for life and living, and it was a great lesson for the rest of us to learn.”
