William Mooney, lighting designer for BYB Extreme Fighting, an exciting, bare-knuckles form of boxing, is using an IP-rated Elation Professional lighting rig to highlight the action inside the ring while supporting the atmosphere outside the ring.
Bare-knuckle boxing – the original form of boxing – is all about action and excitement. With BYB’s unique, 3-sided triangle cage, known as the Trigon and the smallest ring in combat sports, there is plenty of that. “It’s the most exciting franchise I have ever been involved with,” states Mooney, a man who has worked on boxing and mixed martial arts projects such as ESPN’s Friday Night Fights (2008-2015) and Combat America MMA Fights. “I’ve worked on all the major networks but I feel more excited about this show than anything I’ve ever worked with in my life.”
IP65-rated rig
The latest BYB event – BYB Extreme 5 – took place at the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center in Miami on May 15th with an in-person audience in attendance and bouts broadcast worldwide via pay-per-view. Mooney’s rig consisted of 6 Proteus Hybrid™ and 6 Proteus Rayzor 760™ moving heads, 54 SixPar 200 IP™ and 10 SixPar 100 IP™ Par lights, 4 DTW Blinder 350 IP™ and 2 DTW Blinder 700 IP™ white light effects, and 2 TVL 2000™ LED panel lights. He also incorporated 18 12PX HEX™ and 8 WiFLY EXR HEX5 IP™ lights from Elation’s sister company ADJ. Master Sound Productions of Miami (mastersoundpro.com) supplied the lighting gear.
Lighting the ring
For ring lighting, SixPar 200 LED Pars at full white give a balanced coverage at 5800K and running about 140 ft candles. Mooney diffuses the SixPars using Rosco filters to break up the individual LED look. He comments, “In TV, if I take a camera and shoot the face of an LED fixture, like the SixPar, I get too many starbursts. By using the Rosco filters, I soften the light so it shows up as a parcan with a single starburst on camera.”
The LD says he uses a lot more color than most do in boxing events, another representation of the dynamism of BYB Bare Knuckle and something reflected in the truss throughout the event, which he tones using the ADJ fixtures, often in shades that represent the fighter’s nationality.
Wall and audience lighting
Trust and reliability
Having worked in concert touring for years, most notably for Southern rockers Molly Hatchet, Mooney has a long history in the lighting industry and taps into that experience and relationships for the BYB events. “In my history, I have learned that trust and reliability are key in any relationship. I find them in the Elation and Rosco products, and in Laz Soto of Master Sound Productions.”
BYB Extreme Fighting Series hosted its first event in 2019 and the sport of bare-knuckle boxing continues to gain acknowledgment and popularity. “It’s because of BYB CEO Mike Vazquez and his professionalism that the sport is taking off,” Mooney concludes. “They have built an exciting new franchise that will continue to grow.”
Lighting gear:
6 x Proteus Hybrid™
6 x-Proteus Rayzor 760™
54 x SixPar 200 IP™
10 x SixPar 100 IP™
4 x DTW Blinder 350 IP™
2 x DTW Blinder 700 IP™
2 x TVL 2000™
18 x ADJ 12PX HEX™
8 x ADJ WiFLY EXR HEX5 IP™
About Elation Professional
Based in California with facilities in Florida and Mexico City, as well as European offices in The Netherlands, Elation designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of innovative lighting products known for its superior performance, excellent efficiency, and outstanding price:value ratio, all backed by a hard-earned reputation for Total Support. Elation also offers an advanced line of lighting control products through Obsidian Control Systems, as well as a full range of dependable specialty effects called Magmatic. Our mission has always been simple: to provide best-in-class products and service while offering the best value:performance ratio in the industry. Elation products continue to be a part of the industry’s most exciting projects across the globe. We invite you to take a closer look at www.elationlighting.com