I found it curious that there was a lack of sentiment on the last Top Rank show with ESPN, on Saturday, July 26, from the Madison Square Garden Theater in Manhattan, NY.
Yeah, not the big room. And nah, not a big-ticket splashy finale, one befitting and honoring an eight-year marriage which ended in a hella polite way this weekend.
Xander No Cotto, Not Even Close
Xander Zayas (or is it Zander Xayas, arghhh) is no slouch, but he’s no Miguel Cotto, nor close to it.
So, if you wanted pomp to match the circumstance, no dice. An occasion tailor-made for Mark to be king Kriegel-y proceeded with a total absence of acknowledgement of the parting.
I Like To Spur Real Emotion
I like sentiment, when done right, it is a positive impetus toward emoting and away from the dissociative, dazed 3/4 resignation state of the average adult. So I wondered WTF.
On Monday, I asked over at ESPN, “Will there be other boxing content from a different source or sources moving forward?”
The answer, from media relations: “We wish Top Rank well on their future and appreciate the collaboration over the past eight years,” came the reply.
ESPN Will Have Boxing After Top Rank, Looks Like
Beyond that, word is ESPN is engaged in conversations across the sport.
I think TurKO is a decent bet to “plug the hole,” being that current and past affiliations indicate a continuation of the UFC/ESPN marriage. Makes sense; ESPN probably would like to retain boxing fans who are contemplating cutting their subscription if no pro boxing is on their schedule in the second half of the year. Right?
Here is a sample of voices out there with thoughts on this time of considerable change (downsizing, presumably) for Top Rank:
QUESTION: No #boxing on @espn now. Will you end a sub with them if you only have it for boxing? Talk to me. pic.twitter.com/X9XsAbz51R
— Michael Woods (@Woodsy1069) July 28, 2025
An issue with the offering: If I only had it for boxing, I would have canceled it two years ago. I would have missed one good Inoue fight, 30 showcase fights, and 120 hours of filler.
— B.J. McComas (@BJMcComas) July 28, 2025
Yes 💯 I only had espn+ for boxing and it was sparse at best.
— Skinko Beanwall (@NMc1520321) July 28, 2025
Keeping it for now as I do enjoy other sports that are on it.
— Matt Andrzejewski (@mandrzeje) July 28, 2025
Been thinking about this Top Rank run, some of the high and low lights, how Teddy Atlas had to adapt after Arum had him bounced after being too on the nose about then kingpin Manny Pacquiao, off them good smoothies for Jeff Horn.
Then, Tyson Fury is here, Godzilla-sized and a goofy fun character to boot. But oops, who’s this who is backing him, Daniel who? That was a weird element of this union.
As was COVID. Top Rank acted like a finely tuned machine in the aftermath post 2020 roughest patches.
One could argue they topped out there. Viewers saw new-gen Top Rank studs on the come-up. Ah, there are reasons why you traditionally do not see a guy the whole way up, unless he was a special sort, an Olympian.
Prospect Build Up: Must-See In The Digital Age?
I was not really enthralled; at times, no one is on the come-up: ultra-smart business, prospect building done in real-time on ESPN’s dime.
Business is one thing, but my craving for more A-side vs. A-side scraps is also a business because too often the well-oiled machine “fought” like a Cuban cutie. Frustrating as an outsider because they are capable of so much more. Learning fights didn’t need to be on ESPN so often, in my mind.
Will Dana White Be The Boxing Guy For ESPN?
Ok, water under the bridge. Soon, we will see who enters these waters, the CT Ocean, and what they aim to achieve.
My guess is lunchpail-oriented rumblers who do not command A-tier wages. But, it’s a guess. Execs don’t so often talk to media. When they do, it is more likely they speak to a member of their team, a media person who then is unable to be close to honest because the boss likes things portrayed a certain way. So, again, I guess!
Here is the last word on the matter, from the site founder/runner, Abe Gonzalez:
Everything Woodsy said has some or, in a few cases, a lot more truth than opinion. To a certain degree, Top Rank may have gotten too comfortable, especially when the ship was pretty much sailing on its own. It almost feels like ESPN bowing out snuck up on them, as maybe they were under the impression that the renewal was inevitable.
As Woodsy likes to point out, though, I am, on most days, a glass-half-full type of person. So, what does that mean regarding Top Rank on ESPN? One of the main benefits of that relationship was the ability to watch shows from other countries without having to frantically search the internet for an illegal feed filled with viruses.
Being able to watch shows from Japan, Mexico, the U.K., and other countries through multiple co-promotional deals helped fighters from around the world gain recognition. We were able to see Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez fight in Nicaragua and Naoya Inoue in Japan, for example. The feed was crystal clear, and accessing it live or on demand was seamless. That’s the part I will miss the most, as they encouraged other platforms to attempt the same.
Outside of that, leaving ESPN could be just what the Doctor ordered for Top Rank. This allows them to reset and start fresh with someone new. That often sparks new approaches after reviewing the lessons learned from the past eight years. This isn’t a Top Rank hit piece, but rather an “end of course critique,” so to speak, from those who consume the product and report on it. Fans should hope that Top Rank latches onto someone new so that the sport can continue to grow and not become more niche than it already is.
As for ESPN, I think they stay in the boxing space at a significantly lower cost. I would not be surprised if Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions does a co-promotional deal with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing and ends up doing shows on ESPN & ESPN+ for half of what was spent with Top Rank. Loeffler currently has his shows streaming on UFC Fight Pass, but that has always seemed like a placeholder until he was in a position to pursue something better. So ESPN will stay in the “friend zone” with boxing for now, but that could all change towards the end of the year.
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