NEW YORK (June 7, 2012)-Building off its Emmy® Award-winning campaign in 2011, SHOWTIME Sports® will introduce a new documentary series titled ALL ACCESS in June. The first installment, ALL ACCESS: Victor Ortiz, will premiere on Wednesday, June 13 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME®, ahead of the former welterweight world champion’s headlining fight against Josesito Lopez on the June 23 edition of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, and in place of the previously announced FIGHT CAMP 360° series on the event. Following the premiere, ALL ACCESS: Victor Ortiz will re-air multiple times on CBS Sports Network, SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME EXTREME®, and will be available anytime on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®.
From the network that created the acclaimed FIGHT CAMP 360°, ALL ACCESS will provide viewers with intimate portraits of the most compelling personalities in sports. Although not limited to the fight game, initial series subjects will take viewers behind the curtain and inside the provocative and often edgy world of boxing and mixed martial arts with virtually unrestricted access as only SHOWTIME can.
“Captivating story-lines abound in the world of sports, and ALL ACCESS will illuminate them in a unique and thorough manner,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “No longer reserved for blockbuster events, this series will give viewers a behind-the-scenes ‘all access’ look at individual personalities, places and storylines throughout sports like no other show on television.”
The 30-minute debut will chronicle the charismatic and hard-hitting welterweight boxer’s journey from his perspective.
“The tumultuous events of the last year of Victor’s career have been documented, but never before from an intimate, first-person perspective,” said Espinoza. “ALL ACCESS: Victor Ortiz will do just that as Victor continues his journey back toward the top of the 147-pound division. ALL ACCESS will reveal Victor Ortiz as a person, living in the real world with some of the same challenges that we all face in life, and some of the challenges reserved only for his profession.”
In 2011, Ortiz participated in two of the year’s most anticipated bouts: the 2011 Fight of the Year (USA Today, The Ring magazine) where he captured Andre Berto’s World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight world championship and a high-profile, controversial knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather on pay per view. Conversely in 2012, Ortiz participated in two of the year’s most discussed non-bouts: a Feb. 11 rematch against Berto that was postponed when Berto suffered a torn left biceps injury in training camp and the pair’s rescheduled June 23 matchup that was cancelled after Berto failed a pre-fight drug test.
The Saturday, June 23, SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will be a live three-fight event (SHOWTIME, 9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) featuring an all-action 12-round bout between super lightweights Humberto Soto and Lucas Matthysse as well as 10-round fight featuring hard-hitting American heavyweight Chris Arreola.
ALL ACCESS: Victor Ortiz Schedule
Wednesday, June 13 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME (PREMIERE)
Wednesday, June 13 Midnight ET/9 p.m. PT CBS Sports Network
Wednesday, June 13 3 a.m. ET/Midnight PT CBS Sports Network
Thursday, June 14 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOEXTREME
Thursday, June 14 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT CBS Sports Network
Friday, June 15 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOEXTREME
Friday, June 15 Midnight ET/PT SHOWTIME
Monday, June 18 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOEXTREME
Tuesday, June 19 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOEXTREME
Wednesday, June 20 Midnight ET/9 p.m. PT CBS Sports Network
Wednesday, June 20 3 a.m. ET/Midnight PT CBS Sports Network
Thursday, June 21 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT CBS Sports Network
Thursday, June 21 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOEXTREME
Friday, June 22 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOEXTREME
Friday, June 22 Midnight ET/9 p.m. PT CBS Sports Network
Saturday, June 23 1:30 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME
Saturday, June 23 6:30 p.m. ET/PT SHOEXTREME
ESPN Honored at 87th Annual BWWA Awards Dinner
ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights) boxing analyst Delvin Rodriguez was honored last night at the 87th annual Boxing Writers Association of America awards dinner in New York for his participation in the BWAA’s 2011 Fight of the Year. The July 15, 2011 edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights featured the epic bout between Junior Middleweights Rodriguez and Pawel Wolak– ending in a 10-round majority draw, one of the all-time great battles in the history of the series. Watch the entire bout on the WatchESPN player.
“It’s an honor and privilege for me,” said Rodriguez. “You work so hard as a boxer and to get recognized for Fight of the Year is a big accomplishment. It feels great be part of such a big event.”
Doug Loughrey, director, programming and acquisitions at ESPN said, “The fight between Wolak and Rodriguez is clearly one of the top three fights in the history of ESPN boxing. Being recognized as the Fight of the Year is true recognition of the high quality competition showcased weekly on Friday Night Fights. In an increasingly crowded field of boxing telecasts, it is ESPN’s broad reach coupled with the ability to bring promoters together to make great fights so successful.”
Two other ESPNers were also recognized last night, each receiving BWAA Barney Awards, which recognize excellence in boxing journalism: ESPN.com’s Kieran Mulvaney (second place, boxing event coverage, second place, boxing column) and Grantland.com’s Eric Raskin (third place, boxing feature, third place, boxing investigative reporting).
Also, 2011 ESPYs Arthur Ashe Courage Award Winner Dewey Bozella received the BWAA’s Bill Crawford Award for Courage in Overcoming Adversity.
This Week on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights:
Former Middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik (38-2, 33 KOs) and Scott Sigmon (22-3, 12 KOs) meet in the 10-round main event June 8 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN3 from Las Vegas.