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Mike CoppingerESPN
Overtime, which disrupted basketball with six-figure salaries for some of the world’s best high school players, will enter boxing in August with a four-event series on DAZN aimed at developing the next generation of fighters, the company announced Tuesday.
All four shows will take place on Friday nights at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, which has a capacity of about 1,200.
“Our vision with Overtime, in launching OTX, our new boxing vertical, is essentially to help young pros have a spotlight shine on them, tell their story and give them a chance to develop as fighters,” Overtime Boxing GM Brandon Rhodes told ESPN. “One of the gaps that we’re seeing in the marketplace is that while Gen Z … is saying boxing is kind of the No. 4 favorite sport, there’s not a lot of storytelling that happens on a 365 basis in boxing.
“By that I mean video, social content — that’s what we do best,” Rhodes said.
Overtime is nearing 6.8 million followers on Instagram.
“We turn out content, we discover new athletes; we’ve done that in basketball and football with the likes of Zion Williamson, Trevor Lawrence and Trae Young. And we feel that in boxing there’s so many rich stories. There’s so many boxers that put in hard work, but not all of them have an opportunity to get their story told. Maybe not until they’re at the highest level.”
Rhodes said Overtime hasn’t signed any fighters yet but expects to showcase boxers between the ages of 18 and 25. Those matchups will range from developmental bouts meant to gain a fighter experience to step-up fights.
“We don’t want all just first-round knockouts because the matches weren’t made appropriately,” Rhodes said.
Energy drink C4 is on board as the sponsor with a multiyear, seven-figure deal.
Overtime is the latest well-funded company to join the boxing fray, but few of those ventures last for more than a few years.
“We have a great footing, we’re here to stay and we’re also not going too big off the jump,” Rhodes said. “A lot of these players came in and really sunk too much money in, and I think the Trillers of the world kind of went that route, whereas we’re starting with the grassroots like we always have and building up from there.
“From my conversations in the ecosystem with the fighters, they’re very excited about this opportunity. They don’t necessarily get the same coverage as their friends in basketball and football.”
Source: www.espn.com