HBO World Championship Boxing

Famous matches broadcast on World Championship Boxing include:

• the Rumble in the Jungle, in which Muhammad Ali regained the world heavyweight title from George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974;
• the Thrilla in Manila, the final encounter between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier;
• Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns I and II
• When Wilfred Benitez beat Roberto Durán
• Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney, for the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship;
• the Battle of the Champions, when Aaron Pryor beat Alexis Argüello in their first fight;
• Carnival of Champions, in which Wilfredo Gómez beat Lupe Pintor, and Thomas Hearns beat Wilfred Benítez;
• Marvin Hagler defeats Roberto Durán and Hector Camacho beat Rafi Solis - both fights shown on the same night, days after they had taken place
• Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns fight, billed as The War;
• Thunder Meets Lightning, in which Julio César Chávez beat Meldrick Taylor with two seconds remaining in the twelfth round;
• Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, in which Foreman KO'd Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion of the world at age 45;
• James "Buster" Douglas's stunning upset of Mike Tyson for the undisputed world heavyweight title in Tokyo, Japan;
• The World Awaits - Floyd Mayweather, Jr. beat Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC super-welterweight title;
• Undefeated" - Floyd Mayweather, Jr. beat Ricky Hatton to retain the WBC welterweight title with a TKO in the 10th round;
• The Dream Match - The Welterweight match between Manny Pacquiao (moving up 2 weight classes) against Oscar De La Hoya (moving down 1 weight class). Pacquiao won by TKO before the 9th round began (De La Hoya retired on his stool);
• Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao, when Mayweather outpointed Pacquiao over 12 rounds in one of the most widely seen fights around the world in boxing history (on May 2, 2015);
• and Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez's outpointing of Miguel Cotto by 12 round unanimous decision on November 21, 2015.

World Championship Boxing has also had three spin-off series, Boxing After Dark, KO Nation, and MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout—a weekly broadcast co-produced with Turner Sports for sister cable network TruTV.[2][3]

Additionally, a video game carrying the brand name HBO Boxing was produced for the Sony PlayStation, which was published by Acclaim Entertainment under their Acclaim Sports banner.

The main broadcast team was Jim Lampley on blow-by-blow, with former and future ESPN reporter Max Kellerman as color commentator, replacing Larry Merchant, who retired in December 2012. For the last two years of Merchant's contract he and Kellerman alternated telecasts.

The analyst position was held (when he was available) by former multiple-division world champion Roy Jones, Jr. Andre Ward or Bernard Hopkins fill in when Jones was unavailable. The position used to be held by Sugar Ray Leonard and former world heavyweight champions George Foreman and Lennox Lewis, and most recently (until his death) by trainer Emanuel Steward.

For pay-per-view fights, Bob Costas and James Brown used to host the telecast while Lampley called the fight; however Lampley later did both.

Harold Lederman, a former boxing judge, served as "unofficial scorer," giving his scorecards after every three rounds, sometimes two. Lederman also used to voice-over the rules under which the fight would be conducted before handing back to Lampley for pre-fight introductions; however the rules were later simply flashed on-screen to save time. Former judge Steve Weisfeld also appeared in this role, usually when Lederman's daughter Julie was judging a fight and as such Harold could not be on television due to the conflict of interest.

Michael Buffer was an unofficial member of the team as ring announcer for most HBO fights.

Chon Romero was one of the commentators for HBO Boxing's Spanish telecasts.[4]

Former commentators include: Len Berman, Barry Tompkins, Fran Charles, Gil Clancy, Howard Cosell, Don Dunphy, Sugar Ray Leonard, Al Michaels and Jerry Quarry.

Prior to 2009, TSN, a basic-cable sports channel in Canada, held the Canadian broadcast rights to most HBO boxing events, often airing them live (with ads inserted between rounds) if they did not conflict with other sports properties on the channel. Since January 2009, HBO World Championship Boxing, and other HBO boxing events, have aired live on HBO Canada with later repeats on TSN.

• Boxing After Dark— a television boxing program airing on HBO from 1996 to 2018
• KO Nation— a short-lived television boxing program that aired on HBO from 2000 to 2001
• Showtime Championship Boxing— a television boxing program airing on Showtime from 1986 to the present
• ShoBox: The New Generation— a television boxing program airing on Showtime from 2001 to the present
• Top Rank Boxing on ESPN— a television boxing program airing on ESPN
• Premier Boxing Champions— a boxing promotion organized by Al Haymon and a television boxing program airing on multiple broadcast and cable networks from 2015 to the present

• HBO Boxing (HBO's Boxing website, updated weekly)
• HBO Boxing Schedule