Showtime Event Television will distribute 2000's first
major pay-per-view boxing event on March 3, when welterweight champion Felix Trinidad
meets super-middleweight champion David Reid.
Undefeated International Boxing Federation and World Boxing
Council welterweight champion Felix Trinidad will move up in weight to fight undefeated
World Boxing Association super-welterweight champion David Reid in a rare Friday night PPV
show, Showtime sports and event programming senior vice president and executive producer
Jay Larkin said.
"This shapes up to be a very compelling, first big
fight for the year," Larkin said.
The fight had been plagued by legal problems involving
Reid's promoters, America Presents, and Home Box Office over a television deal. With
those issues settled, the fight will take place in Las Vegas.
The suggested retail price for the event is $34.95, well
below the $49.95 price charged for most of last year's major PPV events.
"We think the price point is the appropriate
price," said Larkin. "We're not posing this as a major event, but rather a
terrific boxing show."
The undercard will feature six-time world champion Julio
Cesar Chavez and popular female pugilist Christy Martin, Larkin said.
The event will air one day before a TVKO-scheduled
Hispanic-oriented fight card featuring World Boxing Association bantamweight champion
Paulie Ayala. That fight card will sell for a suggested $24.95, TVKO said.
