Australia's biggest boxing stars could soon fight for world titles in Canberra with promoters gunning for a pay-per-view blockbuster in the capital next year.
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The eyes of Australian boxing will be Canberra when Brock Jarvis meets Mark Schleibs in a National Boxing Series main event live on Fox Sports on December 11.
Exhibition Park in Canberra's Coorong Pavilion will host the sold-out event after Capital Fights promoter Boutzos struck a deal with Dean Lonergan of D&L Events.
The event will be launched at Fyshwick's Stockade Training Centre on Tuesday morning, with Boutzos now setting his sights on catapulting Canberra into pay-per-view territory which could lure major championship bouts to the ACT in December next year.
"I'm gunning for it," Boutzos said.
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"What's definitely happening is [a show in] February, and then we've done a deal with Dean for a Fox Sports show in late August or early September depending on whatever works venue-wise.
"Then hopefully we can turn it back over for a Main Event style show on pay-per-view for December. If that doesn't work out, I'll try to put on another Fox Sports show then.
"It's an exciting time for boxing in Canberra."
Boutzos had all but given up on hosting another show in Canberra this year due to the strain COVID-19 restrictions put on crowd numbers.
He called a raft of Canberra-based fighters to a dinner in September with plans to eye a 2021 return.
An hour before dinner Boutzos' phone rang. It was Lonergan looking to put on another show to close out the year - and suddenly the landscape changed for boxing in Canberra.
"I went and had dinner with all of the guys and I said 'would you guys be ready for a show if I can pull one together?' Everyone put their hand up," Boutzos said.
So Boutzos went to work and 28 corporate tables, with the crowd capped at 280, sold out in 43 minutes.
"I'm going to put 100 per cent into making sure this has great production value so it looks fantastic on TV," Boutzos said.
"We're going to showcase our Canberra talent, and we've got Australian boxing royalty in Jeff Fenech bringing his number one charge in Brock Jarvis.
"We're really happy to be working with a boxing icon in Jeff Fenech, and we hope this is the start of a long-term relationship with us putting Team Fenech fighters on in Canberra in the coming years.
"The response has been massive. We were planning for June at the AIS Arena before it closed down, and I really believe the show would have got 2000 people before it was closed down.
"I've got people calling me non-stop, we have got a reserve list of 15 tables if anyone pulls out."
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
