Centennial,
Colo. - Aug. 24, 2009 - NCM Fathom, in association with Mayweather Promotions
and Golden Boy Promotions, will bring live world championship boxing to the big
screen in high definition for the first time ever with the showing of the highly
anticipated 12-round welterweight fight between six-time world champion in five
weight divisions Floyd "Money" Mayweather and five-time world champion in
three weight divisions Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez and televised
undercard on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET/ 5:30 p.m. PT in select movie
theaters nationwide.
Tickets for
Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number
One/Numero Uno" Fight LIVE
are available at participating theater box offices and online at
www.FathomEvents.com.
For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please
visit
www.FathomEvents.com
(theaters and participants are subject to change).
"We are
extremely pleased to welcome Fathom into the Golden Boy family of sponsors as
their interest in the Mayweather vs. Marquez mega-fight is another indication of
the sheer magnitude of the fight itself," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden
Boy Promotions. "Having the fight in high definition in movie theaters
throughout the country is unprecedented and gives boxing fans another outlet to
watch the compelling action of a big-time fight."
Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number
One/Numero Uno" Fight LIVE
take boxing fans ringside to experience every jab and hook thrown during this
ultimate showdown from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The historic
match marks the return of boxing to movie theaters for the first time in nearly
three decades.
"Watching
fights at the movies goes back to the 1940s," said boxing historian Bert Sugar.
"It's the next best thing to being there. Seeing
a fight at a movie theater is the ultimate virtual experience. You
pretty much get everything but the sweat."
The first
boxing match publicly shown in movie theaters was the Eric Boon vs. Arthur
Danaher fight in London seen in only three theaters on Feb. 23, 1939. The first
boxing match shown in U.S. movie theaters was the Joe Louis vs. Lee Savold bout
from Madison Square Garden in New York on June 15, 1951. The last fight to be
widely shown in movie theaters was Sugar Ray Leonard's victory over Roberto
"Fists of Stone" Duran in the famous "No Mas" fight on Nov. 25, 1980.
A 1996
Olympic Bronze medalist for the United States, Floyd Mayweather (39-0, 25 KO's)
has since gone on to strike gold in the professional ranks, firmly establishing
himself as the best fighter of his era. Mayweather won his first world title -
the WBC Super Featherweight World Championship - at the age of 21 in 1998.
The Grand Rapids, Mich. native defended that title eight times before
moving up to lightweight and taking the 135-pound belt in 2002. He went on to
win the junior welterweight and welterweight world titles, respectively.
Mayweather defeated Oscar de la Hoya in May of 2007 for the World Junior
Middleweight Championship in a record-setting pay-per-view super-fight and in
his last fight in December 2007, knocked out Ricky "Hitman" Hatton in the tenth
round, handing the British superstar his first professional defeat. Mayweather
announced his retirement from boxing soon after that fight. He went on to
achieve crossover fame as a contestant on the hit show "Dancing with the
Stars" and as a participant in WWE's "Wrestlemania XXIV."
"I can't
wait to get back into the ring to reclaim my rightful place as boxing's
pound-for-pound king while fans in movie theaters across the country experience
it all live in high definition on 40-foot-screens," said Mayweather.
"If you can't be ringside, this is another great way to see my return to
the ring."
Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One / Numero Uno"
will take place on what is historically considered boxing's biggest weekend -
Mexican Independence Day or El Grito de Independence.
"Floyd has
always wanted to appear on the big screen so this is just great," said Leonard
Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. "It's going to be a
great night of boxing and watching it in high definition on such a large screen
will be a great treat for the fans who go to theaters to watch it."
Mexico
City's Marquez(50-4-1, 37 KO's) has long been revered by boxing purists as one
of the best in the sport, having won 29 of his first 30 pro bouts before finally
getting a world title shot in 1999. Following a loss in that fight, he didn't
lose again for the next seven years. Marquez won the IBF
Featherweight World Championship in 2003 and in the same year, also captured the
WBA Featherweight title. Marquez would lose his belt via controversial decision
in 2006, but he returned to win the WBC Junior Lightweight World Championship in
March 2007. Marquez moved up to the 135-pound weight class in September of 2008
and won the Ring Magazine Lightweight World Championship. The 36-year-old added
the WBA and WBO World Lightweight belts to his trophy case in his most recent
fight on February 28, 2009.
"This fight
against Floyd Mayweather is undoubtedly the biggest in my professional career,"
said Márquez. "The fact that this long awaited battle will be on the big screen
in movie theaters across the United States is fantastic. I invite the fans
everywhere to go to movie theaters so they can see everything live and in high
definition on the big screen."
Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number
One/Numero Uno" Fight LIVEappears
on the big screen in high-definition with Cinema Surround Sound in select AMC
Entertainment Inc., Celebration! Cinema, Cinemark Holdings, Inc., Cobb Theatres,
Goodrich Quality Theaters, Hollywood Theaters, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres,
Malco Theatres, Marcus Theatres, National Amusements and Regal Entertainment
Group movie theaters, as well as Arlington Theatre (Santa Barbara, CA), The
Carolina (Asheville, NC), Palace Cinema 9 (South Burlington, VT) and Penn Cinema
(Lititz, PA), through NCM's exclusive Digital Broadcast Network.