Friday Pee Chee Folder -- August 21, 2026

On this week's edition of the Friday Pee Chee Folder, there is a card taking place today/tonight that has me intrigued, not because of the actual fights, but where it is being broadcast. And other assorted news and notes from the boxing world...

TIK TOK

There is a chance that as you’re reading this that the card at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, has already begun. It’s a show largely featuring the female roster of Jake Pauls’ MVP Promotions, with Amanda Serrano headlining versus Lucrecia Manzur.

OK, you probably know by now that I’m not the biggest fan of women’s boxing. It is what it is. I watch what I have to, but it’s just not my cup of ginseng tea. What is most interesting about this card is that it’s not on a traditional platform such as ESPN, DAZN or even YouTube.

This is being telecast on Tik Tok.

Now, even though I do have a Tik Tok account (k9kim1) I don’t utilize it nearly as much as I do Twitter (@SteveKim323) or Instagram (@steveoralekim) but the fact of the matter is that many younger people do. But if there is ever an occasion that a few of my buddies and I do a group ‘Running Man’ dance, I’ll be sure to post it there.

I looked it up and it has right around two billion (again, with a ‘B’) users on a monthly basis. So say whatever you want about it, but it is a major platform.

In recent years post-HBO and Showtime, boxing has had problems gaining traction in the United States as many of the networks that once broadcast boxing, for the time being, have shunned the sport. Now, that could change, but the reality is that as the likes of Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions looked for new broadcast deals recently, didn’t find any takers. Now, they are both under the DAZN umbrella.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but just how many subscribers they have in America has never been clear. There is a belief it may not even be 100,000. Beyond that, how many under the age of 25 are on it?

Tik Tok, for whatever you say about it, doesn’t have that problem.

Growing the next generation of boxing fans should be a priority for everyone in the business of boxing. Sure, running to Turki for a piece of his war chest was lucrative but it’s largely short-term thinking. Unless you have a social media presence like a Ryan Garcia, it has become increasingly difficult for young boxers to gain footing with the general public. And if the traditional terrestrial and cable outlets have no interest in boxing, how do you ever grow the fan base?

This means you better be creative and take some chances because HBO and Showtime aren’t coming back, and for the time being Netflix seem to be more into big, tent pole events more than investing into boxing.

But ask yourself this, just how many people are really going to view this weekends welterweight title bout between Rolly Romero and Teofimo Lopez? How many watched the last outings of Jaron Ennis and Jesse Rodriguez, two of the very best American boxers.

The recent ratings of the TNT ‘the Fight’ series show that when you put solid bouts on a larger platform, there is a significantly larger audience.

GayleFalkenthalOnBoxing@GayleFalkenthal

If you aren't fluent in TikTok and are wondering how to watch the MVP card on Friday night, register here and you'll be sent the live link when it starts: tiktok.com/live/event/767… @MostVpromotions #boxing

tiktok.com

MVP x TikTok LIVE Premiere | LIVE Event

4:50 AM · Aug 20, 2026 · 908 Views

1 Reply · 9 Reposts · 13 Likes

So let’s the do the math, if this show tonight (which begins at 7 pm, ET/4 pm, PT) at it’s peak does just 10-percent of Tik Tok’s two billion users, that’s 200 million. Being realistic, that’s probably not going to happen. Now, at 5-percent, that would be around 100-million viewers. Again, I don’t think it does close to that number.

One percent would be an audience of 200-million. OK, even that seems a bit overly optimistic. Being as realistic as I can be, should this MVP card get 0.1-percent of the Tik Tok base, that would represent two million viewers. May not seem like all that much.

But ask yourself this: when was the last time a card of this nature had such an audience?

WBOrder

Its not clear what light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol, will do next, but if he wants to keep his WBO title it looks like he’ll have to face Callum Smit next.

But you wonder if Bivol, who returned the ring on May 30 by scoring a wide decision over Michael Eifert (his IBF mandatory), will go through with this fight if more lucrative bouts against David Benavidez and Artur Beterbiev are available. He’s at the stage where money matters a bit more than the belts.

Personally, I’d like to see the rubber match against Beterbiev, to close that chapter.

ZUFFA BOXING

Johnn Fischer will face Michael Pirotton at London’s Copper Box Arena on September 26 in what will serve as the main event on Zuffa Boxing 11 that will air on Paramount+.

More and more of Zuffa’s recent cards have been taken out of the antiseptic atmosphere of their Apex in Las Vegas, and this will be their third overseas card in recent months.

Now, when will they announce Shakur Stevenson’s upcoming bout?