By Jake Donovan
When Kathy Duva had her dinner interrupted last Friday to find out that Eddie Chambers wouldn’t be along for the ride in this weekend’s premiere episode of NBC Sports Fight Night, she didn’t panic.
She instead recalled all of the times her late husband, Dan Duva was in the same predicament.
“It reminded me of a night that Dan and I were supposed to go to a Bruce Springsteen concert, around 30 years ago,” recalled Duva, whose Main Events promotional company presents NBC Sports Fight Night this Saturday at the Asylum Arena in Philadelphia. “We never made it out the door that night. Dan received a call that the opponent fell out for (then-unbeaten heavyweight) Scott Frank at the Ice World shows we were doing.
“There were no cell phones or e-mail back then. So my husband sat down at the table, grabbed the phone and called everyone he could until he found an opponent worthwhile.”
Though blessed with the benefit of more advanced technology today, Duva spent what was a three-day holiday weekend for most Americans on the grind in search of a feasible opponent for Sergei Liakhovich in the evening’s main event.
The goal of the series – in which its first year only features four dates – is to present compelling matches in real fight towns, as opposed to just staging fights for the sake of fighters staying busy.
Duva stayed true to the spirit of that theme in making her final decision.
“We called and e-mailed everyone in the world in the 48 hours following Eddie’s call stating he couldn’t fight. Fighters we wanted were willing, but their managers talked them out of it. Managers were willing, but trainers would talk them out of it.
“At one point, someone suggested Tye Fields – who represented everything that was wrong with the first Versus series (Versus is now known as NBC Sports Network). That was a sign that the search was over. We couldn’t put Sergei in a fight that nobody wants to watch. He’s bummed about it, but I told him we couldn’t offer him a fight against the available opposition.”
Instead the show becomes a revamped tripleheader, with two of the bouts pitting unbeaten fighters against one another.
Remaining in the co-main event slot is a junior middleweight crossroads bout between local spoiler Gabriel Rosado and former welterweight contender Jesus Soto Karass. The televised swing bout is a battle unbeaten light heavyweights as Damar Singleton (8-0, 4KO) faces Sullivan Barrera (8-0, 6KO).
The final televised bout of the evening speaks to the tremendous promoting efforts of Duva and the strong team with which she surrounds herself.
“That’s why we have Russell Peltz,” Duva joyfully exclaims in singing the high praises of the Hall of Fame matchmaker who knows a little something about building a show to appease the Philly boxing crowd. “He found a bout between two guys who came up on the Philly boxing scene in the amateurs, and even better that both fighters jumped at the opportunity.”
With that comes the other co-headliner of the evening as Maurice Byarm (13-0-1, 9KO) and local prospect Bryant Jennings (11-0, 5KO) square off in a matchup of unbeaten heavyweights.
Finding a quality third fight for the broadcast was necessary in order for Main Events to make the series work, especially in its premiere episode. Too many past ideas have been pitched, only to fall by the wayside the moment they’re launched.
Duva takes great pride in every product she presents. She wasn’t about to compromise her principles for a series that could eventually lead to the return of meaningful boxing on free TV.
“We’ve been saying all along, ‘What is a good fight? What fights can we put on where we want to sit down and watch ourselves?’ The buzz that has surrounded this show has all been positive. This is a show where I can’t wait to sit at ringside, watch these fights and see who wins. None are gimmes, which is the idea – being entertained by fights in which you have no clue who will win.”
An old saying goes, when given lemons make lemonade. The efforts put into this card are clear that Duva would rather continue to search for fresh fruit to pick.
“This isn’t like other series where a fight falls through and you wait for another date down the road to reschedule in place of a rerun movie. NBC Sports Network’s schedule is filled up for the year with all sorts of other sports. We have so few shots at this and I didn’t want to waste it by compromising the very first show.”
All that’s left is see how the show turns out – and if all eyes are literally on Saturday’s broadcast.
“I hope fight fans get the message. At the end of the day, if a show is great and the ratings are low, it’s the last great show you get in that capacity. If you watch this show, you’ll have a good time. Ratings and entertainment together are the key to keeping NBC interested and bringing the fight game back to free TV. This show is the first step towards us getting there.”
TELEVISION INFORMATION
The televised portion of the show airs live at 9:00PM ET. For information on how to find NBC Sports Network in your area, please follow this link: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30092015/ns/sports/
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
