Amazon Prime Video’s new boxing venture will debut later this month with an abundance of institutional knowledge behind the microphones.
Boxing Scene learned Tuesday that host Brian Custer and play-by-play broadcaster Mauro Ranallo, who long served at Showtime Boxing, will return to those roles when Prime Video launches its first boxing card March 30, a pay-per-view headlined by the WBO and WBC junior middleweight title fight between unbeaten Tim Tszyu and challenger Sebastian Fundora.
The remaining boxing crew is expected to be formally announced in coming days, according to a boxing official who spoke to Boxing Scene on the condition of anonymity because contracts remained unsigned.
Custer and Ranallo provide familiar faces for Prime Video, which will return May 4 with undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defending his four belts against Mexican countryman Jaime Munguia.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis and David Benavidez are due to fight in separate bouts on a June 15 card, also set for Las Vegas.
The lively and witty Ranallo – known to sprinkle in his patented, “Mamma Mia!” phrase when the action intensifies – is a veteran of combat sports action, having called MMA and professional wrestling along with a slew of major boxing cards with Showtime, including the Floyd Mayweather Jr.–Conor McGregor bout in 2017.
Showtime ceased its boxing coverage at the end of 2023, and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions aligned with Prime Video, which offers a massive subscriber base and worldwide reach.
Custer, the former Showtime World Championship Boxing host, arrives at Prime Video while also still employed at ESPN, where he serves as a “SportsCenter” anchor and fill-in host on the weekday morning show “Get Up.”