The pay-per-view boxing category is set for a busy spring with several marquee events scheduled on the heels of Saturday’s Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia card.

Prime Video and Premier Boxing Champions will distribute a June 15 PPV boxing card with a co-main event featuring lightweight champion Gevonta Davis against Frank Martin and super middleweight champion David Benavidez battling former light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Govdyk, the streaming service announced. 

The event is Prime Video’s third scheduled PPV boxing event this year. On May 4, the service will offer the fight between super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and undefeated contender Jaime Munguia. It also distributed the March 30 Tim Tszyu-Sebastian Fundora fight.

Also Read: ‘Boxing Is a Great Fit As It Relates to Our Portfolio of Live Sports Properties’: Prime Video’s Charlie Neiman Talks Up the Sweet Science Ahead of PPV Debut (Q&A)

Also on the schedule is DAZN’s May 18 PPV heavyweight unification fight between champions Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. 

The upcoming slate of PPV boxing events follows Saturday’s DAZN-distributed Haney-Garcia bout, in which Garcia upset the prior undefeated junior welterweight champion. While PPV buys have yet to be released for the fight, boxing observers said Garcia’s win positions the boxer and social media star for future lucrative PPV fights. Garcia’s 2023 fight with Davis drew more than 1 million PPV buys.

Prime Video’s March 30 inaugural pay-per-view boxing event suffered a body blow Monday when former boxing champion Keith Thurman withdrew from the card’s main event title fight with Tim Tsyzu due to injury.

Tsyzu will now fight Sebastian Fundora for the vacant WBC super weltrweight world title, according to Prime Video and fight promotion company Premier Boxing Champions. Thurman, a former welterweight champion, was forced to withdraw after suffering a bicep injury in training, according to PBC. Fundora had already been preparing to compete in the PPV card's opening fight before being moved up to the main event.

Other fights on the fight card include the co-main event bout between WBA Super Lightweight World Champion Rolando Romero and Isaac Cruz, WBA Middleweight World Champion Erislandy Lara against Michael Zerafa and WBC Flyweight World Champion Julio César Martínez against Angelino Cordova. 

The PPV boxing event is the first for Prime Video under its multi-year rights deal with Premier Boxing Champions, reached this past December. 

Also: Prime Video Punches Up Live Sports Lineup with Premier Boxing Champions Distribution Deal

Prime Video will look to build awareness of its March 30 Keith Thurman-Tim Tszyu pay-per-view boxing card with the March 15 debut of its Gloves Off boxing documentary series.

The two-episode series will preview the fighters’ lives and feature interviews from various members of each camp, according to the streaming service. In addition to Thurman-Tszyu, the series will also document the Rolando Romero-Isaac Cruz undercard fight.

The Thurman-Tszyu fight is Prime Video’s inaugural PPV boxing event under its multi-year rights deal with Premier Boxing Champions, reached this past December.

It’s also one of two major 2024 PPV boxing events scheduled, along with the May 4 Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia fight.  

Prime Video and Premier Boxing Champions will distribute their inaugural joint pay-per-view boxing match on March 30, headlined by the Keith Thurman-Tim Tszyu super welterweight fight. 

The fight card, the first as part of a multiyear deal between Premier Boxing and Prime Video, will also feature bouts between junior welterweight champion Rolando Romero and Isaac Cruz, middleweight champion Erislandy Lara against Michael Zerafa and super welterweights Sebastian Fundora and Serhii Bohachuk, according to Prime Video.

The PPV fight card, promoted by TGB Promotions, will be available to purchase from Prime Video as well as traditional cable and satellite outlets. Prime Video and Premier Boxing did not disclose a suggested retail price for the PPV event. 

PBC's PPV fights were previously distributed by Showtime, which this past October announced it was dissolving its sports division at the end of 2023.  

“This first show on PBC on Prime Video is ham-packed with fan-friendly matchups featuring stars who are established as the best of their generation and new stars who are looking to make a claim to lead the next generation of champions,” TGB Promotions Tom Brown said in a statement. 

Premier Boxing Champions will step into the streaming ring with Prime Video for distribution of its boxing events as part of a multiyear rights deal. 

Prime Video will distribute PBC’s live boxing cards, including its marquee boxing pay-per-view events, beginning as early as Match 2024 with an as-yet-announced event, according to representatives from both companies. PBC's fights were previously distributed by Showtime, which this past October announced it was dissolving its sports division at the end of the year. 

This past year PBC and Showtime distributed six major PPV boxing events, including the year’s biggest event, the April 22 Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia bout which drew more than 1 million PPV buys.

In addition to live boxing events, Prime Video will produce behind-the-scenes PBC docuseries, live weigh-ins, as well as on-demand access to previous events, highlights and archival footage.

The PBC deal adds to Prime Video’s lineup of live sports programming, which includes its NFL Thursday Night Football package and live WNBA, NWSL, and Overtime Elite basketball games. The service also features ONE Championship mixed martial arts events. 

“We are thrilled to join with Premier Boxing Champions to bring the best boxers in the world to Prime Video, and to give more fans than ever the chance to experience these must-see events,” Amazon U.S. sports content & partnerships VP Marie Donoghue said in a statement. “With live coverage of PBC action throughout the calendar year, Prime Video continues to bring viewers in the U.S. and around the world the best in sports.”

Fox Sports this Saturday will step in the pay-per-view boxing ring for the first time in 2020 with the much anticipated Errol Spence Jr.-Danny Garcia welterweight championship fight card from AT&T Stadium in Dallas. 

The Premier Boxing Champions-promoted fight card -- which was moved to Dec. 5 from its original Nov. 21 date to allow fans to attend the event -- is the fourth PPV boxing event for the industry since the pandemic virtually shut down all sports programming this past March, and features two of the biggest names in the sport. The fight, which will retail for a suggested price of $74.95, is the third straight PPV fight for Spence, who has reportedly averaged more than 350,000 buys for his March 2019 fight with Mickey Garcia and his Sept. 2019 bout with Shawn Porter. 

Fox Sports executive VP and head of programming and scheduling Bill Wanger recently spoke to Multichannel News senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead about the big fight and outlines Fox Sports’ boxing plans for 2021. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Does the fight’s date change to December help or hurt the event’s PPV buy potential? 

I don’t think there’s a difference in terms of buys between late November and early December -- I think we’re in early enough before the huge holiday crush. I do think that this PPV event represents the two of the best of the best. They are both great fighters, and Errol -- with the storyline of him coming back after his horrific [October 2019] car accident.-- taking on the former champion in Danny represents a fight in which viewers will see sparks fly.

Are you concerned that the current economic environment that we’re in given the pandemic could dampen PPV buys? 

Of course, we’ve very cognizant of the fact that there’s unemployment, however we do feel that with this fight at this time of the year and people not traveling as much, this could offer a bit of an escape for people, and allow some families to get together and watch. We also feel confident that we’re giving the consumer a great product.

Any projections of how many buys the fight will generate?

No, but I would say that with the reported figures for some of the earlier PPVs that the category has had, I feel like the PPV industry is right where it was pre-pandemic in terms of number of buys in relation to the fights. We’re expecting this fight to do what some of the other Errol Spence [PPV] fights have done. 

Have you changed any specific marketing tactics to help drive buys for the fight? 

Our marketing tactics in general are similar to what they were pre-pandemic. What I would say is that on our digital platform we’re making it easier for people to buy the fight. We’re offering more of a one-click option like Apple Pay and PayPal versus entering your credit card. So in that aspect we are trying some new things that will benefit the consumer.

How do you see the business evolving in 2021?

I think for us we’ll see our normal load of about 10 Fox fights and maybe 12 FS1 fights, and I see us doing four to five PPV events. I do think there are a few interesting things out there within the boxing industry -- will [Tyson] Fury and [Deontay] Wilder fight each other again? What will happen to [middleweight champion] Canelo Alverez after his next fight? I think we’ll see some clarity in 2021 that will create some exciting matchups that viewers will want to see. 

Showtime is the latest network to jump back into the live sports arena during the coronavirus pandemic, announcing a schedule of eight boxing dates over the next five months beginning in August.

The fights, which will take place without fans from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., will feature eight world championship fights including such titleholders as Gervonta Davis, Jermall Charlo and Leo Santa Cruz.

The first fight of the series will debut Aug. 1 with the Stephen Fulton Jr.-Angelo Leo junior featherweight championship bout. The schedule also calls for two pay-per-view boxing events -- a Sept. 26 card featuring world champion brothers Jermall and Jermell Charlo in separate bouts and an Oct. 24 event featuring a Gervonta Davis-Leo Santa Cruz championship unification bout. 

“We are proud to announce the strongest and most comprehensive schedule of fights in all of boxing,” said Stephen Espinoza, president, Sports and Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc in a statement. “Each bout on this schedule, our largest schedule announcement since 2018, carries high stakes and significant implications. We are thrilled to return to live boxing with this star-studded schedule of exciting, meaningful fights.”

The current Showtime/Premier Boxing Champions schedule of fights for 2020 is as follows:

August 1 -- (Showtime)

Main Event: Stephen Fulton Jr. (18-0, 8 KOs) vs. Angelo Leo (19-0, 9 KOs) – Vacant WBO Junior Featherweight World Championship

August 15 -- (Showtime)

Main Event: David Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) vs. Roamer Alexis Angulo (26-1, 22 KOs) – WBC Super Middleweight World Championship

September 19 -- (Showtime)

Main Event: Erickson Lubin (22-1, 16 KOs) vs. Terrell Gausha (21-1-1, 10 KOs) – WBC Super Welterweight Title Eliminator Bout

September 26 – (Showtime PPV)

Main Events: Jermall Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) – WBC Middleweight World Championship

Jermell Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) vs. Jeison Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs) – WBC, WBA and IBF 154-Pound Unification Bout

October 10 -- (Showtime)

Main Event: Sergey Lipinets (16-1, 12 KOs) vs. Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (15-0, 8 KOs) – IBF Welterweight Interim Title

October 24 – (Showtime PPV)

Main Event: Gervonta Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) vs. Leo Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) – WBA Super Featherweight World Championship/WBA Lightweight World Championship

November 28 -- (Showtime)

Main Event: Chris Colbert (14-0, 5 KOs) vs. Jaime Arboleda (16-1, 13 KOs) – WBA Super Featherweight Interim Title

December 12 -- (Showtime)

Main Event: Nordine Oubaali (17-0, 12 KOs) vs. Nonito Donaire (40-6, 26 KOs) – WBC Bantamweight World Championship

When Showtime and HBO teamed to distribute the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view boxing event in 2015, it brought together the two champions of the PPV distribution business.

That fight went on to set the all-time record for pay-per-view boxing event buys while solidifying HBO and Showtime’s position as the preeminent distributors of high-profile  boxing events.

Fast forward just four years to today, and the PPV boxing marketplace has changed significantly. Sports streaming services such as ESPN+ and DAZN have muscled their way into the business and have secured the rights to marquee fights like the Nov. 2 Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev fight and the Dec. 7 Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. bout -- both championship fights will stream live on the DAZN $20 monthly subscription service -- that a few years ago would have cost fight fans $60 or more to watch via PPV.

When fights do make it to the traditional PPV platform, such as the Nov. 23 Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz II heavyweight championship match, its Fox Sports -- and not Showtime or HBO -- more often than not delivering the event to boxing fans. In fact, Fox Sports has distributed four of the six major PPV boxing events in 2019, including Wilder-Ortiz. 

HBO last year hung up its PPV boxing gloves and completely stepped out of the TV boxing ring, due in part to the emergence of streaming competitors DAZN and ESPN+. Showtime -- which rang in 2019 with its January Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner PPV event -- is still a major player in the game, but recently negotiated and passed on the PPV rights to the Wilder-Ortiz rematch after the premium service distributed the March 2018 first bout between the fighters. 

“We did negotiate for the right to distribute the Wilder-Ortiz event via Showtime Pay-Per-View, but ultimately, we chose not to move forward ... the proposed deal terms didn’t make sense for us,” Showtime president of sports and entertainment programming Stephen Espinoza said. “Our strategy going forward remains unchanged, as we will continue to deliver the best boxing on TV for our subscribers and deliver, when the time is right, the sport’s biggest pay-per-view events.”

For Fox Sports, which distributed via PPV the Errol Spence-Mikey Garcia fight in March, the Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman fight in July and the Spence-Shawn Porter bout last month (pictured), the addition of Wilder-Ortiz is another piece in its growing portfolio of PPV sports content. 

