Notebook: PBC on Prime broadcast team filled with familiar faces
Ryan, Harper put sparring sessions in past going into title fight; Zayas-Teixeira rescheduled; Canelo-Munguia undercard plans; Quick hits; Show and tell
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When Premier Boxing Champions and Prime Video embark on their first event together with the March 30 pay-per-view card headlined by WBO junior middleweight titlist Tim Tszyu defending against Sebastian Fundora in a bout also for the vacant WBC title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the broadcasters who will call the action will be awfully familiar to fight fans.
The lineup has not been announced yet, but various sources have detailed it to Fight Freaks Unite.
The blow-by-blow announcer will be Mauro Ranallo, who performed the same role for “Showtime Championship Boxing” and Showtime’s pay-per-view view events from 2012 until Paramount Global, Showtime’s parent company, shuttered Showtime Sports in December, which forced PBC to find a new media partner.
Joining Ranallo will be two of his colleagues from Showtime: Brian Custer, who also works as an anchor for ESPN’s SportsCenter, will return to the host role and former three-division world titleholder Abner Mares will serve as a ringside analyst.
Also on the team as a ringside analyst will be Hall of Fame trainer Joe Goossen, who also has vast experience as a broadcaster. Most recently, Goossen served in the same role during PBC’s run on Fox and FS1 that ended at the conclusion of 2022. He has a close connection to PBC as his brother-in-law, Tom Brown, is president of TGB Promotions, which is the promoter for all PBC events.
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Noticeably absent is Hall of Fame broadcaster Al Bernstein, who worked on Showtime events with Ranallo and Mares for years and was viewed by many in the business as that team’s glue.
However, according to sources, when PBC, which is responsible for the production, was constructing the team there was a strong desire internally not to present “Showtime 2.0,” which meant at least making a change.
However, sources said that while the team that will work the March 30 inaugural PBC on Prime event is set, they are not contracted long term and it is possible personnel will change, at least in part, for the second event. That is a May 4 pay-per-view headlined by undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez defending against Mexican countryman Jaime Munguia, also at T-Mobile Arena.
While he won’t be seen on screen, Stephen Espinoza, the longtime president of Showtime Sports, who lost his job along with everyone else in the department at the end of 2023, is working for PBC as a consultant on broadcast production.
Espinoza worked closely with PBC boss Al Haymon over the last several years, when PBC was the exclusive provider of “Showtime Championship Boxing” events that aired on the network and Showtime PPV.
Ryan, Harper sparring in past
WBO women’s welterweight titlist Sandy Ryan and challenger Terri Harper, the WBA junior middleweight titlist moving down in weight, know each other well from sparring sessions.
Ryan said it is meaningless when it comes to their real fight, which is the co-feature of the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday (DAZN, 3 p.m. ET) headlined by the Dalton Smith-Jose Zepeda junior welterweight fight at Utilita Arena in Sheffield, England, Smith’s hometown.
“The sparring is kind of irrelevant,” Ryan said at the fight-week news conference. “But fighters know that when you're sparring you do have an insight. It is different on fight night, but you do know, and deep down she knows.”
Harper, a former junior lightweight titlist before moving up in weight, also remembers the sparring sessions.
“I used to look up at Sandy as this superhuman, but I can remember the first time I got in the ring with her,” Harper said. ”I think that’s when it really clicked that I am a great fighter, and I can hold my own against the top-level fighters. I came away from those spars with so much confidence. That was a couple of years back now. I’ve been in the gym, improving constantly and I’m just excited to get back in there at this new weight and take this opportunity that’s in front of me and get a good win for everyone that’s coming to support me.”
Ryan (6-1-1, 2 KOs), 30, and Harper (14-1-2, 6 KOs), 27, both of England, are each coming off a draw. Ryan, who is making her second defense, was saddled with a hugely controversial one against Jessica McCaskill in a three-belt unification fight in September that Ryan seemed to clearly win. Harper, who has a chance to win a title in a third division, went even up with former longtime undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus in an October junior middleweight title defense that was also for the vacant WBO belt.
Zayas-Teixeira to be rescheduled
The postponed 10-rounder between Puerto Rican junior middleweight up-and-comer Xander Zayas and former titlist Patrick Teixeira will be rescheduled to headline a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on June 8 — the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade — at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
That was always the plan but Teixeira (34-4, 25 KOs), 33, a Brazilian southpaw, had to take care of a tune-up fight he took after the fight with Zayas was postponed, and he did that with a fourth-round knockout of Edisson Saltarin (17-3, 13 KOs), 21, of Venezuela, on March 16 in Brazil.
Zayas-Teixeira was originally due to take place as the co-feature of the Top Rank card headlined by WBC junior lightweight titlist O’Shaquie Foster’s split decision win over Abraham Nova on Feb. 16 at The Theater.
However, Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs), 21, a Puerto Rican fighting out of Sunrise, Florida, withdrew, electing to taking time off to rest and let minor nagging injuries heal, according to Top Rank.
Top featherweight prospect Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (11-0, 7 KOs), 26, of Brooklyn, New York, will be on the card, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.
