CHICAGO (June 19, 2017) – After a successful pilot that was viewed by more than 40,000 boxing fans live on Facebook, FIGHTNIGHT LIVE hits the Chicago area on Friday, June 23, from Rosemont, Ill., with hardware on the line in a rematch of a hotly-contested draw as Mike “Hollywood” Jimenez (20-1-1, 14 KOs) and “Son of the Legend” Aaron Pryor, Jr. (19-10-2, 12 KOs) square off in a ten-round main event for the WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Championship.
Longtime Chicago fan favorite and perennial contender Donovan “Da Bomb” George, (25-7-2, 22 KOs) will join his previously-announced #BOMBSQUAD teammate Jimenez in an eight-round light heavyweight co-feature. Undefeated in his hometown of Chicago, George will be fighting locally for the first time in three years, facing off against area arch-nemesis Derrick “Superman” Findley (26-21-1, 17 KOs) of Gary, Indiana.
Legendary Chicago-based National Anthem singer Jim Cornelison will once again honor our country prior to the start of the main event – fans can catch that highly-anticipated performance along with all of the action in the ring live on Facebook.
“It’s a tremendous honor to take our Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE platform to the Windy City area. It’s becoming a national platform already during its infancy – with East Coast and West Coast dates on the calendar and now this opportunity in the No. 3 media market in America – and we’ve been thrilled with the response from fight fans so far,” said Mark Fratto, Principal of Linacre Media. “We’re looking forward to working with the Village of Rosemont, as well as legendary promoters like Bobby Hitz and Frank Mugnolo on this card.”
The numbers on the May 11 FIGHTNIGHT LIVE pilot from Mohegan Sun Resort showed promise and potential for the new platform. With only two days of promotion, the premiere broadcast amassed 43,000 total video views by 38,000 unique viewers. A total of 1.4 thousand hours of LIVE video was consumed by Facebook users during the first show alone. In addition to the raw numbers, the fully-interactive, fan-friendly production saw 9,021 live post engagements for the show, which included 5,000 “likes” or “loves,” 2,989 comments and 628 shares.
On Friday night, June 23, live from The Dome at The Ballpark in Rosemont, fans can expect a high-impact, multi-camera streaming experience complete with graphics, animations, replays, interviews and an announce team anchored by blow-by-blow announcer Ray Flores of Premier Boxing Champions, Showtime Boxing, HBO Boxing and CBS Sports Network boxing fame. To provide spectators with a fully-interactive ringside experience, commentators will ask and respond to questions from the Facebook audience throughout the broadcast.
Joining the broadcast team will be world-ranked light heavyweight, Mike Lee.
University of Notre Dame alum Lee (19-0, 10 KOs) is ranked No. 12 by the WBO, No. 12 by the IBF and No. 14 by the WBC, and was originally scheduled to be in the main event but now joins Flores for expert analysis. Television host Danielle Robay of WCIU-Chicago and Entertainment Tonight, NBC-4 Los Angeles and HLN-fame will bring fans exclusive pre-and post-fight interviews from ringside.
Created and produced by Linacre Media out of New York City, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series features multiple camera angles, graphics, replays and behind-the-scenes access and interviews. The streamed shows are available globally wherever Facebook is available. The initiative not only enables fans from around the world to tune in, but also gives up-and-coming fighters a global platform to showcase their abilities, gives promoters an accessible “broadcast” solution and gives sponsors the ability to reach a mass audience via branded content.
A July 15 date in Phoenix, Ariz., with Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions has already been released on the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE calendar. FIGHTNIGHT LIVE strap season continues on Saturday, July 29, in Raleigh, N.C., as Tar Heel State undefeated super flyweight Dewayne Beamon competes for the IBO Inter-Continental and UBF World Junior Bantamweight titles. More FIGHTNIGHT LIVE dates will be officially announced in the coming weeks.
Follow all the action via social media at FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Facebook, @FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Instagram and @FIGHTNIGHTLIVE_ on Twitter, or by using the hashtag#FIGHTNIGHTLIVE. For the latest Linacre Media events and broadcast schedule, follow @LinacreMedia across all social platforms or use the tags #LinacreMediaEvents or#LinacreMediaOnTV.
