MIAMI—Between the city’s general vibe, Super Bowl week and all of the boxing and YouTube personalities in town, the sport has finally found its ritmo in South Beach.
The atmosphere for the pre-fight weigh-in—which took place in the outdoor pool area at W South Beach hotel—one day ahead of Thursday’s DAZN bill featuring three title fights and one all-YouTuber clash went well beyond what you typically expect of the traditional ceremony. While the basic expectation is for a boxer to make weight ahead of his or her fight, the fact that all participants did their job at the scale became a very distant second to the on-site after party held 24 hours before fight night.
“We’re always trying new stuff, always looking to do things differently,” Eddie Hearn, managing director of Matchroom Boxing told BoxingScene.com ahead of the company’s first stateside show of 2020. “That’s the only way you’re going to find out what’s going to work and what’s not going to work. You got to go with things you have a hunch for. A lot of what we do (in the U.S.) is driven by DAZN, of course. DAZN said, ‘We want to do this show on Super Bowl week.’ There’s this new (purpose-built) venue going up. Harry Styles is there Friday. Lady Gaga concert is Saturday.
“You can see by the atmosphere, it’s pretty f—kin’ wild! We got fans in England asking us, ‘Mate, is this how you always do things in the U.S.?’ Uh… not really. But with everything going on in this town this week—the Super Bowl, the [pre-game] activities, this massive fight card, Jake Paul and AnEson Gib being here and bringing their followers, who brought their followers—we’ll take it.”
Of course, there is still the actual boxing part to be done, which will take place at the purpose-built venue Meridian Island Gardens in Miami (Thursday, DAZN, televised preliminary bouts beginning 7:00pm ET). Topping the bill, 2008 U.S. Olympian and unbeaten middleweight titlist Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade (28-0, 17KOs) will attempt his 3rd title defense versus Ireland’s Luke Keeler (17-2-1, 5KOs). Two more title fights play on the main portion of the bill, which picks up at 9:00pm ET. Streaking junior lightweight titlist Tevin Farmer (30-4-1, 6KOs) faces 2012 U.S. Olympian and second-time title hopeful Joseph Diaz (30-1, 15KOs), while unified 122-pound champ Daniel Roman (27-2-1, 10KOs) comes in as a slight underdog versus Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev (7-0, 6KOs), a 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist turned precocious contender.
For all involved—and particularly Andrade and Farmer, who continue to pursue blockbuster fights—comes the desire to ply their trade in front of a wider viewing audience. It served as the motivation to bring such a loaded card to a new destination, particularly one where a world of sports fans and every day tourists will be in town. The early returns suggest a risk worth taking and the potential for repeat business.
“Miami has been on my list for a long time, this was the right opportunity t,” noted Hearn, England’s leading promoter whose Matchroom Boxing USA set up shop stateside in 2017. “To be fair, it will be tough to truly say with this show whether it worked or not. The venue only holds 4,000 and it’s pretty much sold out. So who knows. But what I don’t like, is people saying Miami won’t work for boxing. That’s like me saying, London or Manchester (England) don’t like boxing. Any major city should be into their boxing. I know some cities are more amenable to it, so why shouldn’t Miami.”
“Plus, DAZN also likes to be innovative. They don’t like going back to the same venue all the time and I think that’s good. If we don’t keep growing, if we don’t keep bringing new fans into the sport, we have no chance. The reputation of the sport is that it’s getting old. This is a good way to change things.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox