Born August 20, 1947.
After graduating from the University of Toledo and Boston University, Abraham worked for the New York Times and Major League Baseball before joining upstart cable company Home Box Office (HBO) in 1978 as director of sport operations. Over the next two plus decades he rose through the ranks - Director of Sports (1980), VP of Sports Programming (1980), Senior VP, programming operations and sport (1983-90), President and CEO of Time Warner Sports (1990) – and became one of the most powerful, influential and innovative figures in boxing. Under his leadership HBO became the powerhouse “Network of Champions” and synonymous with top quality programming on Championship Boxing, Boxing After Dark and TVKO. Among the legends Abraham negotiated to compete on HBO include Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez, Roy Jones Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson and Pernell Whitaker. Abraham, who brought blow-by-blow announcer Jim Lampley to HBO, incorporated a storytelling element to broadcasts that separated HBO from other networks. Abraham left in 2000 for Madison Square Garden, where he was Executive Vice President and COO until 2004, overseeing the 2001 middleweight unification tournament.
In 2014 he was awarded the BWAA’s Sam Taub Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism.
Born: Aug. 20, 1947
Induction: 2023
Seth Abraham
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