Canal+, ESPN, Viaplay knocked out by Showtime boxing docuseries The Kings

Thomas ‘Hitman’ Hearns takes on ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler in The Kings

Broadcasters around the world including French pay TV operator Canal+ and sportsnet ESPN in Australia, New Zealand and Latin America have picked up US cablenet Showtime’s documentary series The Kings.

The four-part series covers the battles between the four boxers attempting to take the title of ‘The Greatest’ after Muhammad Ali’s retirement: Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran.

UK-based distributor Protagonist Pictures is taking the series to Mipcom in Cannes next week and has secured a number of deals ahead of the market.

Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group’s Viaplay streaming service has taken the series for the Nordic region and the Netherlands, while Movistar has picked it up in Spain.

The other buyers are Norway’s NRK, Danish pubcaster DR, Channel 1 in Russia and SVoD service Discovery+ for the Philippines. A deal with an unnamed buyer in the UK is also in advanced negotiations.

The series is produced by Fiona Neilson with sports factual prodco Box to Box Films’ James Gay Rees and Paul Martin serving as executive producers.