showtime has been putting on better boxing than HBO for quite some time now. they had HD first on their WCB. then word was HBO was contracting out their HD filming for boxing so at the time it is believed they didnt even own their own HD cameras.
HBO has always had the bigger names and they used this to dupe the public. they had some good fights but not compared to the fights that Showtime put on. Showtime wasnt in bed with any one promoter like HBO was with TR, GBP, Dibella, etc....
Showtime didnt sign fighters, they just purchased fights. Sometimes they lost out to HBO, sometimes they didnt. With HBO, the house fighter gets all the purse. Sometimes you would see a guy getting $3 mil and another guy getting $250k for a broadcast event....not PPV. Showtime was more even in negotiations...they offered a price and from that price you get the purses and site fee.
This is the reason why at the same time you were getting Cotto vs Urkal, Klitschko vs Austin, and Calzaghe vs Manfredo on HBO there was Marquez vs Vasquez on Showtime. This is the reason why the same time we were getting Wright vs Soliman or Mosley vs Cruz, Showtime was giving us Castillo vs Corrales.