Is he really a good boxing guy or did HBO inept job made his work at Showtime much better than it really was ?? The Bute contract, where Bute, who's not a star in the US at all as far as I know, get paid in the millions to fight no hoper Brian Magee and a shot Glen Johnson ( and yes, he also looked awful vs Froch, that it was only a MD was a joke ) made me wonder about his aptitude. Also, the way he was completely pimped by Dibella, were he had to pay a huge bonus to Jermaine Taylor to get him out of the Super 6 after the Abraham ko, only to be replaced by the much worse Allan Green, was puzzling.
The Showtime brass believe that he will make a world of difference at HBO as long as they listen to him, as opposed to his following their orders. They had every opportunity to throw him under the bus, but even off the record think the world of him and hate that HBO was able to present an enticing enough offer to convince him to change addresses. For what it worth, that says a lot. My own personal experience w/ Hershman says that he's the right guy for the job. He had a huge hand in turning around Showtime after Jay Larkin (God rest his soul) turned the network back then into what HBO has become in recent years with its own output deals. If Hershman can convince HBO to adopt a policy reminiscent of Showtime's 'great fights, no rights' that will go a long way towards his making the most with the biggest budget in the industry.
