Great fight nights have a certain feel to them. The setting matters, the fighters matter, and when the lights come on and the opening bell rings, the voices telling the story matter, too.
On Friday, Aug. 14, Boxing Hall of Famers Roy Jones Jr. and Al Bernstein will reunite behind the microphone as part of the broadcast team for BiYu Promotions’ inaugural “Fights Under the Lights” at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
Joining Jones and Bernstein will be Hector Camacho Jr. and undefeated professional boxer Jewry Rodriguez, bringing together Hall of Fame experience, personality and perspectives from multiple generations of the sport.
The event will stream live worldwide with the debut of CombatVisionTV and its new app, a streaming platform created by boxing promoter Bobby Harrison. With few major televised boxing events scheduled for Aug. 14, “Fights Under the Lights” has an opportunity to command the boxing spotlight.
Jones knows a thing or two about performing when the lights are brightest. The former four-division world champion built a Hall of Fame career doing things inside the ring few fighters could duplicate. Now, he’ll have a ringside view of a card featuring undefeated fighters and rising prospects looking to take the next step.
“When you put young, hungry fighters in there with something on the line, you’re going to get good fights,” Jones said. “A lot of these guys are undefeated, they’re trying to move their careers forward, and nobody wants that first loss. That brings something different out of a fighter.”
Jones added that these are the types of matchups that reveal which fighters are truly ready to elevate their careers.
Sitting alongside Jones will be one of boxing’s most recognizable voices in Bernstein. Despite their decades in the sport, the two have worked together on a boxing broadcast only once before — and it just happened to be Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
More than a decade later, they’re finally getting the chance to do it again.
“It’s kind of amazing when you think about it,” Bernstein said. “The only boxing broadcast Roy and I have ever worked together was Mayweather-Pacquiao. So, I’m really looking forward to sitting next to him again and calling these fights.”
Bernstein said the combination of undefeated fighters, championship bouts and young prospects trying to make names for themselves should make for an entertaining night.
Camacho Jr., the son of late three-division world champion Hector “Macho” Camacho, adds another fighter’s perspective to the broadcast. After growing up around boxing and building a professional career of his own, Camacho brings both knowledge and the unmistakable personality associated with the Camacho name.
Rodriguez rounds out the team with a different perspective — that of an active, undefeated fighter. She understands what today’s young boxers experience during training camp, inside the dressing room and during those final moments before the bell rings.
Together, the four will help introduce Harrison’s vision for CombatVisionTV.
“There are talented fighters competing in cities all over the world, and a lot of boxing fans never get the opportunity to see them,” Harrison said. “
Harrison also wants the quality of the broadcast to match the action inside the ring.
“If we’re asking boxing fans to spend their time watching CombatVisionTV, then we owe them a quality product,” Harrison said. “Having Roy Jones Jr., Al Bernstein, Hector Camacho Jr., and Jewry Rodriguez as part of our first broadcast says a lot about what we’re trying to build.”
And there should be plenty for them to talk about.
The 10-round main event features a battle of undefeated light heavyweights as Chavon Stillwell (10-0, 8 KOs) faces Izaiah Dent (10-0, 9 KOs) for the WBA/NABA Light Heavyweight Championship.
Between them, the two fighters own a combined 20-0 record with 17 knockouts. Somebody’s perfect record will be tested when they meet under the lights in Sugar Land.
The eight-round co-main event keeps the Texas flavor going as undefeated Houston fighter Jahyden Britton (9-0, 6 KOs) battles San Antonio’s Bruno Pola Ruiz (11-4-2, 9 KOs) for the WBA/NABA Super Middleweight Championship.
The undercard will also feature undefeated prospects Steven and Daniel Grandy — better known as the Grandy Twins.
The brothers have already built an audience far beyond boxing through social media and childhood appearances on The Steve Harvey Show, Good Morning America, ESPN and FOX Sports. Now 18, the twins will compete in separate four-round bouts as they continue their transition from viral childhood sensations to rising professional prospects.
For BiYu Promotions and CombatVisionTV, Aug. 14 represents a night of firsts: a new boxing series, a new streaming platform and a new opportunity to showcase fighters to a worldwide audience.
There will be championship belts at stake. Undefeated records on the line. Young prospects looking to make their names known.
And behind the microphones, Jones and Bernstein will be together again, joined by Camacho Jr. and Rodriguez to tell the story as it unfolds.
When the lights come on at Constellation Field, “Fights Under the Lights” will officially begin.
