Pay-per-view boxing card puts Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena in spotlight on New Year’s

While the NBA dominates the airwaves on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day is traditionally set aside for college football bowl games and the NHL’s Winter Classic, Fox Sports has introduced boxing to the holiday sports viewing menu.

A week after the network presented a Christmas card from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, Fox Sports will televise a card Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena. The New Year’s pay-per-view telecast and show is headlined by a heavyweight fight featuring Miami resident and title contender Luis Ortiz against Charles Martin.

“There are opportunities definitely through the holidays to present boxing,” Zac Kinman, Fox Sports producer, said. “People are home, and it’s a unique spot to showcase some of these fighters.”

For the Fox crew, it was a quick turnaround from completing its Christmas show to coordinating the South Florida event. Four production trucks left Newark early Sunday morning and arrived Tuesday. Approximately 40 crew members will work both shows.

“I think it speaks a lot about our crew and how great of a crew we have,” Kinman said. “Planning for these shows takes months in advance, but any time you have people in the industry away from their families during the holidays it’s kind of cool how they can come together and make these shows happen in such a short turnaround.”

Ortiz’s headlining status will be central to Saturday’s telecast. The native of Cuba has remained one of the top-tier contenders following his two unsuccessful title fights against former champion Deontay Wilder.

“You don’t want it to be just a boxing ring and the room,” Kinman said. “We want to showcase a little bit of the city and the culture, the fighters. There is a reason Luis Ortiz is headlining this card, because it’s here.”

The 14 cameras that will be used Saturday are a “slight step below” the network’s coverage of the Tyson Fury-Wilder heavyweight title fight in October, according to Brad Cheney, Fox vice president of field operations and engineering.

“The whole goal of the entire team at Fox is to find the right angle to cover the right shot at the right time because that’s what this is all about,” Cheney said. “It’s showcasing those two fighters in their moment or fighting for their glory to move on. The beauty of what technology has been able to bring us as we go forward is extra high-motion cameras to see how directly a punch landed in crystal clear imaging.”

New facilities, such as the second version of Hard Rock Live Arena, add a welcomed dimension to the production crew’s prefight planning. The original arena at the same location was replaced with a 7,000-seat facility that became part of the new Seminole Hard Rock Hotel complex.

“The exciting part of what boxing brings is the ring is the same, the lights that you bring are the same, but all we get to do to showcase the venue around the boxer is really what makes each venue important,” Cheney said. “That’s why we like going to new places. It really brings a new element — beyond the crowd that’s there — to the broadcast itself.”

Cheney also believes the holiday boxing broadcasts could become a permanent TV attraction like the aforementioned sports.

“Boxing is starting to find its way to that point where it’s becoming a staple certain times, and I think that’s something that will help the sport continue to grow,” Cheney said. “You know you can watch this on these days.”

Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) will face former champion Martin in a scheduled 12-round bout. Ortiz, 42, has not fought since a first-round knockout win over Alexander Flores in Nov. 2020.

“It’s great to be on this stage,” Ortiz said. “I’m ready to do my job and shine on New Year’s Day.”

Despite knockout losses to Wilder in 2018 and 2019, Ortiz remains steadfast on his title aspirations.

“Nobody is ever going to be able to take away my dream of becoming world champion,” Ortiz said. “I’m going to continue to prepare for my next challenge against Charles Martin. Then I’m going to keep going up from there. I have no reason to believe that my dream won’t come true.”

Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) won the vacant IBF belt against Vyacheslav Glazkov in Jan. 2016 but lost it on his first defense against Anthony Joshua three months later. Like Ortiz, Martin is coming off a lengthy ring absence with his previous bout in Feb. 2020.

“This fight is everything for me, Martin said. “A lot of people didn’t want to fight me. I give Ortiz credit for stepping up and taking the fight.”

The card’s first fight will start at 4:15 p.m. with Fox-Channel 7 providing two hours of bouts between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The five-bout pay-per-view telecast, which costs $39.99, begins at 8. All televised fights will feature heavyweights.

Seating at Hard Rock Live Arena is still available. For ticket information, visit ticketmaster.com.

This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 3:39 PM.