In 2024, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) launched its partnership with Amazon’s Prime Video. Despite some initial disruptions surrounding their debut event, the schedule that followed has been lighter than anticipated given the high expectations associated with a major partner like Prime Video. Was the bar set too high for PBC in its first year, which spanned just eight months? Or is this reduced schedule a new reality for promotional companies working with marketing-focused platforms rather than traditional networks that pay licensing fees for boxing events? Reflecting on PBC’s first year with Prime, these are critical questions to ask.
Amazon’s Prime Video Throws Their Hat Into The Prize Ring
Sadly, 2023 was the last year of PBC on Showtime, and what was worse, it was also the last year of Showtime Boxing after a 37-year run. Before officially closing its doors, Showtime Boxing went out with a bang, delivering high-profile matchups like Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Ryan Garcia and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo. They also scheduled a series of other compelling fights on paper.
Just like Al Haymon secured major deals in 2015 with NBC and again in 2018 with FOX Sports, he struck a multiyear agreement with Prime Video to bring fights to their platform. Of course, while NBC and FOX are traditional networks, Amazon operates more as a marketing powerhouse. In a press release, PBC announced, “a landmark, multiyear rights agreement to deliver viewers the boxing industry’s most significant events, providing fans with year-round access to the best matchups featuring the biggest stars in boxing.”Not long after, ESPN’s Mike Coppinger shared additional details not mentioned in the release, reporting that the deal would feature 12 to 14 events in the first year, combining pay-per-view offerings and fights available to Prime Video subscribers.
Understandably, the prospect of boxing reaching a global audience through Prime Video sent fans on social media into a frenzy, the thought of even bigger fights in 2024 fueling their excitement. Although the first fight under the new deal will not take place sooner than March, even so, the boxing world is ready to see how different this will be from other promotions. The countdown is on, and March 2024 can’t come soon enough.
Keith Thurman vs. Tim Tszyu Were Set To Kick Things Off Until They Didn’t
Not wasting any time after the calendar page was turned reflecting January 2024, PBC announced their inaugural event on the 31st of that month would be a double header PPV featuring Keith Thurman vs. Tim Tszyu & Rolando Romero vs. Isaac Cruz. That was met with criticism as Thurman hadn’t fought in two years and was going up against a hungry junior middleweight champion in Tszyu in a non-title fight. Prime Video premiered Gloves Off to hype up the event, which would serve as their version of the Showtime award-winning series All Access. Their first episode was good and different, which is what former Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza was shooting for as he served as one of the show’s producers.
Things were on the up and up until March 18th came around, and PBC announced that Thurman had to pull out of the fight due to a bicep injury. Scrambling for an opponent, PBC would then quickly insert Sebastian Fundora, who was already fighting on the card, as the replacement for Thurman. Fans did not think much of it, but the night of March 30th, Tszyu and Fundora gave us all a war that we weren’t expecting, which prompted big smiles from those under PBC and Prime Video.
That fight was followed by the Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia pay-per-view on Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas and a PPV on June 15th between Tank Davis and Frank Martin in Las Vegas. Things were looking up, and we were all getting at least one PPV a month following the inaugural event. Although fans anticipated that the shows would be more on Prime Video and less on PPV, it was an assumption that became costly (each PPV running you at least $79.99 and sometimes as high as $89.99). Still, there was hope that the Prime Video-exclusive events mentioned in the press release would help fill in the gaps between pay-per-view fights. However, this expectation didn’t materialize. When September came around, Canelo Alvarez was set to headline another PPV event, this time against Edgar Berlanga—not David Benavidez, the opponent fans had been clamoring to see.
The fan outcry grew louder until they finally got what they were promised: the first full event under the assumed terms of the deal. On October 19th, the first “free” show for Prime Video subscribers featuring a triple-header headlined by Tim Tszyu vs. Bakhram Murtazaliev. The night delivered a stunning upset, reminding watchers of the unpredictability and excitement of boxing, where no fighter can ever be counted out until it’s over. For the moment, fans were more than satisfied.
Is PBC’s 2024 Over?
Before Tszyu-Murtazaliev fight week, Tank Davis took to social media to announce his fight with Lamont Roach on December 14th in Houston, TX. Like any Tank Davis fight announcement, the internet went wild, and one of boxing’s biggest stars was again scheduled to fight before the year was out.
