Boxing on Fox

Last updated
Boxing on Fox
PremierBoxingChampionsonFox.jpg
The logo for Fox's Premier Boxing Champions cards.
Also known asFox
Saturday Night Fights
Oscar De La Hoya's Fight Night
FS1
Golden Boy Live!
Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays
FX
FX Championship Boxing
SportsChannel / Prime / FSN
Pro Boxing Tour
Budwesier Championship Boxing
MSG Fight Night
Fight Night at the Forum
Sunday Night Fights
Fight Time on Fox
Best Damn Fight Night Period
Best Damn Boxing Championship Period
Genre Professional boxing bouts
Presented by Kenny Albert
Heidi Androl
Ray Flores
Joe Goossen
Larry Hazzard
Lennox Lewis
Ray Mancini
Chris Myers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running timeVarious
Production companies Fox Sports
Premier Boxing Champions
Release
Original network Fox
Fox Sports 1
Fox Deportes
Original releaseOctober 16, 1995 (1995-10-16) –
present

Boxing on Fox refers to a series of boxing events produced by Fox Sports and televised by the Fox Broadcasting Company and Fox Sports 1.

Contents

History

Saturday Night Fights (1995)

Fox's first foray into boxing aired on December 16, 1995 [1] in prime time headlined by a bout [2] between Mike Tyson and Buster Mathis Jr.

On September 14, Tyson promoter Don King would stun the boxing world by announcing that the Tyson–Mathis match would be broadcast for free on Fox. [3] Three weeks before the fight, Tyson suffered a broken thumb, but did not announce it until November 1, three days before the fight. In a press conference at the MGM Grand, Tyson announced the cancellation of the fight because of the injury. [4] Then, on November 22, it was announced that the bout had been moved to Atlantic City with a December 16 date in place and that Showtime would air the fight instead of Fox. [5] Plans were changed after New Jersey gaming authorities ruled against having the fight in Atlantic City because Don King had been under suspension in New Jersey since 1994 because of legal troubles. On November 30, Philadelphia's CoreStates Spectrum was announced to host the fight with Fox regaining the rights to air it. [6]

The opening match on the card involved Terry Norris and Paul Vaden. [7] Also featured was Frankie Randall defending his World Boxing Association junior welterweight title against Juan Coggi. [8]

Kevin Harlan provided blow-by-blow commentary, with Sean O'Grady and Bobby Czyz on analysis, [9] and James Brown [10] as the host. Meanwhile, Fox's then lead NFL color commentator, John Madden [11] conducted a taped interview with Tyson. Madden's NFL on Fox broadcast partner, Pat Summerall was initially scheduled to call the card, but when it was pushed back from November 4 to December 16, his NFL duties interfered with him participating.

Fox received a 16.9 Nielsen overnight rating and 29 share for the December 16 broadcast, making it the highest-rated night in Fox's then brief history as a network.

Oscar De La Hoya's Fight Night (1998)

In March 1998, Fox teamed with Oscar De La Hoya for a three-fight card [12] from Mashantucket, Connecticut in prime time. Since De La Hoya himself, was under contract to fight exclusively on HBO, he couldn't fight. Instead, the card featured Yory Boy Campas fighting Anthony Stephens in a junior middleweight title bout, Eric "Butterbean" Esch in a super heavyweight fight against Bill Eaton, and a six-round women's match between Lucia Rijker and Mary Ann Almager. [13] [14] The card aired directly against the 70th Academy Awards on ABC.

James Brown called the action with Gil Clancy on analysis and Sean O'Grady reporting. The telecast garnered Fox a 4.3 rating (5.9 million viewers). [15]

Golden Boy Live! (2012-2015)

The March 20, 1998 event wouldn't be the last time that Fox would collaborate with Oscar De La Hoya. In April 2012, Fox reached a multi-year agreement [16] with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. [17] Under terms of the agreement Golden Boy Promotions would stage one event per month in the United States to be simulcast on Fox Deportes, Fox Sports' regional networks and Fuel TV.

One year later, Fox announced that they had reached a multi-media rights extension [18] with Golden Boy Promotions. Under this particular agreement, Fox Sports retained exclusive domestic rights to 48 live two-hour events (featuring two or three fights per event). Fox Sports 1 scheduled 24 live events per year, with Fox Deportes airing all 48 events live. This was an increase from 36 in the previous deal. The 24 events on FS1 would all originate in the United States, and most were expected to run on Monday nights [19] once the network launched later that August.

