It’s the last ‘biggest’ fight of the year, literally. Three heavyweight belts, and maybe the balance of power in the division, are on the line in Saudi Arabia. Ruiz (33-1, 22 KO) makes his first defense of the WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO belts against the man he lifted them from in June. Joshua (22-1, 21 KO) tries to set right one of the most consistent economic engines in the game.
Multiple industry sources have informed BoxingScene.com that the Nov. 23 Fox Sports four-fight Pay-Per-View telecast—topped by Wilder’s repeat knockout win over Luis Ortiz—from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas will land just north of 275,000 units sold in domestic sales. The most generous estimates have the event falling shy of 300,000, although performing considerably better than previous and largely unconfirmed rumors regarding the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)-branded event.
In Demand, the leading transactional video-on-demand and pay-per-view (PPV) programming distributor owned by Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, and Cox Communications, announced that it has finalized a deal with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) for a programming output deal that guarantees In Demand a long-term slate of PPV boxing events over the next several years, it was announced by Mark Boccardi, In Demand's SVP, Programming & Marketing.
Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will not allow DAZN delay any of his future fights. The boxer signed an eleven fight deal with the streaming service last year. So far he's had three bouts carried by their company. He is expected to come back to the ring in May, during Cinco De Mayo weekend.
Last Thursday, the prodigy twins, Angel and Chavez Barrientes, were successful in their pro debuts, both scoring first round knockouts. The dynamic duo, who are only 17-years old, traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to turn professional.
Arguably the best heavyweight fight of 2018 gets a sequel this Saturday and it’s a night where the pay-per-view card looks fan friendly before the main event. Deontay Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KO) is must-see TV for more than his power after his 2018 campaign. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Deontay Wilder will be making his FOX pay-per-view debut Saturday against Luis Ortiz, but it almost never came to be. In March, DAZN offered Wilder $100 million for a three-fight package, including two fights with Anthony Joshua. The WBC heavyweight champion eventually declined the nascent OTT streaming platform’s payday, and went on to fight Dominic Breazeale on longtime broadcast partner Showtime, destroying Breazeale in one round.
With two more programs related to the heavyweight title fight rematch between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz come as many viewership records established by Fox Sports. The fourth and final installment of Wilder vs. Ortiz: PBC Fight Camp—which aired Sunday on Fox prime in conjunction with coverage of the Fox National Football League (NFL) Game of the Week—averaged a series best 2.438 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research. The segment—which chronicled the final stages of training camp for both participants ahead of their Nov. 23 rematch, which airs live on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada—immediately followed Fox’s live NFL coverage in most markets, while preceding the event in the remaining coverage areas.
FOX Sports’ team of announcers will be slightly different for the network’s Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz pay-per-view show Saturday night. BoxingScene.com has learned that Brian Kenny will work as FOX’s blow-by-blow announcer, alongside analysts Lennox Lewis and Joe Goossen, when those heavyweights square off again for Wilder’s WBC title at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Kenny Albert usually fills the blow-by-blow role for FOX, though Kenny worked several boxing broadcasts for FOX from 2015-18.
By Mitch Abramson - DAZN’s commitment to boxing should be obvious by now. The streaming service is shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars to some of the best fighters in the sport to perform exclusively on its airwaves. In less than a month perhaps the most anticipated fight of the year will take place on DAZN: Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight title...