Australian promoter Ace Boxing launches ‘Premier Boxing’ series on streaming platform

Australian promotional outfit Ace Boxing has signed a new TV deal that will see them supply at least a dozen boxing shows this year to streaming service 7plus under the brand ‘Premier Boxing Series’.

The boxing cards will be supported by a weekly panel show called ‘Beyond the Ropes’ with the first episode set to air Wednesday, March 20, one week before the debut 7plus boxing show.

Premier Boxing’s brand promise is to deliver Australia’s best talent in fan friendly, evenly matched fights. All shows will be broadcast on a Wednesday night to avoid clashing with the Australian Football League and National Rugby League games on the weekends and will run from March through to November. The cards will typically feature four to five fights and will start at 7 p.m. and finish by 10 p.m.

To further strengthen their offering, fights from previous Ace Boxing shows have already been migrated to the 7plus archive to give prospective viewers a glimpse of the sort of action packed fights they can expect to see from next month.

The first card will take place on Wednesday, March 27 at Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm, Queensland and will feature junior bantamweight Taylah Robertson (9-1, 2KOs) up against Gloria Gallardo (14-2-2, 6KOs), Jalen Tait (14-0, 8KOs) versus Alexander Espinoza (18-1-1, 8KOs), Rebecca Hawker (7-0, 3KOs) contesting the vacant Australian featherweight crown against southpaw Jaala Tomat (3-3-1) and Lewis Chadwick (4-1, 1KO) facing Ben Horn (6-6, 1KO).

At the launch in Brisbane on Wednesday night the brains behind Ace Boxing, Angelo Di Carlo, explained his vision for the sport and previewed their inaugural card.

“For too long, we’ve left the women out of our sport,” Di Carlo said. “For this first show these two young ladies are going to headline because we value them and we believe that they sometimes bring the best fights. We have got a lot of female fighters signed to the Ace Boxing Group and I believe that these girls are really going to light up the show for us.”

Di Carlo is of the firm belief that he can create genuine world championship caliber fighters through this deal with 7plus.

“I’m picking two young kids that I believe can go to a world title through this platform,” he said. “Rocky Ogden and Jalen Tait, I want you to look at those guys from now to the future because I think they are going to be the future of boxing in Australia, so let’s get behind those two names. Of course there are many others and I’m not taking anything away from anybody else, but they are two young kids that shine for me and I want to make sure everybody looks out for them.”

The broadcast landscape has changed dramatically in Australia in the past 15 months and Ace Boxing are the latest promotional outfit to sign a new deal with a major media outlet.

In December 2022 the Foxtel Group announced a new partnership with promoter No Limit Boxing that would see the Sydney-based group become the exclusive supplier of Australian boxing content to cable service Foxtel and their streaming arm Kayo. In the wake of this move, Tasman Fighters signed a broadcast deal with DAZN and now with Ace Boxing partnering with 7plus, Australian fight fans have more choice than ever.

“This is massive for the sport of boxing,” said ring announcer and MC James O’Shea. “You turn on your television and you see rugby league, you see Aussie Rules, you see cricket on free-to-air TV. Boxing has never had that opportunity. Now boxing has the opportunity to present itself to a whole new audience which creates a whole new fan base, creating a whole new bunch of opportunities for this great sport.

“I think this is an incredible moment for the sport of boxing and it’s a credit to the Ace Boxing Group through the Premier Boxing Series to be able to pull of a deal like this because in the long term, it’s the fighters who are going to benefit.”

Boxing twins Jason and Andrew Moloney also made an appearance at the launch to throw their support behind the new series.

“This is amazing for the sport here in Australia to see live boxing on free-to-air TV,” said THE RING’s no. 6 rated junior bantamweight contender Andrew Moloney. “Finally, us fighters will get the recognition we deserve and that the sport deserves.”

WBC bantamweight titleholder and THE RING’s no. 1 contender Jason Moloney spoke of the difficulty in building a name for yourself in Australia when the sport itself is not generally accessible to a wide audience.

“As fighters, it’s very hard to build your profile here in Australia and it’s been hard to get media attention in the past,” he said. “For a big TV network like Seven to get behind boxing is just going to help the sport grow so much. The fighters on the way up will have a platform, they will have a profile and they will be able to get the whole country behind them, which is extremely exciting and it’s only going to help boost the sport as a whole. The Australian public is going to see how much talent we have here in our own backyard.”

Andrew added: “I think everyone loves boxing, all it takes is for you to be introduced to the sport and unfortunately, a lot of people don’t get to see boxing on a regular basis. But due to this platform, almost every week it’s going to be on Channel Seven. Then there is the ‘Beyond the Ropes’ program, so you get to know the fighters and follow them as fans. I think it’s really exciting for everyone.”

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