Boxing on Fox

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.

Boxing on Fox
PBC on Fox
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'
GenreProfessional boxing bouts
Presented byKate Abdo
Kenny Albert
Heidi Androl
Ray Flores
Joe Goossen
Larry Hazzard
Lennox Lewis
Ray Mancini
Chris Myers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running timeVarious
Production companyFox Sports
Release
Original networkFox
Fox Sports 1
Fox Deportes
Picture format720p (HDTV)
Original releaseOctober 16, 1995 (1995-10-16) –
present
External links
Website

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

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. 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. "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.
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