“Fox Sports is thrilled to be working with the PBC and the most exciting heavyweight champion of the world, Deontay Wilder, for his next title defense against Luis Ortiz,” Bill Wanger, Fox Sports executive vice president and head of programming & scheduling said.“Deontay fought on Fox in 2016 and 2017 and had more than 2.5 million viewers watching each time. His popularity has exploded since then, and we’re expecting this to be a can’t-miss night of boxing.”

If Wilder wins, industry sources say Fox Sports is expected to team with ESPN to distribute a Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch fight during first quarter 2020 in what could be the biggest PPV event since Showtime's 2017 Mayweather-Conor McGregor PPV fight. It would also usher in a new generation of boxing content providers working together to bring the biggest PPV fights to the category. 

“Much like when HBO was going against and working with Showtime, I think you have the same dynamic today, but it’s been reinvented for a new set of platforms,”sports analyst Lee Berke said.

On Saturday Fox Sports will distribute its first pay-per-view boxing event featuring the Errol Spence Jr.-Mikey Garcia welterweight championship fight.

The PPV fight card, which will take place at AT&T Stadium in Dallas and retail at a suggested retail price of $74.95, is the second PPV boxing event for the industry in 2019, following Showtime’s Jan. 19 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner, which garnered a reported 400,000 PPV buys.

RELATED: Showtime, ESPN+ Land Big Punches With Competing Premium Ring Sports Events

Fox Sports’ fight coverage will begin at 8 pm with FS1’s live coverage of several undercard fights before the PPV event launches at 9 pm. More than 3.1 million viewers have already sampled shoulder programming surrounding the Spence-Garcia bout, according to Fox officials. 

I recently spoke to Fox Sports executive vice president of live operations and research Bill Wanger about Fox’s decision to jump into the pay-per-view boxing ring with Spence-Garcia as well as performance prospects for the fight.

Why did Fox Sports choose this fight as its inaugural foray into the PPV boxing arena?

This is a unique fight. You have two of the top pound-for-pound best fighters on the planet, so we think it’s can’t miss TV. Plus, we have the intrigue of Mikey Garcia going up two weight classes to face a bigger Errol Spence. They are both undefeated and world champions

Areyou confident that the name recognition of the two fighters is strong enough to attract both hardcore and casual boxing fans?

I think that’s where our marketing and PR teams come in, and they are working hard to promote this fight. We have the power of Fox behind this, so we think it will attract the casual boxing fan. We’ve been airing quite a bit of shoulder programming to help promote the fight that’s run on Fox broadcast, and that’s been a great way to capture the interest of the sports fan. We’re also using all of our cable channels, including Fox News and FX, to promote the fight. We also have an extensive media buy outside of the Fox family to promote the fight across all platforms.

Will the fight be available on a digital streaming basis?

Yes, the fight will be available for purchase on FoxSports.com where you could watch it on any device. History tells us that [online buys] fall in the neighborhood of 8% to 10% of the overall buys typically.

Having said that, do you have any general predictions on the PPV performance of the event?

We don’t generally comment on potential sales figures for pay-per-views.

How many PPV boxing events are you looking to do this year?

We’re going to have approximately four to five pay-per-view events a year. They’ll be an announcement shortly on our next PPV card.

In general, how important is boxing to the Fox Sports brand?

I think you can see by all the marketing that we’ve been doing since we started our new deal with [Premier Boxing Champions] in December that the sport is important to Fox. We felt that some of these great fighters, particularly in the glamour divisions like heavyweight and welterweight, were really underexposed. We felt that with the power of Fox and the Fox Sports brand we could elevate these great PBC fighters. We’ve already had a couple of fight cards on the broadcast network that have done over two million viewers. We’re very invested in Premier Boxing.

Bounce TV’s Brown Sugar OTT service will add boxing to its lineup of classic African-American films when it steams live a June 30 Premier Boxing Champions fight card.

The SVOD service will offer the Robert Easter-Denis Shafkov fight card live, the first time Brown Sugar has offered a live boxing card. Bounce has carried several Premier Boxing Champions events over the past year. 

Brown Sugar, which offers a lineup of classic 1970s and 1980s African-American targeted films, is available on computers, mobile phones and tablets for $3.99 a month.

