 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 576i 16:9 SDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Queensbury Commercial Ltd |
| Sister channels | Viaplay Sports 1 Viaplay Sports 2 Viaplay Xtra |
| History | |
| Launched | 14 July 2011 |
| Closed | 15 December 2022 |
| Links | |
| Website | https://watch.boxnation.com |
BoxNation [1] was a British dedicated boxing subscription television channel, operated by Viaplay. The brand is licensed from George Warren's Queensbury Commercial. [2]
BoxNation was launched by Frank Warren Promotions as a free-to-air channel on Sky. [3] It was soft launched on 14 July 2011, airing two hours of classic boxing fights. The channel fully launched on 30 September 2011, broadcasting live fights, magazine programmes, and footage of classic fights from boxing legends including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Tyson.
The channel screened its first live fight on 30 September 2011 as Liam Walsh stopped Paul Appleby in the tenth round at York Hall in Bethnal Green. [4]
BoxNation was later launched on Virgin Media on 1 December 2011. [5] It also became a monthly subscription channel on this day. [6]
In 2012 BoxNation launched an iOS app for iPhone and iPad users as well as launching an online service via LiveSport.tv, In 2013 BoxNation made the app available to Android phone users. App users were charged £10 a month to view the full BoxNation coverage regardless if they were already subscribed via Sky or Virgin Media.
In January 2013, The Independent reported that BT was likely to acquire the channel and incorporate its content into their planned sports channels. Simon Green, the head of BT Sport, was a former Chief Executive at BoxNation and was then a non-executive director at BoxNation . [7]
In 2017, BT TV customers gained access to BoxNation as part of the BT Sport package. This ended in November 2022. [8]
In April 2018, BoxNation extended their exclusive output deal with Bob Arum's Top Rank, meaning that the channel would broadcast the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford to British fight fans. [9]
In December 2019, Boxing Channel Media which had operated the channel from launch was liquidated at the request of its creditors. Premier Sports acquired the brand licence and channels space. [10]
In July 2022, Viaplay announced the acquisition of Premier Sports and signalled its intention to rebrand the channels. [11]
BoxNation became unavailable to BT Sport subscribers on 17 November 2022. A letter received by Virgin Media customers stated BoxNation would close on all platforms on 14 December 2022. The channel was removed from Sky on 14 December and ceased broadcasting the following day.
BoxNation's programming was presented by experienced broadcasters Richard Keys, Jim Rosenthal, Paul Dempsey, John Rawling and Steve Bunce. [12]
On 15 January 2016 two new hosts, well known English presenter and sports personality Charlie Webster and Olympic Boxing Bronze medallist and Strictly Come Dancing star Anthony Ogogo launched a new weekly programme called Charlie's Web, [13] looking at the world of social media in boxing.
BoxNation featured live cards with domestic and international fights, classic match footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters. The channel broadcast over 70 live world title fights featuring Floyd Mayweather Jnr, Vitali Klitschko, Nathan Cleverly, Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, Dereck Chisora, and Bernard Hopkins amongst many others
Steve Bunce also hosted the weekly show "Boxing Hour" every Monday night. Bunce had formerly hosted a show with the same name and format on Setanta Sports where it gained popularity and acclaim amongst boxing fans leading to the launch of the "Bring Back Bunce" campaign [14] after the collapse of Setanta Sports in Great Britain. [15]
In October 2013, BoxNation announced that they would show the entire Golden Boy on Fox Sports 1 series on a tape delay every Wednesday night at 7pm. [16]
On 8 May 2012, it was announced the BoxNation would co-promote and air the all-British heavyweight clash between David Haye and Derek Chisora. [17] The fight took place at The Boleyn Ground, more commonly known as Upton Park on 14 July 2012.
