Deontay Wilder

Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz 2 Headed to Fox PPV

The big-fight trend for Premier Boxing Champions continues. These days, the major fights are consistently heading to Fox instead of Showtime.

Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment

The big-fight trend for Premier Boxing Champions continues. These days, the major fights are consistently heading to Fox instead of Showtime.

While many people feel that Showtime will slowly bow out of the boxing game, according to Boxing Scene, Showtime’s President of Sports and Event Programming declined the chance to air the highly-anticipated rematch between Wilder and Ortiz simply because it didn’t make financial.

“Obviously, we love Deontay Wilder and we believe Wilder-Ortiz will be an exciting fight,” said Espinoza. “But we’re not gonna take disproportionate risks in order to secure it. We know the boxing market has been undergoing significant change, but that’s not unprecedented. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of newcomers enter the sport and try to change the marketplace. But we were here before that, we will be here after that and continue to thrive by making smart, strategic choices at the right times.”

Those newcomers, like DAZN and ESPN+, continue to promote huge fights on a regular basis–something that Showtime hasn’t done in 2019.

“Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make. That can be disappointing, when you have to let a fight go somewhere else, but that’s the nature of the beast.”

STEPHEN ESPINOZA, VIA BOXING SCENE

If Wilder does get by Ortiz in the rematch, he’s got a mega-million dollar scrap lined up with Tyson Fury in February of 2020.

It’s unknown if Showtime will be involved with that fight as Fury fights exclusively on the ESPN platform under the Top Rank banner.

According to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, Wilder-Ortiz 2 is headed to Fox PPV and will be announced Saturday–presumably on the Errol Spence vs. Shawn Porter broadcast.

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