5 Upcoming Boxing Matches on Premium Cable That Should Be on Basic

Both Showtime and HBO are the premier stations for boxing.  With HBO recently pulling Showtime's head of boxing, Ken Hershman, from their rival, this leaves both channels' future in limbo as boxing fans wait to see what fights will be put on under the new regime of Hershman at HBO and whoever Showtime finds to replace him.

Hopefully this will lead to an upheaval in the status quo of boxing and what is considered worthy of premium cable broadcast and what shouldn't make the cut.

With that said, let's take a look at five fights that fans are going to pay to see that shouldn't have made the cut.

Showtime: Eddie Chambers Versus Tony Thompson

At this point no heavyweight fight is worth having to pay to watch.

Yet for some reason promoter Dan Goosen has convinced Showtime that this is a match their subscribers should see.

Tony Thompson has never been fun to watch and is best known for going the distance with Wladimir Klitschko.  The fight was dreadful to watch and unfortunately almost went the full distance.

Any fans who want to torture themselves can do so by watching the video above.

Thompson is facing Eddie Chambers, another former opponent of Wladimir Klitschko who had an equally appalling fight with the Ukranian champ.

Now fans get to watch them both fight for another shot at the title to see who gets to fight him again.

It airs October 28 on Showtime and unless the network paid a dollar for it, fans can consider it an early Halloween trick.

HBO: Alfredo Angulo Versus James Kirkland

Part of the problem with this fight is that Angulo hasn't fought anyone relevant in over a year.  The other part of that problem is that Angulo has never beaten a top name.

This would be fine except that this is the main event and not the supporting card to a pay-per-view.  

He faces James Kirkland who hasn't faced a serious opponent since getting out of jail for possession of a firearm, as he is a former felon.  The only opponent he faced that was dangerous was Nobuhiro Ishida who promptly knocked him out in the first round.

To put it into perspective, in the last year Angulo's one opponent's record was 17-4-1 with back-to-back losses in his last two fights and having been knocked out in three of them.

Kirkland's last two opponents that he has beaten have a record of 32-10-2.  One of them, Dennis Sharpe, had lost his last seven before he faced Kirkland.

Yet somehow this was green-lighted as the main event for an HBO broadcast.

The fight should be fun, but it shouldn't be what fans tune in to see.

Anyone who wishes to can do so November 5.

HBO: Peter Quillin Versus Craig McEwan

It stands to reason that if the main event on HBO's November 5 card is not good enough for premium cable then its undercard is the same.

Just like Angulo-Kirkland, this fight is actually intriguing.  Both fighters are young and should be pitted against each other to see who is the better prospect.

Except that McEwan is coming off a loss to Andy Lee in which he was knocked out.  That fight was televised on HBO and though both fighters weren't the best middleweights in the world, they had both fought decent competition and it was understood that it was an Irish versus Scottish fighter for publicity.

They also weren't the main event.

However, McEwan lost, and though he should be back on the airwaves, it shouldn't be on premium cable right after a loss like that.

As for Quillin? 

He hasn't fought one top contender who wasn't already coming off a loss.  He might one day be worthy of fighting on "the network of champions," but he isn't there yet.  

The fact that he is getting this fight on HBO shows just how low their standards have gotten.

This fight will also be televised November 5.

HBO: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Versus Peter Manfredo Jr.

This is the most embarrassing matchup that HBO has for the rest of the year.

Not only did JCC Jr. not earn his belt—it was stripped by the true middleweight champ, Sergio Martinez, because the Mexico-based WBC felt the son of the famous Julio Cesar Chavez deserved a title shot—but now he gets this fight.

Peter Manfredo Jr. is a tough fighter and a scrappy brawler.  He is on a winning streak, but against C-class competition.

The fact that he is on HBO again is shocking considering they put him in another fight when he faced Joe Calzaghe and he was blown out in only three one-sided rounds.

That was at super middleweight, and though he is more competitive at middleweight he still hasn't warranted the second chance.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the other hand hasn't fought one credible opponent, which may be why he is undefeated still, and hasn't earned a shot at anything.

This fight shouldn't be foisted on premium cable subscribers and yet it is.  Anyone who doesn't believe it can tune in on November 19 and find out.

HBO: Saul Alvarez Versus Kermit Cintron

Saul Alvarez is an up-and-coming title-holder who has made a few B-level defenses of his belt.  In boxing's older days this would mean he gets to fight on network TV or basic cable.

Now it means he gets to be in the main event on premium networks.

Saul Alvarez is a great young fighter, but he hasn't earned the right to be making the paychecks he is.

With that said, he is a huge megastar in Mexico and is only one or two fights removed from having earned premium cable status.

The same can't be said about his opponent.  From his embarrassing draw with Sergio Martinez that should have been a knockout loss, to his back-to-back defeats that he is one loss removed from, Kermit Cintron doesn't deserve to be on HBO.

In his last fight he did defeat tough up-and-comer Antwone Smith and deserved to maybe be put on an undercard.  He didn't deserve to bounce back from that and immediately be slotted in an HBO main event though.

Instead he is, and those who pay HBO a monthly fee get to see it on November 26.