Commentators

Premier Boxing Champions (2015-present)

On August 4, 2015, Fox Sports 1 announced that it would air 21 PBC cards on Tuesday nights (Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays) on the network from September 8, 2015 through June 2016. The telecasts were also simulcast in Spanish by Fox Deportes. The announcement came following the end of a contract between Fox Sports and Golden Boy Promotions. [26]

By 2018, most of PBC's broadcasting agreements lapsed. In September 2018, PBC reached a four-year deal with Fox Sports, covering a series of 10 "marquee" cards per-year on the Fox broadcast network, 12 per-year on FS1, as well as Fox-produced pay-per-view events. Unlike the previous time-buy arrangements, Fox is paying rights fees; The Ring reported that Fox was paying $60 million per-year. Prior to the announcement, PBC reached a long-term deal with Showtime, through 2021. Both Fox and Showtime also began producing pay-per-view events (contrary to PBC's previous aversion to them). [27] [28] [29]

Commentators

Meanwhile, Fox Deportes tapped International Boxing Hall of Fame member and former four-division world champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales to work alongside Jaime Motta (blow-by-blow) and Jessi Losada.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>HBO World Championship Boxing</i> American TV sports series (1973–2018)

HBO World Championship Boxing is an American sports television series on premium television network HBO. It premiered on January 22, 1973 with a fight that saw George Foreman defeat Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar De La Hoya</span> Mexican-American boxer (born 1973)

Oscar De La Hoya is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championship in three weight classes. He is ranked as the 38th best boxer of all time, pound for pound, by BoxRec. De La Hoya was nicknamed "The Golden Boy of boxing" by the media when he represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics where, shortly after having graduated from James A. Garfield High School, he won a gold medal in the lightweight division, and reportedly "set a sport back on its feet."

Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floyd Mayweather Jr.</span> American boxer and boxing promoter (born 1977)

Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and won 15 major world championships from super featherweight to light middleweight. This includes the Ring magazine title in five weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships, and the U.S. national championship at featherweight.

The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Boxing Champions, and Top Rank, as well as Friday Night Fights—a semi-regular series that was broadcast by ESPN and ESPN2 from 1998 through 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Boy Promotions</span> American boxing promoter

Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.</span> Boxing competition

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., billed as The World Awaits, was a super welterweight superfight that took place on May 5, 2007, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada between six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya and undefeated four-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. At the time, the bout was the most lucrative boxing match ever, with over $130 million in generated revenue.

The Big Fight Live is a British boxing television programme, broadcast by ITV Sport regularly from 1984 to 1995 and again from 2005 to 2010. In 2017, over 30 years after it was first launched, ITV announced that 'The Big Fight Live' would return after it was announced Chris Eubank JR would fight for the world title on ITV Box Office.

Showtime Championship Boxing is a television boxing program airing on Showtime. Debuting in March 1986, it is broadcast live on the first Saturday of every month. Showtime Championship Boxing, which is very similar to HBO World Championship Boxing, features Mauro Ranallo on play-by-play, Al Bernstein as the color analyst, Jimmy Lennon as ring announcers, and Jim Gray as reporter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Ortiz</span> American boxer

Victor Ortiz is an American professional boxer and film actor. He held the WBC welterweight title in 2011, and was formerly rated as one of the world's top three active welterweights by most sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring magazine, BoxRec, and ESPN. His crowd-pleasing and aggressive fighting style also made him the 2008 ESPN Prospect of the Year.

CBS has occasionally broadcast boxing events; its first broadcast occurred in 1948. The network's most recent broadcasts of the sport have fallen under Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions banner, and its most recent primetime broadcasts have been produced by sister pay television channel Showtime.

Boxing on NBC is the de facto title for NBC Sports' boxing television coverage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr.</span> Boxing competition

Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr., billed as Presumption of Innocence, was a professional boxing match contested on December 16, 1995.

Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) is an ongoing series of televised boxing events and promotion connected to manager Al Haymon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Espinoza</span> American sports and corporate executive

Stephen Espinoza is an American sports and corporate executive. He is the president of Showtime Sports.

Anthony David Benavidez is an American professional boxer. He is a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, having held the title from 2017 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2020. Claiming his first belt at 21 years, eight months, three weeks and one day old, Benavidez holds the record as the youngest super middleweight title holder in history, he is ranked second by The Ring second by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and fourth by BoxRec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II</span> Boxing competition

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II, billed as Unfinished Business, was a heavyweight professional boxing rematch between undefeated and reigning WBC champion Deontay Wilder and undefeated former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, for the WBC and vacant The Ring heavyweight titles. The event took place on February 22, 2020, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada. Fury won the bout by seventh-round technical knockout (TKO).

Boxing on ABC refers to a series of boxing events that have been televised on the American Broadcasting Company. Many of these events aired under the Wide World of Sports banner which began on April 11, 1964 when challenger Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, defeated champion Sonny Liston in the seventh round. ABC's final boxing card occurred on June 17, 2000.

<i>PBC: The Next Round</i> American TV series or program

PBC: The Next Round is the branding used for monthly Premier Boxing Champions cards broadcast on the Bounce TV digital multicast network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr.</span> Exhibition boxing match

Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr., billed as "Lockdown Knockdown", was an exhibition boxing match between former undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson and former four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr. The bout took place at Staples Center in Los Angeles on November 28, 2020, and was sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). With three former WBC champions acting as judges, the result was scored as a controversial split draw. The fight sold over 1.6 million PPV buys and generated over $80 million in revenue.

