Latest news with #KodyMommaerts
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside Big Mo's journey from cold calls to centre stage: How boxing's youngest elite ring announcer realised his Madison Square Garden dream... as he gears up for Katie Taylor's huge trilogy fight with Amanda Serrano
Two years ago, ring announcer Kody 'Big Mo' Mommaerts told me that his dream was to one day step into the center of Madison Square Garden and command the mic. On Friday night, he'll do just that, announcing the trilogy bout between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano on the most iconic stage in boxing. 'Begin with the end in mind,' he told me, repeating the mantra of a former American football coach that's stuck with him since his playing days. That mindset helped transform visualisation into reality. 'When I was announcing for smaller venues or smaller fights, I pretended that I wasn't there. I pretended I was in Madison Square Garden, that I was in the O2 Arena, that I was in the Royal Albert Hall. These amazing venues that I've gotten to be in... It really just started from there and now it's all coming full circle.' At 29 years old, Mommaerts is now the youngest master of ceremonies operating at the highest levels of combat sports – a voice that's become familiar across boxing, MMA, and bare-knuckle events alike. But Friday night is more than another line on the resume. It's personal. 'It'll feel more internally validating than anything else, really,' he says. 'That's what Paul-Tyson felt like, and that's what MSG will be. I've been in this industry for a few years. I came in a complete outsider. Not just to announcing, but to entertainment, broadcast, media, boxing – all of it. I built this from the ground up... so when I'm able to do shows like this, it's almost like: I was right. I was smart to bet on myself.' He's just over six months on from announcing one of the most-watched fights in modern history: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, in front of 72,000 fans at Dallas Cowboys ' AT&T Stadium and an estimated 60 million households on Netflix. That event changed his career. Now, Netflix has brought him back for the historic finale of one of boxing's most important rivalries: Taylor vs. Serrano III. The two women, pioneers of the sport and the first to secure seven-figure purses, will headline an all-female card at the same venue where their saga began. For Mommaerts, it's a full circle moment – and one he will cherish for years to come. Despite the nature of live TV and a live audience, Mommaerts doesn't get nervous anymore – not really. Not after nights like Paul-Tyson. Not after arenas like the O2. 'I don't really get them anymore,' he says. 'After I did Shields-Marshall at the O2, I kind of knew what it was like. What to expect moving forwards. What settles the nerves is the fact I'm very well prepared. 'Anyone who knows me knows I am meticulous. I try not to read off of a card. So that takes memorisation, and a level of understanding of what's going on. That calms me down knowing I am prepared for anything that's thrown my way.' From his vantage point, the crowds don't even feel that different. 'There were 75,000 people at Cowboy Stadium. But from where I'm standing, looking straight at the broadcast camera, my field of view only has a few thousand. It starts to all feel the same.' He speaks like someone who's already imagined it all and that's because he has. 'It's like I've already lived it in my mind. Like I've already turned to my left and seen Katie Taylor. I've turned to my right and seen Amanda. I turn back and face the crowd, and I see Madison Square Garden. 'It's everything: how I'm putting on my suit, what I'm looking at when I get in the ring, the cues... it all just swirls around in there and then feels like I've already done it come fight night.' But his job doesn't stop at visualisation. Boxing is chaos, and being ready for last-minute curveballs is part of the gig. 'It happens all the time. Boxing moves 100 miles an hour and is almost never settled. It's always: hey, this sponsor needs this, or this person is now walking out with this person, or here are the anthem singers and they want to be introduced like this. So I'm used to that. I'll write it down, make sure I say exactly what the broadcast or the client needs in that case. That's just part of it.' The lifestyle has changed him, too. Late nights are traded for sleep management, voice care, and flights across time zones. 'Managing sleep and travel is a big one,' he says. 