Carrington looked sensational in a booming fourth-round knockout of Bernard Torres on the Feb. 16 undercard.
iFL TV appearance
I joined my friends at iFL TV to discuss several boxing topics: the Canelo-Munguia presser; the back-and-forth between Canelo and David Benavidez; the likely June 15 PBC on Prime pay-per-view card Gervonta Davis and Benavidez are expected to both appear on; Tim Tszyu and the change of opponent to Sebastian Fundora for next week’s PPV card; Terence Crawford being positioned as a mandatory challenger for the Tszyu-Fundora winner; Francis Ngannou’s “tired” comments; more. Check out the video here:
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked the top two fights on the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday in Sheffield, England: junior welterweight up-and-comer Dalton Smith against longtime contender Jose Zepeda and WBO women’s welterweight titlist Sandy Ryan’s defense against Terri Harper. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Sheffield, England, for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing card (DAZN, 3 p.m. ET): Dalton Smith 139.6 pounds, Jose Zepeda 139.6; Sandy Ryan 146.2, Terri Harper 145.9 (for Ryan’s WBO women’s welterweight title); Ishmael Davis 153.8, Troy Williamson 158.2 (Williamson 4.2 pounds overweight); James Flint 139, Campbell Hatton 139.7; Nico Leivars 121.3, Piotr Mirga 121.1; Emmanuel Buttigieg 156, Bartlomiej Stryczek 157.2; Liam Cameron 174.8, Hussein Itaba 179.3; Connan Murray 158, Edgar Kemsky 156.6.
When WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson defends the belt for the first time (against an opponent to be announced) on a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card July 6 at Prudential Center in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey, blue chip lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis is ticketed for the co-feature, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite. Davis (10-0, 7 KOs), 25, a 2020 U.S. Olympic silver medalist from Norfolk, Virginia, and the 2022 Fight Freaks Unite prospect of the year, is coming off the best performance of his career against his best opponent on Feb. 8. He authored a one-sided sixth-round demolition of former lightweight and junior lightweight titlist Jose Pedraza on the undercard of junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s defense against Jamaine Ortiz.
The undercard for undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez’s defense against Mexican countryman Jaime Munguia on May 4 (Prime Video PPV, DAZN PPV, PPV.com) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas has not been announced but one of the bouts that could land on the show, sources told Fight Freaks Unite, is WBC interim featherweight titlist Brandon Figueroa defending against former junior featherweight titlist Jesse Magdaleno. Figueroa (24-1-1, 18 KOs), 27, of Weslaco, Texas, a former unified junior featherweight titlist, won the vacant interim 126-pound belt in his last fight via unanimous decision over former titlist Mark Magsayo last March. Magdaleno (29-2, 18 KOs), 32, a Las Vegas southpaw, is coming off a one-sided unanimous decision loss to Raymond Ford, the newly crowned WBA featherweight titlist, in a non title bout last April.
Two-time heavyweight world title challenger Kubrat Pulev (30-3, 14 KOs), 42, will face replacement opponent Ihor Shevadzutskyi (11-1, 9 KOs), 33, a Ukraine native fighting out of Germany, on March 30 (DAZN) at the Arena Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria, Pulev’s hometown, Epic Sports & Entertainment announced on Friday. Pulev was scheduled to challenge WBA “regular” titlist Mahmoud Charr (34-4, 20 KOs), 39, but he suffered a torn tendon in his left biceps in a sparring session on Monday, had surgery on Thursday, and was forced to postpone the fight, which they plan to reschedule. On the undercard, cruiserweight Tervel Pulev (18-1, 14 KOs), 41, of Bulgaria, Kubrat’s brother, will fight Rolly Lambert Tameza (16-2-1, 12 KOs), 34, of Cameroon.
Show and tell
Physical collectibles, mainly posters, programs and tickets, are becoming less and less usual for fights — and most events beyond boxing. It’s truly depressing as a collector. But in the case of the big boxing events being put on in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, organizers at least have spared no expense when it comes to not only the big-time fights but also the physical tickets for the events. I was already able to add to my collection beautiful tickets from the Oct. 28 “Battle of the Baddest” card headlined by Tyson Fury against Francis Ngannou and the Dec. 23 “Day of Reckoning” mega card that featured Anthony Joshua stopping Otto Wallin in the main event and Joseph Parker outpointing Deontay Wilder in an upset in the co-feature to derail a long-awaited Joshua-Wilder showdown.
Now, I have also been able to add one from the “Knockout Chaos” event on March 8 headlined by Joshua’s gargantuan KO of Ngannou. The tickets produced for these events are some of the nicest I have seen in decades of collecting. They are hard plastic and come with a fight-branded lanyard, both of which were inside a recessed cardboard box with the fight logo on it and a magnetic fold-out side to open it. To go along with the ticket and box, I also have added fight week and fight night credentials to my collection.
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Photos: Ryan-Harper and Smith-Zepeda: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Zayas: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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It was a little bittersweet watching Bellator on Max yesterday. I know it's not standard HBO but felt close enough.
Ranallo? Why? 😢