Ed Pereira wandered around Midtown Manhattan when the cold reality of his new job began to strike.
“I was on a video call to the team, it was less than 18, and the wind bitten,” recalls Pereira. “I could barely speak. Who would have blamed him to ask me: what did I register?
It was in December that Turki Alashikh, the Saudi royal advisor who has become a manufacturer of King-Ouest Professional boxing, first launched his last original idea: a “full control” from Times Square for a historic fighting evening in New York. Pereira was responsible for transforming the fantasy into reality.
He is the CEO of Ivisit Media, a marketing and event company that works with giants such as Apple, Manchester United and the Olympic Games. Her mantra “makes the impossible, possible”. And yet, among all the challenges they have met in the past three decades? It’s “n ° 1”, says Pereira. “By a long way in the long term.
Alashikh has teased future shows on Alcatraz Island and Roman Colosseum. First of all, however, however, Friday evening, three of the biggest American boxing stars – Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney – will fight in the middle of the most chaotic and chaotic intersection in Manhattan.
“It has never been done before,” explains Pereira. “The amount of mobile parts … it’s just another level.
Up to around 300,000 people pass through Times Square in Manhattan every day
Three of the biggest boxing stars will fight in the heart of Times Square in New York
Turk Alashikh (photo) is president of the general entertainment authority of Saudi Arabia
They will hold on an event six months in preparation. An event that started with a 200 -page field and required nearly 60 meetings per week. An event that involved 40 donors including the NYPD, FDNY, New York State Athletic Commission, NYC Parks, the mayor’s office. And the Times Square Alliance, which helps take care of pedestrian places and display panels.
“We did the fight, we made bulls … We did a lot,” said TSA president Tom Harris. “We did not have professional boxing, and it is time…. (It is) the center of the world.
The alliance is used for carnage. A typical day will see around 300,000 people pass through this half-mile of chaos. Each December 31, about 1 million people are jostling for a view of the emblematic ball fall. The New Year’s Eve, however, the area is sealed and the “slows down” district.
This Friday, tourists will be released from metro stations, traffic will continue to lower the seventh avenue and more Broadway shows will open their doors. “It’s beauty,” says Pereira. “Times Square will be open throughout.” The only difference? A boxing ring will be at the epicenter of anarchy.
Precise details on how the organizers would navigate all people and all chaos have been held under Wraps. The images of the final plans remain top secret. There were suggestions that “half a million” fans would watch for free. But the Daily Mail can now reveal the plan of Saudi Arabia for “Fatal Fury Times Square”:
- A “complete takeover” of four pedestrian places, including the military island, where a “bubble” will house a ring, a jumbotron and seats for around 300 guests guests
- The other places will include pens where a few thousand fans can look on large screens. Tickets for these areas are being discharged, some going to boxing clubs of the five arrondissements of New York
- No tickets are available for the purchase and the “bubble” of the ring will be locked up by a canopy, ensuring that the action is out of sight for passers -by by
- Almost all the LED display panels of Times Square will be transformed into a story-advisor for the historic event
- The Undercard will featured a fight between the best boxers in NYPD and FDNY, the two presenting themselves in their department vehicles
Teofimo Lopez (left) will face Arnold Barboza Jr. for the title Wob World Super Lightweight
Ryan Garcia returns to the ring against Rolly Romero during the New York Historic Combat Evening
New York has a rich tradition of combat. Madison Square Garden welcomed the fight of the century between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971, while many great Moderns fought at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Here, however, it was “a ride hell” just to reach a point in early March when this program could be announced. The organizers had to browse a “beautiful tight rope” to keep everyone happy: authorities, local businesses, the commission, the promoters and those who hold the Stockings of the Stock Exchange.
It does not require the clearest trade spirit to predict that work in Times Square will be accompanied by certain logistical challenges. People, traffic, noise, endless unsubscription. “We cannot bring New York to stop,” explains Pereira.
But they had to fold certain rules. Most Times Square events can only be announced for a few days. If a big name appears, it could be cut at 30 minutes. It is a safety measure to prevent a possible flow of visitors. An exception has been made here because boxing cannot survive without prolonged promotion.
Unfortunately, there was no way to get around some of Manhattan’s other obstacles. This wind, for one. Any breeze that blows out of the Hudson river is channeled through the grid of high -rise buildings. “They use the word” canyon “. And it’s really, says Pereira.
So, thanks to an engineering “marvel”, a new glass roof has been specially designed. It will be fixed with giant concrete ballasts. Curiously, there are not many places to repair the guidance strings in Times Square.
And if there were some, you would need a traffic sign for each ankle. “Everything requires a permit,” explains Pereira. “It’s different from anywhere else in the world.
This even includes the most basic infrastructure: “running hands, stages, toilet positioning …”, explains Pereira. “When you put a cable, it’s a license … If you just want to cross a street, it’s a street permit that you are going through.
Each New Year’s Eve, about 1 million people are jostling for a view of the drop in the emblematic ball
There is only one advantage to all this bureaucracy – there can be nothing until the last minute. Except the real construction. “You could expect a 36 -hour construction, it will take four days,” explains Pereira. The crews must work in the middle of all anarchy and in Times Times Square the little “imprint” of Square. Construction will start at midnight on Tuesday and all the remains of the show should have left on Sunday.
“What is different on this subject of many events is that we have only one blow. There is no dress rehearsal, ”says Harris.
The objective is to minimize the disturbances of residents of Times Square – restaurants and stores and theaters. “It’s their house,” explains Pereira.
The work has therefore entered to ensure the noise of the night of combat – as far as possible – confined to the bubble and the surrounding pens. “We are trying to keep as much from the Times Square atmosphere as possible,” explains Pereira.
But the organizers take up two blocks – on each side of the 42nd and 43rd street – just to carve out a space for staff and cars parked.
As recovery, they have concluded agreements with local businesses. Some may house VIPs or makeup staff or broadcasting teams. To thank the others, Pereira explains: “We only buy a lot of their coffee or a lot of their cake”.
By allowing everyone to operate normally, the security and security threat is obvious. They therefore designed an exit route to leave for ambulances and there will be hundreds of cops at hand – including the fight against terrorism, intelligence and traffic agents. “The NYPD was probably our greatest defenders,” explains Pereira.
Many of the emblematic Times Square display panels will be taken up for the event on Friday evening
Devin Haney will face Jose Ramirez experienced when boxing arrives at Times Square
Times Square Alliance, meanwhile, gave the green light after at least half a dozen initial meetings, when Pereira and Co presented their plans in a 200-page file.
“My first reaction was excitement,” said Harris. “It was” wow “… there was never any doubt that we could make it work. But? “The trick is to make sure everyone understands what will work and what will not work.”
The organizers sometimes flirted “near the thread”, but, as the night of combat, most of the boxes were checked. “We were given a vision,” explains Pereira. “We have delivered this vision.
Everything that remains to be done? The simple task to manage Times Square’s “mobile parts” before the bell rings it. “This boxing match takes place without a hitch, everyone arrives at their program on time and in their dinner booking on time,” said Harris. “It’s success.
