Spike welcomes boxing with Haymon deal

US pay-television broadcaster Spike TV has acquired rights for the new Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series operated by manager and adviser Al Haymon.

Spike TV will show a total of 33 monthly cards over three years, from 2015 to 2017.

Nine events will be broadcast this year with 12 more each in 2016 and 2017. Spike said that additional cards could be added to the schedule.

It will be the first time that Spike TV, which has focused on mixed martial arts in the past, will show live boxing.

The deal represents the second major agreement involving the PBC in as many weeks, with the NBC Sports Group division of US media company NBCUniversal having also struck a multi-year rights deal for the series.

According to ESPN, Haymon has agreed to “purchase” the air time on Spike. The Associated Press news agency said previously that Haymon had agreed to finance the broadcast coverage, with “little financial risk” for NBC Sports Group.

“I love that [Muhammad Ali] era of boxing, and I have always felt that if somebody came along and could put together great fights and great cards and market and promote it in the right way, and do it on cable-television on a regular basis and be committed to it, that we could bring that back and kind of get boxing the comeback it deserves,” Spike TV president Kevin Kay said.

“Boxing needs a comeback right now. Right now I think you look at boxing and it's just a handful of guys that you know,” he added. “I think that's because nobody is committed to a consistent place on [basic] cable TV where you can promote, market, and develop boxers and their brands. That's what I'm excited about. I have wanted to do it for a long time.”