'I don't really have a body clock anymore. My body hits six, seven hours, and it's like: it's time to get up. But yeah, my job is full presenter mode, it's very formal, very done up, very 'on'. So when I'm not in that setting, I'm kind of more laid back and private. My social battery's changed.' That balance – between the on-stage energy and off-stage solitude – is something he's still refining. But if his rapid rise through the announcing ranks proves anything, it's that he's a fast learner. 'Months ago, I was doing Paul vs. Tyson. That changed me a lot. It's all happened so quick, and I've had to learn at breakneck speed – which is what I wanted,' he says. 'When I started cold calling promoters at 24, I didn't have any experience, didn't go to school for broadcasting. Honestly, I wouldn't have hired me either.' Instead, he's learned by doing. 'Working with Sky, Netflix, DAZN, TV networks in France, Poland… I've been a sponge. The people I work with are more experienced, and I just try to absorb everything I can. I'm very active – more active than a lot of MCs – and I'm thankful for that. It's helped me craft my style.' With Madison Square Garden now checked off the list, what's next? 'I don't know,' he chuckles. 'Maybe Wembley. Maybe Tottenham. I'll need to pick a new goal. But this one, Friday night, it's going to feel like something bigger than a box to tick. It's going to feel like I built this. Like I was right to believe in the vision.' Whatever that next goal ends up being, don't bet against Big Mo getting there. After all, he's already lived it in his mind.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Big Mo, the new voice of boxing, wants you to listen – no, really listen
I wanna say this without sounding like a d***,' Kody Mommaerts starts. His job, after all, involves selecting the right words. And though the stakes are lower on a Zoom call with The Independent than when a billion-dollar company entrusts him with a live microphone, the ring announcer still considers his words – and delivery – carefully. In this case, it is all to do with humility, and his concern that an analogy for his career might be misinterpreted as arrogance. 'I used to play video games as a kid,' says Mommaerts, widely known as 'Big Mo'. 'I don't play much anymore, but there was a phrase called 'speedrunning'. 'How quickly can I beat this game?' In a way... I've kind of speedrun announcing. I don't want that to come across as d***ish!' Advertisement It's okay, he's allowed to say it. Firstly, he is just over six months removed from announcing one of the most-watched fights of all time, in Jake Paul's boxing match with Mike Tyson – a bout that played out in front of more than 72,000 fans in Dallas, and more than 60 million households live on Netflix. Secondly, Mommaerts has already ticked off boxing, MMA, bare-knuckle fighting events and more, at an elite level. Thirdly, at 29 years old, he is the youngest MC at the top end of combat sports. And finally (on this taster of a list, at least), he is about to fulfil his dream: announcing at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Although, in a way, Mommaerts has already done it. He can explain that contradiction. 'I've talked about affirmation and visualisation a lot,' says the Denver native. 'I learned it when I was playing college football, but I perfected it while announcing. I would spend so much time on the road with my own thoughts, I would play videos in my mind: 'This is what I'll be wearing, this is what it'll feel like, this is how I'm gonna say Madison Square Garden.' 'I've already lived this in my brain, now I just get to experience it in real life. It's like when I get asked about the Mike Tyson introduction; I've already announced him in my brain. It's reality, so in theory it's more important, but I've already done this.' Still, 'I think [MSG] is gonna be the first moment in my career where I really lean back in my chair, like: 'Holy s***.' I did it a little bit at Paul vs Tyson, but there I almost blacked out because of the adrenaline...' Mommaerts (holding mic) moments before Jake Paul's seismic bout with Mike Tyson (Getty/Netflix) The rest of the world will get to hear Mommaerts's rendition of 'Madisoooon Squuuaaaare Gaaaaaaaaaardeeeeen' on 11 July, when Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano top an all-female card and end the most important rivalry in the history of women's boxing. Their trilogy began at MSG in 2022, when Taylor narrowly beat the Puerto Rican, before the Irish icon did the same when they clashed on the Paul-Tyson undercard. Taylor and Serrano, the first women's boxers to earn seven-figure paydays, will return to the scene of their first fight and the platform of their second: Netflix, which is showing its belief in Mommaerts again. Advertisement 'I came into this industry with zero broadcast, TV, boxing, or professional speaking experience,' he reflects. 