Wilder vs. Fury II: ESPN Takes Boxing Sound to a New Level for Unfinished Business ESPN will deploy dozens of mics around the venue, an overhead array of mini-shotguns By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Friday, February 21, 2020 - 2:46 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Boxing is as old school as sports gets now, and the sound for this weekend's Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury 2 - aka Unfinished Business - is equally hard-fisted, with tons of microphones strewn around and overhead in MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, NV, ready to pick up the punches and more.
The event will be broadcast on ESPN, which is doing the production, and Fox Sports (because the fighters' respective television rights are held by the two networks) and PPV. It will be bigger in scope than the regular Top Rank bouts on ESPN, according to A1 Tad Wimer.
We're following the same format that we use for the Top Rank events, but this is on a much larger scale, he says, noting that four production trucks, including NEP NCP-10 and ND-7, will be deployed, instead of the single unit used for most fights.
The Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II production comprises 35 cameras - more than ever deployed for an ESPN boxing production - including seven super-slow-motion and six robotic units, a 4D system that allows 360-degree replays, a mini Flycam, a JITA camera for unique shots, and bumper-corner cameras.
Mics Everywhere
Unfinished Business will have dozens of microphones distributed around the venue (most focused on the ring) and on all the referees for each of the six bouts on the card. Also, lavs are expected on the trainers.
ESPN will deploy its Tiffany mic array above the ring (seen here) to capture in-ring audio
Ringside A2 Lance Palmieri is running lavaliers' wires up from the ring pads to the bottom of the perimeter ropes, keeping the mics in place with red tape, angled at 90 degrees and pointed toward and about 2 ft. away from each fighter's corner, ready to pick up activity there should a trainer lav fail or not be available. These also eliminate the need for fishpoles over the ring.
Meanwhile, RFA2 Ben Sims and his colleagues will deploy dedicated wireless packs that will be taken to the various locker rooms to follow the sounds of fighter and trainers getting ready and then walking into the arena. A red and a blue pack will be used for opposing fighters for each bout.
But the crown jewel for the show will be the Tiffany array flown above the ring. It's a concoction comprising six Sennheiser 8060 mini-shotgun microphones, four facing outward to pick up ringside-crowd noise and two facing directly downward and processed to avoid phase problems. These pick up most of the footwork and punches - 99.5% of that, Wimer estimates. Normally placed 9.5 ft. above the ring, for this fight, the array has been moved a full foot higher.
These fighters are tall and have really long arms, Wimer explains. (Wilder is 6 ft. 7 in. with an 83-in. reach; Fury stands 6 ft. 9 in. with an 85-in. reach.) The array gives us very direct audio, up close and personal. It really works great.
Other microphones are located on a robo cam in the far neutral corner and in the far corners of the arena to get the sounds from the floor seats, fans whom Wimer calls the most rambunctious and who provide high levels of enthusiasm.
Wideband Wireless
There'll be plenty of RF for the fight. RFA2 Jordan Smith supervises the Shure Axient wireless system, the G57 version for wideband applications. In addition, Riedel Bolero is used for wireless comms in an AES67 mode.
ESPN will deploy one of its most complex boxing productions ever for Wilder-Fury II on Saturday
That clears up a lot of frequencies used for base-station transmit, he says. We also use [spectrum analyzer] Signal Hound to police the arena several times a day looking for any rogue frequencies.
An RTS VoIP system is used for wired intercoms, all on a Dante network like much of the rest of the wired audio. RVON panels are placed throughout the arena and on the trucks and are used to communicate cues for the walk-on music and dramatic lighting that make the fight into a spectacle.
When we do comms for most of these [fights], we are covering the event, says comms A2 Eric Williams. For this fight, we are part of the event. We're literally putting on the show. For instance, they have to wait for our call before a fighter walks out. We coordinate the lights and the music from the DJ. It all has to be synchronized. It has to be a well-oiled machine.
Unfinished Business is going to be an old-school broadcast blockbuster thanks to a great team, says Kim Bloomstone, remote operations manager, ESPN.
We worked hard to get the right people into place, and they are doing a great job, she says. We're looking forward to a great event.
North America Stories
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Wilder vs. Fury II: ESPN Takes Boxing Sound to a New Level for Unfinished Business ESPN will deploy dozens of mics around the venue, an overhead array of mini-shotguns By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
