Media > Gus Johnson Reportedly Moving From CBS To FOX

~ Gus Johnson is moving on. The very popular NFL and NCAA men’s basketball play by play announcer could not come to terms on a new contract with CBS and is now reported to be headed to the FOX network.Johnson has become a household name in recent years with fans of March Madness because of his high energy style of broadcasting basketball games.

The New York Daily News recently reported that some within CBS “were not thrilled with Johnson’s rise to March Madness’ most popular voice.” The number 1 play by play man there right now is Jim Nantz.

Nantz is “The Voice” of the college tournament and is also the lead announcer on the NFL coverage for CBS. It was becoming obvious that Johnson’s stock was indeed going up though and that may have meant his price tag was going up as well.

Johnson most recently did play by play for the Pacquiao-Mosley fight on Showtime / PPV. It remains to be seen what will happen with Johnson’s coverage of boxing. My prediction is that somewhere down the line a spot is going to open up for Johnson to be a lead announcer for one of these networks. He has been gaining momentum every year. For now though, FOX is getting a good one for it’s football coverage.

Boxing > Pacquiao Dominates Again, Mosley Disappoints Again, Fans Wait For Mayweather … Again.

 

 ~ I debated long and hard before ordering the Shane Mosley-Manny Pacquiao fight. It was one of those deals where  you know what the outcome is going to be, yet you still want to see if an upset occurs. Well, the upset didn’t occur. However what did occur was the necessary. Manny Pacquiao completely dismantled Sugar Shane in  route to a 12 round decision. Boxing fans worldwide are now left wondering again if they’ll ever see Pac-Man take on Floyd Mayweather. One thing is for sure and that’s Mosley’s once great boxing career is now at it’s end. At least it should be.

It was a methodical beating and sometimes when that occurs, it’s better to just hope for the knockout to take place. Pac-Man didn’t get the knockout, he did however get a 3rd round knockdown that started the punishment for Mosley. After that knockdown, Mosley wanted no part of trading punches with the powerful Pacquiao. After the fight, he told reporters it was the hardest he’s been hit in a long time. His biggest moment on this night came when referee Kenny Bayless mistakenly ruled that Mosley knocked Pacquiao down in the 10th round when he hadn’t even hit him with a punch. All that did was make Manny mad and even though Mosley may never admit it, he must have known at that point that he was going to lose the fight. The bottom line is Manny was the agressive one throughout the fight, attacking like a hungry fighter. Mosley was in defense mode from the opening bell and as it got worst for him, defense mode turned into panic mode.

I was looking to see if Mosley might surprise the crowd and his critics, instead he gave them exactly what they expected of him. None of us know what was going on in Sugar Shane’s mind during the fight. He may have indeed been game to stand toe to toe with Pac-Man. The mind may have wanted to and the body just would not allow it. The way boxing has been going lately, the case could be made that it was the other way around. Mosley came into the fight appearing to look in great physical condition. Boxing is just as mental as it is physical though and reality may have hit him while getting up from that 3rd round knockdown.

While Mosley goes back to the drawing board to figure out what’s next (retirement hopefully), what’s next for Manny Pacquiao? It has to be Floyd Mayweather.

 

 Showtime’s James Brown said it best during the post fight wrap up … It has to happen. It’s the only logical fight that makes sense right now.

At 34 years old and only 2 fights in the last 2 years, Mayweather’s clock has to be ticking as well. He does not come off as the type of fighter to compete well past his prime. He’s business savy enough to know that if the major payday with Pacquiao is to happen, it has to happen sooner than later. Time will tell. The boxing world needs it now more than ever. As good as Pacquiao has been for the sport, he’s simply out of top tier opponents to face him. It’s time to get the deal done.