The first world famous WCB match, and arguably the most famous to this day, was the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire in 1974, in which Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman. Other notable fights are Buster Douglas’ improbable upset of Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Oscar De La Hoya, and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s victory over Miguel Cotto in 2015.
The current WCB roster features a number of exciting and talented boxers, including pound-for-pound best fighter contenders Canelo Alvarez and his rival Gennady Golovkin. Daniel Jacobs, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Sergey Kovalev are a few of the other championship-caliber fighters currently fighting on WCB cards.
In May of this year, Golovkin fought Vanes Martirosyan as the main event of a WCB card, with Golovkin scoring a second round knockout to tie Bernard Hopkins’ record of 20 consecutive middleweight defenses. Just a few weeks earlier, Anthony Joshua had defeated the venerable Wladimir Klitschko, with Joshua stopping Klitschko in the 11th round.
In 2015, WCB co-produced the long anticipated fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao along with Showtime. For years prior the bout, Mayweather and Pacquiao routinely topped pound-for-pound lists within comparable weight divisions, yet a variety of interpersonal and promotional squabbles prevented the match from being made. Finally, in 2015, the two met, with Mayweather scoring a fairly decisive decision victory.
Some of the most legendary fights of the past few decades have been WCB cards, such as the 2007 bout between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya. At the time, De La Hoya was arguably the most popular fighter in the sport, and Mayweather defeating De La Hoya marked a sort of passing of the torch, with Mayweather becoming ascendant in the sport.
WCB has deals in place with top promotions like K2, Main Events and Golden Boy, all of which suppy WCB cards with top tier fighters to stage quality matches on a regular basis.
In addition to some of the big, established stars on the WCB roster, some newcomers offer some young and emerging talent over the coming years. Fighters like Dmitry Bivol, 13-0 with 11 knockouts, and Joseph Diaz Jr. represent a new wave of boxing talent that will keep WCB cards stacked for the foreseeable future.
How to View HBO
HBO is a premium channel, meaning it’s not available through basic cable or satellite packages. There are a number of ways to acquire the channel, the simplest of which is to pay a monthly subscription fee to add it to your cable or satellite package.
For the big boxing matches, you’ll need to order pay-per-view through your cable or satellite provider.
Streaming HBO
There are two streaming services/apps offered: HBO Go and HBO Now. However, neither service offers live pay-per-view boxing. Matches are added to the streaming services a week after they’ve taken place, so if you’re willing to wait (and can avoid hearing the results), these might be an option for you.
Other options for streaming WCB fights include subscribing to either Hulu or Amazon Prime, each of which offer an option for adding HBO to the subscription. If you add that feature, you’ll be able to stream HBO. DirecTV also offers streaming options similar to those of Hulu or Amazone Prime.