Weeks later, on October 24th, boxing advisor Rick Glaser, who is someone that can be controversial with some of his takes, posted on X: “#TankDavis-#Lamont Roach that’s suppose to be in Houston Dec 14 on #AmazonPrime PPV is in serious trouble, as Tank is demanding a lot more than PBC is willing to pay Tank, resulting from serious financial woes #PBC is facing these days. Let’s hope they get it together! #Boxing.”
Just days later, Dan Rafael reported that the December fight might be rescheduled due to venue issues, according to his sources. More recently, Rafael shared that Tank Davis had messaged him, indicating that his next fight would likely be pushed to January (Editor’s Note: PPV.com has recently taken down marketing for the December 14th Tank-Roach PPV on their platform). If true, this would mark the end of PBC’s event schedule for the year— unless they add something to the calendar at the last minute.
Is Al Haymon In The Picture Or Not?
It’s widely known that Al Haymon, owner of PBC, is the man who pulls all of the strings. Lately, that hasn’t felt as much the case with the schedule not being as robust as it was in the Showtime era. There were rumors throughout the summer that he was ill and other rumors that he had a death in the family. In August, Alan Dawson, formerly a writer for PBC, published an article in WBN asserting that Haymon was “back.” Dawson noted that in addition to the recent matchups we’ve seen, more big fights were planned, including Tank’s return in November, Errol Spence Jr. vs. Fundora in December, and a future bout featuring Manny Pacquiao against Mario Barrios.
None of those anticipated fights are happening this year. Current discussions suggest they’ll be scheduled for early next year, with the exception of the Pacquiao-Barrios fight, which seems unlikely to happen at all. Mario Barrios is now set to fight on the November 15th Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson card. Meanwhile, rumors about Al Haymon’s health persist. Rick Glaser has posted claims that Haymon is unwell, casting doubt on his supposed return, as reported in the August WBN article. Jermall Charlo also fueled these concerns in an Instagram story, mentioning that Haymon was sick and that fighters were on their own to arrange bouts. If true, Haymon’s absence could be directly impacting PBC’s reduced activity.
All of this is quite interesting, and when reaching out to Prime Video for their take on the partnership with PBC during their inaugural year, Prime’s Public Relations representative replied: “Thanks for reaching out and appreciate your interest. However, we are going to pass here at this time.” Most would say if you had something good to say, you’d probably want to brag about it. When you don’t have something good to say, that’s when you keep your mouth shut. I’m not saying this is the case with Prime Video, but it does make you wonder. (Editor’s Note: FightsATW reached out to PBC’s PR rep for a quote but was unsuccessful in getting him to comment on the topic. The story will be updated if such a quote is furnished.)
How Can The PBC & Prime Video Deal Flourish in 2025?
Fans need to temper their expectations regarding the PBC schedule in 2025. From an outside perspective, it appears that Prime Video serves as a distributor, without paying a licensing fee like Showtime, NBC, or FOX used to. As a result, PBC is likely operating on its own budget, which explains why the number of events hasn’t matched what was initially reported by ESPN. The current landscape explains why more mid-level fighters and below who would typically be featured under the PBC banner are now appearing on cards for ProBox, Riyadh Season, and other shows. Since fans are eager for more content, PBC might consider organizing smaller-scale shows more regularly to satisfy demand without straining their budget.
One thing PBC also might consider is a semi-annual update on what fans can expect regarding boxing events. PPV buys are declining, forcing guys like Turki Alalshikh to reduce prices to $19.99. PBC may also need to reconsider the cost of their PPVs, as it will be increasingly difficult to ask fans to pay $69.99 and higher when you can get a premium PPV for $19.99.
On the Prime Video side, PBC events lack proper buildup before fight week. There are no press releases on Amazon’s media channels, nor do upcoming fights appear on the sports schedule as events to anticipate. A feature allowing fans to “save to my list” as soon as a fight is announced, like how Netflix immediately added Paul vs. Tyson to their queue, would also be a significant improvement. Effective marketing requires collaboration, and Amazon needs to step up its promotional efforts for PBC. If the partnership is indeed strong, Prime Video should increase its involvement in promoting these events next year.
While fans often align themselves with specific promoters, hoping for the downfall of one over another is just silly. Behind these promotional banners are fighters who depend on regular fights to feed their families. The hope is that PBC and Prime Video can ramp up their efforts to deliver consistent content each month. If that doesn’t happen, however, PBC may be forced to scale down to hosting smaller, boutique-style events. As 2024 hasn’t delivered a standout year of fights, 2025 will be a pivotal year to show what the PBC-Prime Video partnership is capable of.
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