HBO. THE NETWORK OF CHAMPIONS.
For nearly five decades—from its historic first broadcast in 1973 to its poignant final curtain in 2018—there was no daylight between the sport of boxing and the Home Box Office. They were bound at the DNA level. During these forty-five years when HBO Boxing was completely in vogue, sports fans worldwide knew that boxing and HBO Boxing were one and the same—a singular, synonymous empire that defined the sweet science and captivated global culture. HBO didn't just broadcast fights; the network engineered cultural phenomena, elevated athletes into mythical gods, and established a premium, cinematic aesthetic that rewrote the rules of sports entertainment.
This wasn’t just the new age of boxing. It was the Golden Age of boxing.
The foundation of this empire was poured by an executive powerhouse unmatched in television history. Under the visionary guidance of sports media titans Seth Abraham and Ross Greenburg, alongside pay-per-view architect Mark Taffet and promotional mastermind Lou DiBella, HBO Sports built an altar of absolute prestige. But the institutional muscle that truly scaled this mountain came from the very top of the corporate ladder. Under the brilliant leadership of Jeff Bewkes, Bill Nelson, Eric Kessler, and Richard Plepler—the legendary HBO CEOs and chairs who fiercely championed the sports division—HBO Boxing was given the creative freedom, the astronomical backing, and the premium positioning to rule the airwaves. Bewkes, Plepler, and Kessler understood that HBO wasn’t just in the premium cable business; they were in the legacy business. Together, they fostered an ecosystem of absolute excellence, demanding a creative presence that matched the gravity of the iconic fighters who stepped inside the ropes.
The HBO roster for over 5 decades was a "Who's Who" of the sweet science. Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Roy Jones Jr., Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, and Bernard Hopkins. From the blinding speed and brilliance of Shane Mosley, Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey and Prince Naseem Hamed, to the relentless, terrifying power of Arturo Gatti to Micky Ward, Gennady Golovkin, George Foreman, Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright, Tim Bradley, Felix Trinidad, Joe Calzaghe, Camacho Jr., and Ricky Hatton to name a select few. HBO brought the world the absolute pinnacle of human drama. The network broadcasted the defining eras of heavyweights like Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, alongside unforgettable champions like Danny Jacobs and Andre Ward. Every broadcast was brought to life by the iconic voices of Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant, and scored by the legendary "unofficial scorer" Harold Lederman. Later on, the booth welcomed HBO Boxing stalwarts; George Foreman, Roy Jones, Jr., Lennox Lewis and Max Kellerman.
To capture the sheer, mythic scale of this empire, HBO needed marketing and advertising imagery that felt massive, authoritative, and larger than life. Enter Glenn Pere and his agency Pere Partnership.
As the creative heavyweight and mastermind behind the visual identity and advertising powerhouse of HBO Boxing, Pere brought the thunder to the screen long before the opening bell rang. Across an astonishing, unparalleled run of over 400 historic fights, Glenn Pere and his agency shaped how the world witnessed the power of HBO Boxing.
When the stakes were at their absolute highest, the HBO Boxing engine—fueled by Pere’s high-velocity, high-impact branding—shattered every commercial metric in entertainment history. HBO didn't just break pay-per-view records; the network set them so high they became the standard for generations to come.
Look no further than the monumental 2007 Mayweather vs. De La Hoya mega-fight. Driven by the legendary, inescapable campaign slogan "The World Awaits," this event didn't just capture the cultural zeitgeist—it completely rewrote the record books. The creative onslaught drove a record-shattering live gate of over $19 million and generated an unprecedented 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, bringing in a historic $136 million in PPV revenue alone. Reflecting on the campaign's massive impact, HBO Pay-Per-View chief Mark Taffet remarked on Pere's contribution: "When the world was waiting, Glenn Pere didn't just build a campaign—he built a cultural monument. His creative vision for 'The World Awaits' turned a boxing match into an unmissable global event, setting a benchmark for sports marketing that may never be surpassed."
