(MAR 17) For most of its 45-year history, HBO Sports maintained a firm, often criticized stance against televising women's boxing, which led WBAN to famously mock the network throughout the years as the "Home Boys Organization".

In what WBAN gathered throughout the past years is that the network's resistance was rooted in a belief that women's boxing lacked the depth and "world-class" quality required for their premium platform.

But the question after all of these years is, did HBO miss the mark with Women’s Boxing by not making opportunities for female boxers from the recent past.

As of March 2026, HBO has no plans to return to live boxing broadcasting, including women's boxing. The network officially exited the sport in 2018 after 45 years, stating that live boxing was no longer a primary driver for new subscriptions.

Luckily we now have networks stepping up to the plate to feature women’s boxing, and now look at where the sport is today!

We have ESPN, that in March of 2026 Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), co-founded by Jake Paul sgned a landmark deal with ESPN to launch MVPW, a dedicated global platform for women’s boxing. This multi-year deal runs through 2028 and features a prime-time block devoted to women’s sports.

There is also DAZN that Continues to be a primary home for major women's bouts, including those featuring stars like Amanda Serrano, and more

Historical Timeline of HBO and Women's Boxing

The Era of Exclusion (1973–2017): Despite being the premier destination for boxing, HBO did not air a single female bout for over four decades. Even when Christy Martin became a mainstream star in the 1990s, her major fights appeared on Showtime or other networks rather than HBO.
 
In May of 2018, undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus made history by participating in HBO’s first-ever televised female match against Kali KO Reis.  After this there were a couple of other female bouts on the cards.

Unfortunately the final showcase in December of 2018, HBO prepared to leave the boxing business entirely, and their final boxing broadcast was headlined by Braekhus and featured Claressa Shields, framing women's boxing as the "wave of the future" for the sport.

Going further back in time with female boxing, Laila Ali fought for HBO at Madison Square Garden, in New York, and at the time viewing could not be seen in the USA, only outside the USA.
 
While HBO eventually opened its doors to women, the move was seen by many in the community—including WBAN —as "too little, too late" for a network that had spent decades as the sport's most powerful gatekeeper.

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