Boxing on Fox

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

• Dave Bontempo^[20] (blow-by-blow)
• Brian Custer (blow-by-blow)
• Beto Duran^[21] (blow-by-blow)
• Bernard Hopkins^[22] (color commentary)
• Mario Lopez^[23] (reporter)
• Paulie Malignaggi (color commentary)
• Alan Massengale^[24] (blow-by-blow)
• Rich Marotta (color commentary)
• Jessica Rosales (reporter)
• Jim Ross^[25] (blow-by-blow)

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

• Kate Abdo (host)
• Shawn Porter (analyst)
• Kenny Albert^[30] (blow-by-blow)
• Heidi Androl^[31][32] (reporter)
• Ray Flores^[33] (blow-by-blow)
• Joe Goossen^[34] (color commentary)
• Jordan Hardy (reporter)
• Larry Hazzard (rules expert/unofficial scorer)
• Brian Kenny (blow-by-blow)
• Lennox Lewis^[35] (color commentary)
• Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini (color commentary)
• Chris Myers (blow-by-blow)
• Austin Trout (color commentary)
• Marcos Villegas (unofficial scorer)

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.

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Prime time

Prime time

Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults. It is used by the major television networks to broadcast their season's nightly programming. The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.. In India and some Middle Eastern countries, prime time consists of the programmes that are aired on TV between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. local time.

Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr.

Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr.

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

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard Tyson is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round. In 1990, Tyson was knocked out by underdog Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

Buster Mathis Jr.

Buster Mathis Jr.

Buster Mathis Jr. is an American former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division.

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company

The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and additional offices at the Fox Network Center in Los Angeles and the Fox Media Center in Tempe. Launched as a competitor to the Big Three television networks on October 9, 1986, Fox went on to become the most successful attempt at a fourth television network. It was the highest-rated free-to-air network in the 18–49 demographic from 2004 to 2012 and again in 2020, and was the most-watched American television network in total viewership during the 2007–08 season.

MGM Grand Las Vegas

MGM Grand Las Vegas

The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of rooms and second-largest hotel resort complex in the United States behind the combined The Venetian and The Palazzo. When it opened in 1993, the MGM Grand was the largest hotel complex in the world.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia

Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. It is one of the most historically significant cities in the United States and served as the nation's capital until 1800. Philadelphia is the nation's sixth-largest city with a population of 1,603,797 as of the 2020 census. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and one of the world's largest metropolitan regions with 6.245 million residents. Philadelphia is known for its extensive contributions to American history, especially the American Revolution, and for its contemporary influence in business and industry, culture, sports, and music.

Paul Vaden

Paul Vaden

Paul Vaden is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2000, holding the IBF light middleweight title in 1995. He remains the only native San Diegan to become a professional world boxing champion.

Frankie Randall

Frankie Randall

Frankie Billy Randall was an American professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 2005. He was a three-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA and WBC titles between 1994 and 1997. Randall is best known for being the first boxer to defeat Julio César Chávez, whose record at the time of their 1994 fight stood at 89 wins and a draw.

Kevin Harlan

Kevin Harlan

Kevin Robert Harlan is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, and a two-time National Sportscaster of the Year, he broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS and the NBA for TNT. 2023 will be his 39th consecutive season doing NFL play by play, and 2022-23 will be his 38th year broadcasting the NBA. He is a two time National Sportscaster of the Year. Overall he is third all time in the total number of network sports broadcasts doing play by play of one of the four major sports.

Sean O'Grady (boxer)

Sean O'Grady (boxer)

Sean O'Grady is the former World Boxing Association (WBA) Lightweight Champion of the World, and currently an American commercial realtor. O'Grady had a record of 81 wins and five losses as a professional boxer, with 70 wins by knockout.

Bobby Czyz

Bobby Czyz

Robert Edward Czyz is an American retired boxer and commentator. Czyz was a two-division world titlist at light heavyweight and cruiserweight.