Showtime Boxing: Vargas vs. Mayorga: Countdown To The Brawl

ByBoxing Press

Showtime will premiere “Vargas vs. Mayorga: Countdown To The Brawl”—profiling two of boxing’s most colorful and explosive personalities—on Saturday night, August 25, at 1 a.m. ET/PT, immediately following the ShoXC, live MMA event. The 30-minute documentary program will air at various times on the premium network until Sept. 8, when “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas and Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga will meet in the ring to settle a personal score for machismo and pride. (See next page for complete schedule)

The highly anticipated bout is scheduled for 12 rounds at a catch weight of 162 pounds and will air live on Sept. 8 on pay-per-view at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT from Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“Countdown To The Brawl” takes viewers inside the training camps and into the homes of both men to reveal their motivation, strategies of intimidation and the root of their volatile and now infamous first fight—at the announcement press conference in Los Angeles on July 11.

In addition, in depth interviews with Vargas, Mayorga and members of their training camps uncover a never-before-seen duality in each. These former world champions always have been known for toughness, bravado and street mentality, but that is only half of their personality; half of their motivation.

“Countdown To The Brawl” shows the people behind the boxers, and the tremendous impact they have had on these competitors—both in their formative years and still today.

Vargas reflects on his childhood, growing up without his father and why it is important for him to be a good father to his children. “I am lucky I found boxing,” said Vargas. “I was going nowhere quickly. I wanted so much to belong to something. If I was asked to join a gang, I probably would have.”

Mayorga, on the other hand, is looking to re-claim his ring status and shed his disappointment after a personally devastating knockout loss to Oscar De La Hoya. “I need to fight somebody and beat him,” said Mayorga. “I am going to hit Vargas as hard as I can, because I just want to let this out, to get this out of my system.”

Featuring expert analysts Al Bernstein and Steve Farhood, journalists Steve Kim and Doug Fischer and boxing historian Bert Sugar, “Countdown To The Brawl” breaks down how this fight got personal and why this match up will be, quite simply, a brawl.

“VARGAS vs. MAYORGA: COUNTDOWN TO THE BRAWL”

DAY DATE TIME CHANNEL
Saturday Aug. 25 1 a.m. SHO (premiere)
Sunday Aug. 26 1: 20 a.m. SHO
Monday Aug. 27 6:10 p.m. SHO
Weds. Aug. 29 3:10 p.m. SHO
11 p.m. SHO
Thursday Aug. 30 Midnight SHO
Friday Aug. 31 11:30 p.m. SHO
Saturday Sept. 1 11:45 a.m. SHO
Midnight SHO
Sunday Sept. 2 5:40 p.m. SHO
Monday Sept. 3 1:35 a.m. SHO
Tuesday Sept. 4 12:30 a.m. SHO
Weds. Sept. 5 11:35 p.m. SHO
Thursday Sept. 6 7:35 p.m. SHO
Friday Sept. 7 2 a.m. SHO
Saturday Sept 8 12:15 p.m. SHO

The Sept. 8 fight card at STAPLES Center is a joint promotion between Don King Productions and Main Events in association with AEG and STAPLES Center.

Tickets priced at $300, $150, $100 and $50 are on sale now online at ticketmaster.com, via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers including Wherehouse Music, Robinsons-May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations. Tickets are also available at the STAPLES Center box office and the box office at TEAM LA at Universal CityWalk.

The event will also be televised live domestically beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, at a suggested retail price of $44.95, distributed by SHOWTIME® PPV.