Paul vs Silva Fight Week Kicks Off Ahead of Saturday’s Blockbuster Global Event
As of October 24, 2022 – The blockbuster event headlined by international superstar Jake “The Problem Child” Paul and UFC legend Anderson “The Spider” Silva has already established itself as the highest grossing boxing event for ticket revenue in the history of Desert Diamond Arena (formerly Gila River Arena) and the second highest-grossing ticket event across all combat sports with six days to go until fight night. The eight-round cruiserweight headliner takes place on Saturday, October 29 in a Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) event live on SHOWTIME PPV® at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT from the arena, just outside of Phoenix, Ariz.
PAUL VS. SILVA LANDS BOX OFFICE HAYMAKER
As fight week gets underway, the event’s total ticket revenue currently ranks ahead of all prior boxing events in the arena and sits between a pair of UFC events, trailing only UFC 263 for the highest grossing event in arena history for combat sports. UFC 263 was headlined by the rematch between middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori, and featured MMA superstar Nate Diaz. Paul vs. Silva has already surpassed the only other UFC event there – UFC on Fox 29, which was headlined by a lightweight bout featuring future champion Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje and featured the initial match between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori.
Tickets are still on sale and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com. The official promo for the event was inspired by the 1983 cult classic Scarface and is available to watch and share HERE.
SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD
The five-fight pay-per-view event is widely available for purchase and live streaming in the U.S. at SHOWTIME.com/ppv and via the SHOWTIME® app. The event is also available on major cable, satellite, and telco television providers throughout the U.S. for a suggested retail price of $59.95 (SRP). In Canada, viewers can access the event via traditional distributors as well as digitally on FITE.tv, which will also carry the event in most international territories around the globe including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and India. FOX Sports Australia will televise the main event Down Under, ESPN Latin America will carry the event throughout Latin America and Globosat will carry the event in Brazil.
THE MOST TRUSTED VOICES IN COMBAT SPORTS
Veteran sportscaster Brian Custer will host Saturday night’s SHOWTIME PPV telecast with MMA legend Georges St-Pierre serving as co-host. St.-Pierre was a two-division UFC champion and three-time UFC welterweight champion. They join the most versatile voice in combat sports Mauro Ranallo, along with International Boxing Hall of Famer Al Bernstein and leading mixed martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani in calling the action from ringside.Helwani will also handle pre-and-post-fight interviews and serve as the ringside reporter.
Three more Hall of Famers round out the SHOWTIME telecast team – unofficial scorer and boxing historian Steve Farhood will score the fights, world-renowned ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. will emcee the proceedings, and Barry Tompkins will call the international feed with former junior middleweight world champion and SHOBOX® commentator Raúl “El Diamante” Marquez providing analysis.
THE STREAM TEAM
Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell, whose podcast MORNING KOMBAT was recently named Best Sports Podcast of the Year at the People’s Choice Podcast Awards, will host the SHOWTIME PPV COUNTDOWN show streaming live on the SHOWTIME SPORTS YouTube channel and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page. The dynamic duo will call the action of three undercard fights and look ahead to the SHOWTIME PPV action to come.
In the preliminary streaming bouts, Jeremiah “Dream Land” Milton (6-0, 5 KOs) faces Quintin Sumter (5-0, 3 KOs) in a six-round contest between undefeated heavyweights. Plus, former featherweight champion Ogleidis Suarez (30-4-1, 14 KOs) faces undefeated KO artist Shadasia Green (10-0, 9 KOs) in an eight-round women’s super middleweight bout and Glendale’s Danny Barrios Flores (10-0, 2 KOs), one of Arizona’s most promising prospects, will look to show out in front of his hometown fans against Edgar Ortiz Jr. (8-3-2, 4 KOs) in a six-round super bantamweight bout.
Thomas and Campbell will be on hand in Arizona all week long to host the live streams of fight week events, including Wednesday’s open media workout (1:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT), Thursday’s final press conference (11 a.m. ET/2 p.m. PT) and Friday’s public weigh-in (2 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT). All events stream live on the SHOWTIME SPORTS YouTube channel, Jake Paul YouTube channel, Jake Paul TikTok channel and the SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page.
BACKSTAGE PASS WITH ALL ACCESS: PAUL VS. SILVA
SHOWTIME SPORTS® has released the full episode of its Emmy® Award-winning series ALL ACCESS: PAUL VS. SILVA, bringing fans behind the scenes and into Paul and Silva’s private lives and training camps as they each prepare for one of the year’s must-see sporting events. The episode is now available free via the SHOWTIME SPORTS YouTube channel. To watch, go to: https://youtu.be/vbrVF827RbQ.
A GOOD BET IN YOUR BACK POCKET
The event on Saturday is sponsored by BETR, the official partner of PAUL vs SILVA. BETR is the world’s first direct-to-consumer micro-betting app, allowing customers to make wagers on different aspects of a game that don’t involve the final score. It was launched by Paul and betting industry veteran Joey Levy in September.
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ABOUT PAUL VS. SILVA
International superstar and serial risk-taker Jake “The Problem Child” Paul will face the biggest challenge of his career when he takes on UFC legend and accomplished boxer Anderson “The Spider” Silva in an eight-round bout at a catchweight of 187 pounds on Saturday, October 29 in a Most Valuable Promotions event live on SHOWTIME PPV (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz. In undercard action, teenage sensation Ashton Sylve will put his knockout streak on the line against Braulio Rodriguez in an eight-round lightweight bout contested at 133 pounds. Top 118-pound contenders and former world title challengers Alexandro “El Peque” Santiago and Antonio “Carita” Nieves will meet again in a 10-round rematch of their exciting 2016 showdown. Elite UFC striker Uriah Hall and former NFL star running back Le’Veon Bell will make their pro debuts in a four-round cruiserweight bout contracted at 195 pounds. In addition, Chris Avila, a disciple of UFC superstar Nate Diaz, will square off against “Doctor Mike” Varshavski, a board-certified family physician and social media influencer, in a four-round cruiserweight bout contracted at 185 pounds. For more information: www.Showtime.com/PPV.