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March 4

AXS TV

Mixed Martial Arts

Resurrection Fighting Alliance 36

Spike TV

Mixed Martial Arts

Bellator 151: Darrion ‘The Wolf’ Caldwell-Joe Warren

March 5

HBO

Boxing

Luis Ortiz vs. Tony Thompson and Sadam Ali vs. Jessie Vargas

FS1

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 196 Prelims

Pay Per View

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 196: Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor

Showtime

Boxing

Julian Williams-Marcello Matano

March 11

AXS TV

Mixed Martial Arts

CES MMA 33

March 12

CBS Sports Network

Boxing

CBS Sports Spectacular: Fight Night

March 15

FS1

Boxing

Card TBD

March 19

FS1

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC Fight Night: Mark Hunt-Frank Mir

March 25

AXS TV

MMA

Legacy Fighting Championship 52

March 26

HBO

Boxing

Andre Ward-Sullivan Barrera

April 1

AXS TV

Mixed Martial Arts

CES MMA 34

April 1

Spike TV

Boxing

PBC: Adrien Broner-Ashley Theophane

April 2

Pay Per View

Boxing

Tomasz Adamek-Eric Molina

April 3

Pay Per View

Wrestling

WWE: WrestleMania XXXII

April 6

CBS Sports Network: Boxing

CBS Sports Spectacular: Fight Night

April 8

AXS TV: Mixed Martial Arts

Legacy Fighting Championship 53

April 9

Pay Per View: Boxing

Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr.

April 10

FS1

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC Fight Night: Rothwell-Dos Santos

April 15

AXS TV

Mixed Martial Arts

Resurrection Fighting Alliance 37

April 19

FS1

Boxing

Card TBD

April 22

AXS TV

Mixed Martial Arts

Legacy Fighting Championship 54.

Spike TV

Mixed Martial Arts

Bellator 153: Benson Henderson-Andrey Koreshkov

Pay Per View

Boxing

Hard Knocks Fighting

April 23

FS1

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 197 Prelims

Pay Per View

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 197: Daniel Cormier-Jon Jones 2

HBO

Boxing

Gennady Golovkin-Dominic Wade

April 24

Pay Per View

Wrestling

WWE Extreme Rules

April 30

FS1

Boxing

Card TBD

May 1

Pay Per View

Wrestling

WWE: Payback

May 7

Pay Per View

Boxing

Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan

May 8

FS1

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC Fight Night: TBD

Pay Per View

Wrestling

Ring of Honor: Global Wars 2016 — Live!

May 14

FS1

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC Fight Night: TBD

May 17

FS1

Boxing

Card TBD

ESPN will team with Premier Boxing Champions tonight (July 11) to air the Keith Thurman/Luis Collazo welterweight championship fight card – the first of several PBC On ESPN boxing events the 24-hour sports network will distribute as part of a multi-year deal.

The PBC On ESPN telecasts will represent a major upgrade from ESPN’s long-running Friday Night Fights boxing series. The network will utilize 11 cameras to shoot the fights – nearly double the number used for Friday Night Fights  -- and a 360-degree “Round-A-Bout” camera system about the ring comprised of 32 cameras which will allow viewers to see every punch and hit from all angles, according to network officials.

I had a chance to speak with Brian Kweder, senior director of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, and here’s what he and ESPN want you to know about the network’s PBC on ESPN telecasts.

PBC On ESPN Packs A Bigger TV Punch: “This is not Friday Night Fights that we’re delivering anymore; it’s definitely a bigger and better production. We have entered into the space that was previously the domain of the premium cable channels, so it’s important for fans to understand that we’re delivering major championship fights now and no longer dealing with young upstarts and the over the hill gang. Our telecasts will be more in line with how we treat some of the other big sports events like college football, NBA and MLB. It will be bigger and better than anything we’ve done for the sport of boxing."

PBC Delivers Better Talent, more competitive matches:– “The PBC is bringing a level of talent we’ve never seen on ESPN. Guys like Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia (scheduled to fight Paulie Malignaggi Aug. 1 on ESPN) – those guys we used to see either at very young stages of their career or when they are way over the hill. Now we’re getting these top notch boxers in their primes, which is the biggest difference.”

