HBO 24/7: Saying The Same Thing Over and Over Again

I have just watched the latest exciting installment from the series which brought you Freddie Roach getting a haircut and Juan Manuel Marquez drinking his own urine.

While 24/7 rarely reveals anything that everybody didn't already know, the urine incident being a notable exception, episode two of the Mosley versus Mayweather series does raise one obvious question: Are the members of the Mayweather security team steroid users?

No fight countdown would be complete without learning what the fighters entourages do while the aforementioned fighter is asleep. Mayweather's entourage apparently go to the gym in an attempt to make their ridiculous physiques even more ridiculous.

Some might suggest that scenes like this are symptomatic of HBO's struggle to find sufficient footage to fill the weekly half hour slots. Personally, I found it even more riveting than Oscar De La Hoya's wife's insights into which type of coffee she likes best.

Mayweather is opposed to steroid use and you might find him mentioning this once or twice during the series. What I want to know is: what is he doing to ensure the members of his entourage are not steroid users?

I am joking. I couldn't care less whether Mayweather's security guards use steroids. I am also not remotely interested in what they have for breakfast or which gym they use.

Training for a fight is monotonous and repetitive, neither of which are qualities you associate with watchable television documentaries. Training consists of running, skipping, stretching, hitting pads, and sparring. Day after day, week after week, over and over again.

There might be slight variations on the theme but this is what every fighter does before every fight. It is boring. When they are not training they eat and they sleep.  They might spend time with their family, they might spend time with their friends, but none of this is the stuff of which TV drama is made.

Shane Mosley's visit to the hairdressers on episode two of the current season was at least the third time a haircut has featured on 24/7.

It is time for HBO to accept that, while they might be able to screen one interesting preview per fight, they simply cannot collect enough interesting material to fill four episodes.