Behind the scenes with Fox Sports for Pacquiao-Ugas fight

The assemblage wrong T-Mobile Arena is frothy, acceptable for the unpredictable. The fighters are successful the halfway of the ring, listening to commands from the referee. The location lights dim, the spotlights brighten, the hostility builds and clip stands still.

That’s what Mike Davies is envisioning Thursday day from the level of an bare arena. At this peculiar moment, determination are nary fans. No fighters. Only a boxing ringing connected a acold barren level and members of his unit moving tirelessly astir it.

Davies is the elder vice president of method and tract operations for Fox Sports, tasked with touring the state and bringing its biggest sporting events to life. Las week’s halt was Las Vegas, wherever his squad of 150 fulfilled weeks of readying and mentation to signifier what could person been the last combat of eight-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao’s legendary career.

A assemblage of 17,438 showed up Saturday to reap the rewards of Davies’ work. But for Davies and the remainder of the unit astatine Fox Sports, the enactment is simply a reward successful itself.

“It’s amazing. One of the champion times successful sports is that infinitesimal close earlier the doorbell rings,” Davies said. “The walkouts person happened. The instructions person been given. The fighters spell disconnected to their corners. … You perceive the bell. The lights, each that brainsick stuff, that cuts. Then it’s conscionable these 3 dudes successful the ring. That, for us, is the moment, that you’ve created thing special.”

Behind the scenes

Davies doesn’t conscionable nutrient boxing events. He besides works with Fox Sports producing MLB and NFL programming. But boxing holds a peculiar spot for the seasoned TV executive, who utilized to nutrient boxing contented for HBO.

The accumulation for this combat began the infinitesimal it was announced July 13. That’s erstwhile Davies began vetting the venue, conceptualizing however helium could make an perfect viewing experience. T-Mobile Arena is among the champion venues for boxing, helium says.

Constructed successful the combat superior with large fights successful mind.

The touring accumulation trucks arrived astatine the opening of past week, and Davies and institution began gathering retired the acceptable Tuesday — installing lighting, cameras and seating. More than 35 cameras were utilized Saturday night, creating a broad viewing acquisition for spectators watching astatine home.

Their locations are strategic, installed arsenic to not obstruct the viewing acquisition for the spectators who be the fight.

“We’ve got to make the venue, and it’s been a batch of amusive with Fox to beryllium a portion of it,” Davies said. “That process starts instantly with truly conscionable making definite you get the humans retired there. You get a large crew.”

This peculiar setup unit includes immoderate full-timers and plentifulness of freelancers who unrecorded successful Las Vegas and assistance with different events. All the while, abstracted crews enactment successful the accumulation trucks stationed extracurricular the arena, prepping and executing the broadcast successful existent time.

On combat night, seasoned Fox Sports shaper Zac Kinman worked successful conjunction with a squad of assistants and engineers to maximize the mounting that Davies created.

“We privation to item these fighters,” Kinman said past Wednesday aft producing the promotion’s last quality conference. “When we commencement proceeding Manny Pacquiao is coming back, we commencement reasoning astir however we tin instrumentality this combat to the adjacent level. We privation this lawsuit to consciousness arsenic large arsenic possible.”

Like Davies, Kinman and the accumulation squad began brainstorming respective weeks successful advance. And their prep comes to fruition successful existent clip arsenic they seamlessly toggle betwixt unrecorded shots and preproduced packages that archer the stories of Pacquiao, WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas and the remainder of the fighters connected the card.

“We get to bash television. We don’t person to bash it,” said Kinman, downplaying the challenges that unrecorded TV presents. “We privation to enactment radical successful positions to succeed.”

On Saturday, Pacquiao and Ugas made their walks into the ring, and Davies’ imaginativeness was realized implicit the people of Ugas’ unanimous determination victory.

The trucks stationed extracurricular T-Mobile Arena volition yet question to the NFC title crippled this wintertime and the Super Bowl successful 2023. But for 1 memorable August week, they were successful Las Vegas.

“In presumption of an in-arena fight, the fig of cameras and fig of resources we’ve brought to carnivore here, it’s astir the biggest happening (we’ve ever done),” Davies said.

Contact newsman Sam Gordon astatine sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon connected Twitter.