Knockout deal on Solar

If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool sports buff who can’t get enough of it, your set’s got to be turned on to the Solar channel—forever. Because there’s no better deal on TV. You get live National Basketball Association (NBA) games seven days a week on cable and two more on a same-day delayed basis on free TV twice a week. Then you’ve got those classic NBA games every day—games that bring back Magic, Bird, Wilt, Hondo, and Mike in his Chicago prime—plus updates and features of your favorite teams and players.

That’s not all. Solar has other treats like the Australian Open, world championship boxing, beach volleyball, golf, billiards, ultimate fighting, and other sports close to our hearts. No rugby, no cricket, no sports we don’t care for.

And when the NBA playoffs get underway, no sports channel in the country—including ESPN and Star Sports—will air the conference finals and the Last Dance except Solar. That’s the icing on the deal that Solar negotiated with the NBA for the next four years. NBA commissioner David Stern himself confessed that no other network anywhere in the world has a deal that’s more extensive, exciting and exclusive.

If you’re in the US, you won’t get a better NBA deal unless you hook up to a wide range of cable satellites and pay an astronomical fee.

This year, Solar is adding a series of blockbuster boxing shows in its calendar. First on tap is a dream card featuring former US Olympian Vernon (The Viper) Forrest and Ricardo (El Matador) Mayorga of Nicaragua in a world welterweight unification championship bout.

The card will be shown prime time on the IBC network and is a fitting kickoff to Solar’s boxing menu.

Forrest, 31, holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) version of the 147-pound title and is considered the best in his division. He turned pro in 1992 and has since compiled a 35-0 record, with 26 KOs and a no-contest. Forrest is a cool, calculating assassin in the ring. Sugar Shane Mosley was considered the top welterweight after trouncing Oscar de la Hoya in June 2000 until he ran into Forrest who beat him twice.

Mayorga, 29, is the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion. Unlike the well-schooled Forrest, the Nicaraguan is a devil-may-care brawler. He’s tough, durable, and dangerous. Mayorga’s record is 24-3-1, with 22 KOs and a no-contest.

Both fighters are confident of victory. Forrest said against Mayorga, he’ll be like Tommy Hearns when the Hitman poleaxed Roberto Duran in two rounds in 1984. Forrest resembles Hearns—they’re both lanky, long-armed, and stylish—while Mayorga is a Duran fight-alike.

For his part, Mayorga vowed to flatten Forrest in seven. What buttresses Mayorga’s credibility is his incredible knockout rate—22 stoppages in 24 wins. He trained six weeks in Nicaragua then moved camp to Florida a few days before Christmas to get serious for Forrest. Mayorga is so sure of whipping Forrest that he’s started to talk about another unification duel with World Boxing Organization (WBO) titleholder Antonio Margarito of Mexico.

Forrest, the sixth of eight children, played football and basketball when he was a kid in Augusta, Georgia. He turned to boxing when he was nine after he was expelled from the local boys club for fighting. Forrest seriously thought of making basketball a career until his height topped out at six-feet flat. That was when he decided to concentrate on boxing.

Growing up, Forrest scrounged for food to eat. He used to collect soda cans to cash in for pizza.

Forrest racked up a 225-16 amateur record and fought in the 1992 Olympics. As a pro, he’s been unbeatable.

What makes Forrest different from other fighters his age is his business mind. Over five years ago, he organized Destiny’s Child to take care of individuals with mental disabilities. Forrest opened a home to provide his clients with 24-hour supervision by trained mental health professionals. Today, he operates eight homes with four more soon to open.

Still, Forrest said he’d like to be remembered for his fighting skills as the greatest welterweight ever not for his business acumen. "I’m an old-time fighter," he said. "Right now, I’m fighting for history. I need to know at the end of the day that I did everything I could to reach my ultimate goal which is the Hall of Fame."

Forrest was a 7-1 underdog when he floored Mosley thrice enroute to a unanimous decision in their first meeting two years ago. Last July, they met in a rematch and the outcome was the same.

The rugged Mayorga said he’s so used to war in Nicaragua that it shows in the way he fights. "I come from a country where everything is war," he once remarked. "Even the women are tough. I come from a country where the women give birth wherever, in the middle of the street, in the countryside, with no medical attention."

Mayorga is wild and crazy. After dethroning Andrew (Six Heads) Lewis as WBA titleholder last year, he strutted in a post-fight conference smoking a cigarette and drinking beer. A five-punch combination punctuated by two vicious rights to the chin decapitated Six Heads and established Mayorga’s reputation as probably the hardest hitter in the division.

In the undercard, former WBA superfeather-weight champion Joel Casamayor of Cuba battles unbeaten Nate Campbell. The chief aperitif is threatening to steal the thunder from the main event. Casamayor has lost only to Acelino Freitas on points in cruising to a 28-1 record while Campbell boasts a 23-0 slate, with 21 KOs. It should be a humdinger.

Solar is negotiating to air bigger and bolder boxing shows this year. Among the fighters being lined up to star on Solar TV are Mosley, bantamweight champion Tim Austin and heavyweight David Tua.

When you’re tuned in to Solar, throw away the remote. There’s no other channel for the true-blue sports junkie.