References

  1. ↑ December 16, 1995 commercials with Cop Files intro on YouTube
  2. ↑ 1995-12-16 Mike Tyson - Buster Mathis Jr. on YouTube
  3. ↑ King Plays the Fox, Philadelphia Inquirer article, 1995-09-15, Retrieved on 2013-05-10
  4. ↑ Tyson Bout Is Canceled Because of Injury, N.Y. Times article, 1995-11-01, Retrieved on 2013-05-11
  5. ↑ Tyson Gets Ready To Rumble, Philadelphia Inquirer article, 1995-11-22, Retrieved on 2013-05-11
  6. ↑ Tyson-Mathis Bout To Be Fought At Spectrum, Philadelphia Inquirer article, 1995-11-30, Retrieved on 2013-05-11
  7. ↑ Trecker, Jerry (December 15, 1995). "NOW THEY CALL TYSON FIGHT DIFFERENTLY". The Hartford Courant.
  8. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (September 28, 1995). "BOXING; No Tyson, No King: Round 1 to Mathis". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (December 19, 1995). "TV SPORTS;It's Tyson or Nothing for Free TV". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Shapiro, Leonard (September 15, 1995). "TYSON TO FIGHT ON FOX". The Washington Post.
  11. ↑ Nidetz, Steve (December 18, 1995). "TYSON BROADCAST A KO IN RATINGS, BUT NOT COVERAGE". Chicago Tribune.
  12. ↑ Kent, Milton (March 20, 1998). "Fox, willing to go the distance, puts boxing in ring with Oscars". The Baltimore Sun.
  13. ↑ First round KO! Lucia Rijker best female boxer ever (54-0-0) on YouTube
  14. ↑ Greenhouse, Aaron (February 12, 2000). "Fox Specials (1998)". Fox Broadcasting Corporation (Unofficial).
  15. ↑ "Debut of 'Premier Boxing Champions' on NBC is Most-Watched Boxing Broadcast Since 1998". TV By the Numbers. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Fox Sports, Golden Boy Promotions Ink Multiyear Boxing Broadcast Deal". Sports Business Daily. April 24, 2012.
  17. ↑ Long, Michael (April 25, 2012). "Golden Boy signs multi-year deal with Fox". SportsPro Media Limited.
  18. ↑ "FOX SPORTS REACHES MULTI-MEDIA RIGHTS EXTENSION WITH GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS". Tha Boxing Voice. April 8, 2013.
  19. ↑ "NEW GOLDEN BOY, FOX SPORTS 1 MONDAY BOXING SERIES STARTS AUG. 19". RingTV. July 23, 2013.
  20. ↑ Satterfield, Lem. "MALIGNAGGI, HOPKINS TO CALL GOLDEN BOY LIVE". RingTV.
  21. ↑ "FOX SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS –THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW". Multichannel News. October 9, 2014.
  22. ↑ "STELLAR BROADCAST TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR NEW GOLDEN BOY LIVE! SERIES PREMIERING ON FOX SPORTS 1 MONDAY, AUGUST 19". Constant Contact. August 9, 2013.
  23. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE: Mario Lopez to join broadcast of Golden Boy fight on FOX Sports 1". FoxSports.com. March 6, 2015.
  24. ↑ Goldenboy on Fox 1 24 2014 720p on YouTube
  25. ↑ The Best of Jim Ross' Play By Play Debut on Golden Boy Live on YouTube
  26. ↑ "Premier Boxing Champions finalizes deal with Fox Sports 1". ESPN.com. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  27. ↑ "Fox, Premier Boxing Champions have deal". ESPN.com. 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  28. ↑ "Showtime, PBC announce three-year agreement". ESPN.com. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  29. ↑ Umstead, R. Thomas (14 November 2018). "Fox Sports to Step Into Pay-Per-View Boxing Ring". Multichannel. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  30. ↑ Rosenthal, Michael (November 16, 2018). "Broadcast Team For PBC on FOX Shows Will Look Familiar". BoxingScene.com.
  31. ↑ Shawn Porter, Errol Spence Jr. talk their upcoming fight | INTERVIEW | PBC ON FOX on YouTube
  32. ↑ "HEIDI ANDROL". FOX Sports.
  33. ↑ "Former World Champion Austin Trout Joins Ray Mancini and Ray Flores to Call FS1 PBC Fight Night: Brandon Figueroa vs. Javier Chacon Saturday". Fox Sports. August 20, 2019.
  34. ↑ "JOE GOOSSEN - PBC Analyst". Fox Sports.
  35. ↑ "FOX Sports and Premier Boxing Champions announce eight title fights—including Errol Spence Jr. vs Mikey Garcia PPV". PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS. November 18, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.