But HBO's crowning glory in sports spectacle remains the legendary collision of Lewis vs. Tyson. Widely recognized to this day as one of the single greatest sports promotions of all time, it was Glenn Pere's fierce, uncompromising creative vision that elevated it into the best heavyweight promotion the world has ever witnessed. His campaign captured the volatile, high-stakes drama of two giant eras colliding, turning an elite sports matchup into an unmissable global event that shattered all-time purchase rates and revenue numbers.
Though the live HBO Boxing franchise drew its final curtain after defining the sport for generations, its legacy remains entirely unmatched. Six years after HBO's departure, the prestige, the authority, and the historic catalog of this work stand as a testament to what happens when master television executives and creative geniuses collide.
Welcome to the definitive look back at that golden era—and the timeless creative vision of Glenn Pere that helped make HBO Boxing the undisputed champion of the world.
Lewis tyson is on.
More than a main event, it was a global event. 2002 Lewis vs. Tyson heavy-weight collision. Driven by the legendary, inescapable campaign slogan "Lewis Tyson Is On," this event didn't just capture the cultural zeitgeist—it completely rewrote the record books for the heavyweight division. The creative onslaught drove a record-shattering live gate of $17.5 million and generated an unprecedented 1.97 million pay-per-view buys, bringing in a historic $106.9 million in PPV revenue alone.
The world awaits.
Look no further than the monumental 2007 Mayweather vs. De La Hoya mega-fight. Driven by the legendary, inescapable campaign slogan "The World Awaits," this event didn't just capture the cultural zeitgeist—it completely rewrote the record books. The creative onslaught drove a record-shattering live gate of over $19 million and generated an unprecedented 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, bringing in a historic $136 million in PPV revenue alone.
IT'S NOT BOXING. IT'S HBO BOXING.
HBO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING
The flagship. The crown jewel. Launched in 1978 and running a glorious course until its final bell in 2018, World Championship Boxing was the altar upon which modern boxing legends were canonized. For forty years, WCB was the network's premier theater of high-stakes human drama, bringing premium subscribers the absolute pinnacle of the sport without a pay-per-view fee. This wasn’t just a broadcast; it was the definitive destination of record for the sweet science. When a fighter stepped onto the iconic HBO canvas under the WCB banner, they weren't just fighting for a belt—they were fighting for immortality in front of millions of households worldwide.
To match the unmatched prestige of WCB, the franchise crafted a visual identity that felt massive, authoritative, and deeply cinematic. The advertising campaigns didn't just announce upcoming fight dates; they framed these matchups as necessary historical events. Under the executive leadership of Seth Abraham and Ross Greenburg, and brought to life by the legendary commentary team of Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant, WCB became synonymous with the sport's greatest triumphs and deepest rivalries. From the terrifying, rapid-fire knockouts of a young Mike Tyson to the masterclass displays of Roy Jones Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya, WCB set a gold standard for sports television that remains entirely unmatched.
HBO BOXING AFTER DARK
In 1996, HBO Sports recognized a desperate need in the sport: a dedicated, high-octane platform to showcase the hungry, rising contenders who fought with reckless abandon. Running from its mid-90s debut all the way through 2018, Boxing After Dark completely revolutionized boxing television by shifting the focus away from corporate politics and straight onto raw, unfiltered action. It was a late-night sanctuary for the purist, intentionally pairing styles that guaranteed fireworks. If World Championship Boxing was the grand stage for established kings, Boxing After Dark was the ruthless proving ground where future legends had to walk through fire just to earn a name.
The marketing engine behind BAD required a completely different, high-velocity energy to capture its gritty, late-night edge. The franchise utilized a raw, high-impact aesthetic that made every upcoming broadcast feel dangerous and unmissable. It was through BAD that the world was first introduced to the legendary, heart-stopping wars of Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, and where future pound-for-pound icons like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin proved their mettle to western audiences. Under the promotional eye of masters like Lou DiBella, Boxing After Dark earned a cult-like reverence, ensuring that fans stayed glued to their screens long past midnight.