'I'd publicly spoken, but at a collegiate level, because I was young. So [a few years ago], this 25-year-old kid with no background was holding a live microphone for billion-dollar corporations, who had sunk millions of dollars into an event. I understood the apprehension of using me. When I cold-called all the various promoters and networks, I understood them saying: 'Yeah, we're not gonna use you, we're gonna use the guy we've been using for 40 years.' Mommaerts introducing two-weight boxing world champion Natasha Jonas (Lawrence Lustig / BOXXER) 'There was a vast difference between me and every other MC, so I had to be perfect, polished, professional. They might have been looking for any reason to say: 'This is why we didn't hire the kid, I told you this was a bad idea.'' Mommaerts credits his professionalism with arguably being more important than his voice, but what of that voice? Trying to describe it is a punishing endeavour for a writer. There is a deepness to it, but also a clarity and crispness – a precision. To hear Mommaerts speak is to feel like you're trying on the most expensive set of headphones on the shelves, with the bass and treble dialled to perfection. Advertisement But to hear Mommaerts speak is one thing; to really listen to what he has to say is another. And listening to him now, a few years into an electric run atop the business, are there questions over where Big Mo starts and Kody Mommaerts ends? 'I don't want it to sound like Big Mo is this character – that's not it,' Mommaerts says, but: 'I have to dial things up. My job is very charisma-driven, it's very extraversion. It's camera, flash, smile, announcing, crowd, media, press conference. It's so much, and I'm in front of it all. And I don't mean that in a boastful way, as if I'm the star of the show, but I do have to be almost this character in a sense. I have to be this larger-than-life person to present in the way I want. I have to dial things up. 'I've never actually shared this before: this job has changed my social battery. What a lot of people don't understand is: beyond just being an MC, and the whole point of being an MC is establishing authority and being vocal, I'm also 6ft 7in. I'm a big guy, I stand out already, and a large component of my job is very visual. Networks like Sky and Netflix like putting me on camera, which is great, but it's weird: it's just changed how I look at being in front of people. Now, when I'm outside of my job, I don't always love being in front of a lot of people. I try to keep it more low-key. Mommaerts is quickly becoming the voice of boxing, while also working on other combat sports (Lawrence Lustig / BOXXER) 'Before the job, when I would go out, I would be this real social person, life of the party, blah blah blah. Now, when I go out, I'm kind of more of the guy on the wall. I'm a little bit more reserved. I still like to have fun, but I like to kind of keep to myself. So, the job has changed me a little bit – not in a bad way, but I've noticed it.' Advertisement There is little that the man with the mic doesn't notice; while his God-given voice took him a long way, his attention to detail has been a key part of his success, too. So, if anyone can channel change into something unequivocally advantageous, it is Mommaerts.
The Independent
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Big Mo, the new voice of boxing, wants you to listen – no, really listen
I wanna say this without sounding like a d***,' Kody Mommaerts starts. His job, after all, involves selecting the right words. And though the stakes are lower on a Zoom call with The Independent than when a billion-dollar company entrusts him with a live microphone, the ring announcer still considers his words – and delivery – carefully. In this case, it is all to do with humility, and his concern that an analogy for his career might be misinterpreted as arrogance. 'I used to play video games as a kid,' says Mommaerts, widely known as 'Big Mo'. 'I don't play much anymore, but there was a phrase called 'speedrunning'. 'How quickly can I beat this game?' In a way... I've kind of speedrun announcing. I don't want that to come across as d***ish!' It's okay, he's allowed to say it. Firstly, he is just over six months removed from announcing one of the most-watched fights of all time, in Jake Paul 's boxing match with Mike Tyson – a bout that played out in front of more than 72,000 fans in Dallas, and more than 60 million households live on Netflix. Secondly, Mommaerts has already ticked off boxing, MMA, bare-knuckle fighting events and more, at an elite level. Thirdly, at 29 years old, he is the youngest MC at the top end of combat sports. And finally (on this taster of a list, at least), he is about to fulfil his dream: announcing at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Although, in a way, Mommaerts has already done it. He can explain that contradiction. 