PBC On ESPN Riding Boxing's Growing Momentum: “Starting from [the May 2] Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, which went way off the [PPV performance] charts from a popularity standpoint, and then with the launch of the PBC on the various broadcast and cable networks as well as ESPN, people have begun to stand up and take notice of the sport again. Fights had been limited to PPV and premium cable for so many years, and now that they’re available to more viewers the [PBC ratings] are higher than we anticipated because you obviously have a bigger audience to choose from. Typically from a Friday Night Fights standpoint we would receive very little editorial coverage from the SportsCenters of the world,  but because these are such big events and the PBC is bringing quality fights to such a mass audience, it's also garnering the attention of our editorial folks who are starting to pay more attention to boxing.”

ESPN will debut its first live Premier Boxing Champions telecast on July 11, headlined by the Keith Thurman/Luis Collazo welterweight championship fight, the network said Thursday.

The card will also feature a middleweight fight between Tony Harrison and Willie Nelson, said the network. The event is the first of a 12-fight deal ESPN and sister broadcast network ABC reached with boxing promoter Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Championship series this past March. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network, will also televise all PBC on ESPN fights as part of its Noche de Combates series and ESPN International will present coverage across its networks in Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean and Pacific Rim.

Premier Boxing Championship has also reached deals with Spike TV, NBC, CBS, Bounce TV, CBS Sports Network and NBCSN.

CBS will step into the squared ring this afternoon (April 4) with the first of several network distributed boxing cards which will help build awareness for the sport, according to CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus.

The fight card, develop by CBS in association with Premier Boxing Champions, will pit light heavweight champion Adonis Stevenson against Sakio Bika in the main event. The event will be the first of as many as eight boxing shows to air on CBS and CBS Sports Network, according to network officials.

McManus told Multichannel News that the creation of Premier Boxing Champions on CBS – along with similar PBC deals with NBC, Spike TV and Bounce TV – will help build awareness for the sport through exposure of the fighters on broadcast and cable television.

“When we were growing up watching sports on television whether it was CBS, NBC or ABC, there were fights on every weekend, and that help build interest in the fighters and interest in the sport,” McManus said. “That hasn’t happened in over 20 years – the fact that it’s happening more now is good for the sport.”

While McManus would not reveal specifics of deal terms for the package, he said “the way the business deal is constructed is a good” for the network.  

Spike TV tonight (March 13) will launch its monthly live boxing series as part of its Friday night block of combat sports programming.

Spike’s Premier Boxing Champions series will open with a doubleheader fight card featuring the Andre Berto-Josesito Lopez and Shawn Porter-Roberto Garcia bouts, according to Spike. The event follows NBC’s successful March 7 launch of the Al Haymon-produced Premier Boxing Champions series on the broadcast network.

Haymon’s Premier Boxing franchise also has deals to distribute boxing cards to CBS, Showtime and Bounce TV.

Spike TV president Kevin Kay said the addition of boxing to its Friday night lineup -- which already offers Bellator mixed martial arts events -- will help attract and retain young male viewers as the network looks to broaden its entertainment programming offerings  to bring in more female viewers.  

“It’s a really important place for us to keep (18-34 year old) guys and give them something that they’ve always counted on Spike for,” Kay said during a recent MCN One-On-One In 2 video interview.

To view the full interview click here.

Spike TV will step into the boxing ring with a new fight series set to debut in March, the network said Friday.

Spike will team with boxing promoter Al Haymon to air monthly fight cards under the Premier Boxing Champions moniker beginning March 13, said network officials. The first event will include a doubleheader fight card featuring the Andre Berto-Josesito Lopez and Shawn Porter-Roberto Garcia bouts.

Spike, which currently offers Bellator mixed martial arts events, will also develop monthly shoulder programming for each fight card, said the network.

The multi-year deal is the second in as many weeks for Haymon, who represents one of the largest stables of professional fighters. The promoter and NBC will distribute several fight cards in 2015 on both the broadcast network and cable's NBC Sports Network. 

“We share the vision of the Premier Boxing Champions series to put the fighters first,” said Kevin Kay, President, Spike TV. “The fighters are the stars, and we will give them a platform to demonstrate why they are among greatest and most exciting athletes in the world.”