The man who brought boxing to Times Square has a new vision for 2026: to bring the sport back to the masses.

Ed Pereira was integral to last May's iconic fight card in one of the world's busiest thoroughfares as Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney took to the ring in front of a select crowd. But as the new year dawns, he has a different focus as the CEO of iVisit Media.

"There is a feeling boxing has retreated from being the best sport in the world," he tells Mirror Fighting. "If I could click my fingers I would take it back to the glory days. It was the No.1 sport in the world and everyone knew who the heavyweight champion was." Pereira's company worked closely with Turki Al-Sheikh and his Saudi Arabian backers last year but is venturing out on its own in 2026.

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"It's about bringing boxing back to the people," adds Pereira. "I remember watching the boxing with my dad; it was integral to my childhood and it would be great if we could give that access to more people. I think we are in a great time for boxing, with the investment from the Saudi institutions and His Excellency in particular.

"And in the UK we have some amazing promoters plying their trade, particularly Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn. You can see they heyday coming back, the foundations are there but it needs to be accessible to more people. That's my vision and I want to open it up to the mainstream and our announcement will be a step towards that."

Pereira remains tight-lipped about the details of his plans, with an announcement due on January 16. But he adds: "We expect the bulk of our shows to be in the UK and the US but we want to take them across the world. I believe in tradition and the greatness of boxing lies in its tradition.

"We will continue with that but where I think we can be different is in accessibility, whether that be through free and affordable attendance, or making the shows bigger and more about entertainment, and bringing the razzmatazz back. Everything is more expensive now and we all feel more battered by it and the first thing that goes is the fun stuff. The key thing is making sure the guys who sit in the pub who cant normally watch fights live, can afford it."