'I've talked about affirmation and visualisation a lot,' says the Denver native. 'I learned it when I was playing college football, but I perfected it while announcing. I would spend so much time on the road with my own thoughts, I would play videos in my mind: 'This is what I'll be wearing, this is what it'll feel like, this is how I'm gonna say Madison Square Garden.' 'I've already lived this in my brain, now I just get to experience it in real life. It's like when I get asked about the Mike Tyson introduction; I've already announced him in my brain. It's reality, so in theory it's more important, but I've already done this.' Still, 'I think [MSG] is gonna be the first moment in my career where I really lean back in my chair, like: 'Holy s***.' I did it a little bit at Paul vs Tyson, but there I almost blacked out because of the adrenaline...' The rest of the world will get to hear Mommaerts's rendition of 'Madisoooon Squuuaaaare Gaaaaaaaaaardeeeeen' on 11 July, when Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano top an all-female card and end the most important rivalry in the history of women's boxing. Their trilogy began at MSG in 2022, when Taylor narrowly beat the Puerto Rican, before the Irish icon did the same when they clashed on the Paul-Tyson undercard. Taylor and Serrano, the first women's boxers to earn seven-figure paydays, will return to the scene of their first fight and the platform of their second: Netflix, which is showing its belief in Mommaerts again. 'I came into this industry with zero broadcast, TV, boxing, or professional speaking experience,' he reflects. 'I'd publicly spoken, but at a collegiate level, because I was young. So [a few years ago], this 25-year-old kid with no background was holding a live microphone for billion-dollar corporations, who had sunk millions of dollars into an event. I understood the apprehension of using me. When I cold-called all the various promoters and networks, I understood them saying: 'Yeah, we're not gonna use you, we're gonna use the guy we've been using for 40 years.' 'There was a vast difference between me and every other MC, so I had to be perfect, polished, professional. They might have been looking for any reason to say: 'This is why we didn't hire the kid, I told you this was a bad idea.'' Mommaerts credits his professionalism with arguably being more important than his voice, but what of that voice? Trying to describe it is a punishing endeavour for a writer. There is a deepness to it, but also a clarity and crispness – a precision. To hear Mommaerts speak is to feel like you're trying on the most expensive set of headphones on the shelves, with the bass and treble dialled to perfection. But to hear Mommaerts speak is one thing; to really listen to what he has to say is another. And listening to him now, a few years into an electric run atop the business, are there questions over where Big Mo starts and Kody Mommaerts ends? 'I don't want it to sound like Big Mo is this character – that's not it,' Mommaerts says, but: 'I have to dial things up. My job is very charisma-driven, it's very extraversion. It's camera, flash, smile, announcing, crowd, media, press conference. It's so much, and I'm in front of it all. And I don't mean that in a boastful way, as if I'm the star of the show, but I do have to be almost this character in a sense. I have to be this larger-than-life person to present in the way I want. I have to dial things up. 'I've never actually shared this before: this job has changed my social battery. What a lot of people don't understand is: beyond just being an MC, and the whole point of being an MC is establishing authority and being vocal, I'm also 6ft 7in. I'm a big guy, I stand out already, and a large component of my job is very visual. Networks like Sky and Netflix like putting me on camera, which is great, but it's weird: it's just changed how I look at being in front of people. Now, when I'm outside of my job, I don't always love being in front of a lot of people. I try to keep it more low-key. 'Before the job, when I would go out, I would be this real social person, life of the party, blah blah blah. Now, when I go out, I'm kind of more of the guy on the wall. I'm a little bit more reserved. I still like to have fun, but I like to kind of keep to myself. So, the job has changed me a little bit – not in a bad way, but I've noticed it.' There is little that the man with the mic doesn't notice; while his God-given voice took him a long way, his attention to detail has been a key part of his success, too. So, if anyone can channel change into something unequivocally advantageous, it is Mommaerts.