HBO PAY-PER-VIEW (PPV)
When a boxing event grew too massive to be contained by a standard subscription, the network unleashed the ultimate entertainment juggernaut: HBO Pay-Per-View. Originally launched under the TVKO banner in 1991 and dominating the sports marketplace until 2018, this was the billion-dollar theater of global event television. Under the brilliant orchestration of pay-per-view pioneer Mark Taffet, alongside the corporate muscle of HBO CEOs Jeff Bewkes, Eric Kessler, and Richard Plepler, HBO PPV took the biggest matchups in human history and turned them into massive, unavoidable cultural holidays that completely shifted global pop culture and shattered every financial record in existence.
The promotional onslaught required for these mega-events was unparalleled, pushing commercial metrics into the stratosphere. Look no further than the monumental 2002 heavyweight collision, Lewis vs. Tyson "Is On," where the campaign drove a record-shattering $17.5 million live gate and an unprecedented 1.97 million buys, generating a historic $106.9 million in PPV revenue alone. Five years later, the historic 2007 Mayweather vs. De La Hoya "The World Awaits" campaign completely rewrote the record books, drawing a $19 million live gate and a staggering 2.4 million buys for $136 million in PPV revenue. These landmark broadcasts didn't just market high-stakes matchups; they built cultural monuments that set a benchmark for sports marketing that may never be surpassed.
HBO 24/7
"Step into their lives, before they step into the ring." The ultimate curtain-raiser. Launched in 2007 and running as a cornerstone of premium sports storytelling until 2018, HBO 24/7 completely revolutionized the sports documentary genre by turning the countdown to a mega-fight into an Emmy Award-winning cultural phenomenon. This wasn’t just a promotional shoulder program; it was a gritty, cinematic masterclass in human drama that embedded cameras directly into the training camps, personal lives, and psychological warfare of elite fighters. By capturing the raw sweat, the agonizing road work, and the intense family dynamics behind closed doors, the franchise built an unprecedented level of emotional investment, transforming casual fans into obsessed viewers long before the opening bell rang.
The franchise made its groundbreaking debut with the legendary four-part series documenting the monumental 2007 Mayweather vs. De La Hoya mega-fight. Narrated by the deep, authoritative voice of Liev Schreiber, the premiere episodes captured the electric friction between Oscar De La Hoya’s corporate stardom and Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s brash, high-velocity "Money" persona, setting a new gold standard for sports television. Over its spectacular eleven-year run, 24/7 became a multi-time Emmy winner, elevating the anticipation for historic clashes featuring superstars like Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, and Juan Manuel Márquez. By treating the preparation for a fight with the same cinematic gravity as an award-winning feature film, the franchise didn't just promote high-stakes sports matchups—it permanently altered how the world witnesses the making of modern legends.
From Boxing after Dark to World Championship boxing to PPV to 24/7 Pere BRANDED THEM all.
'Thanks' FROM GLENN PERE for over 4 decades.
“Looking back on this incredible journey, my deepest gratitude goes out to the extraordinary leadership at HBO—Jeff Bewkes, Bill Nelson, Eric Kessler, and Richard Plepler, and the brilliant sports minds like Seth Abraham, Ross Greenburg, Mark Taffet, Lou DiBella. and Sandy Ortiz. Thank you for your unwavering trust, your bold execution, and for giving my agency the creative freedom to paint on the grandest canvas in sports television. Together, we crafted over 400 historic fights directly into the fabric of sports culture, turning high-stakes matchups into unforgettable global events that defined generations. To the entire production crew, the legendary voices at ringside, and everyone behind the scenes who poured their heart and soul into every single broadcast: thank you for letting us be a part of the absolute best team in sports history. For forty years, we didn't just work together; we caught lightning in a bottle, shattered records, and built a legacy that will stand the test of time. It was the privilege of a lifetime to run with the champions."
-Glenn Pere, CEO, The Pere Partnership