Billed as Haye v Chisora: Licensed to Thrill, the fight received criticism from several quarters and was licensed by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation after the British Boxing Board of Control refused to authorise the fight. [18] This is due, in part, to the press conference clash between Haye and Chisora in February in the aftermath of Chisora's defeat to Vitali Klitschko. [19] During the course of the fight weekend, Chisora also slapped his opponent in the face at the weigh-in and spat water in the face of Vitali's brother, Wladimir, in the ring preceding the fight. This trio of incidents led the BBBofC to withdraw Chisora's license to fight "indefinitely," while Haye had previously retired and therefore escaped censure. [20]
As well as co-promoting the fight, BoxNation broadcast the event to UK audiences, while the fight was also shown in more than 60 other countries. [21]
Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko, known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv, and is also head of the Kyiv City State Administration, having held both offices since June 2014. Klitschko is a former leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, and is a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament. He became actively involved in Ukrainian politics in 2005 and combined this with his professional boxing career until his retirement from the sport in 2013. He holds a Doctoral Degree (Ph.D.) from Kyiv University's Physical Science Department.
Audley Hugh Harrison, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. As an amateur he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division and becoming the first ever British boxer to win Olympic gold in that division. Harrison turned professional the following year after signing a contract with BBC Sport, and went on to have seventeen fights on the network before their cancellation of all boxing broadcasts.
David Deron Haye is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amateur Boxing Championships, where he won a silver medal in 2001.
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John Rawling is a British boxing, track and field, darts and yachting commentator, currently working for BT Sport, ITV and Talksport. He has become known as one of the best known voices of boxing commentary. With BT, John commentates alongside former World Super-Middleweight champion Richie Woodhall, while former World Cruiserweight champion Glenn McCrory is his co-commentator with Talksport. On ITV darts broadcasts, John commentates with Chris Mason, Stuart Pyke, Dan Dawson and Alan Warriner-Little, while Mason and Paul Nicholson are alongside him for Talksport darts coverage. John also commentates on Paralympic sports for Channel 4. He was the lead commentator for Channel 4 in their award-winning coverage of the 2012 Paralympics in London and the 2011 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Korea.
David Price is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2019. At regional level, he held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2012 to 2013, and challenged once for the European title in 2015. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics, gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2008 EU Championships, and three ABA titles; all in the super-heavyweight division.
Derek Chisora is a Zimbabwean-British professional boxer. He has challenged twice for the WBC heavyweight title in 2012 and 2022. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2010 to 2011, and the European title from 2013 to 2014. As an amateur, he won the ABA super-heavyweight title in 2006.
Paul Andrew Francis Dempsey is a British TV and radio sports presenter and commentator now chiefly employed by TNT Sports where he covers football and boxing coverage, as well as TV host and commentary on Indonesian Djarum's multiplatform Mola TV. After 18 years working for Sky Sports and 7 with the Dublin-based channels of Setanta Sports, Dempsey was signed by BT Sport prior to their UK launch.
Premier Sports is a group of pay television sports channels owned by SSBL Limited.
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David Haye vs Derek Chisora, billed as Licensed to Thrill, was a professional boxing match contested between former heavyweight champion, David Haye, and former world title challenger, Derek Chisora. The bout took place on 14 July 2012 at the Boleyn Ground, with Haye winning by technical knockout in the fifth round.
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This is a timeline of sports channels in the UK other than Sky Sports, BT Sport and Premier Sports/FreeSports. The timeline also includes sports events which were shown on non-sports non-terrestrial channels. The timeline also includes sports coverage broadcast on streaming services.
This is a timeline of the history of boxing on television in the UK.
This is a timeline of Premier Sports, which includes the period when the channel broadcast as Viaplay Sports, and of its former free-to-air channel FreeSports.
Dillian Whyte vs Derek Chisora II, billed as The Brawl To Settle It All, was a professional boxing match contested between WBC Silver and WBO International heavyweight champion, Dillian Whyte, and Derek Chisora. The bout took place on 22 December 2018 at The O2 Arena, with Whyte winning by knockout in the eleventh round.
Oleksandr Usyk vs Derek Chisora, billed as Fright Night, was a professional boxing match contested between former undisputed cruiserweight champion and the WBO's heavyweight mandatory challenger, Oleksandr Usyk, and WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight champion, Derek Chisora. The bout took place on 31 October 2020 at The SSE Arena, with Usyk winning by unanimous decision.
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