Producers of pay-per-view boxing matches are now using interpreters for non-English-speaking boxers, such as Spanish-speaking Dr. Ferdie Pacheco and Ray Torres. Working at news conferences and meetings with broadcasters, interpreting during the breaks between rounds, and at post match interviews, interpreters are called upon to convey the words and energy of the boxers. “The key is to be 100 percent accurate. You don’t summarize things," says Jerry Olaya, a Spanish interpreter for HBO. "You don’t change things. You don’t editorialize. You are there to be seamless. If you are not noticed, that’s all the better.” Despite the interpreter’s best efforts, 100% accuracy is not possible, and sometimes a boxer’s rambling answers to reporters’ questions need to be condensed. “If there is something I left out,” Olaya said, “it’s because I went blank, forgot about it, or didn’t hear it.” Felix De Jesus, a color commentator for the Yankees’ Spanish radio broadcast and an interpreter for Showtime boxing, agreed. “I definitely summarize if I know we have 10 minutes left on the air,” he says. Because of the abundance of Spanish-speaking fighters, Olaya and De Jesus are the most recognizable in the field, but they are not employed full-time by the cable networks. Interpreters for other languages are tougher to find. “First, we look at the fighter’s team or his promoter,” says Chris DeBlasio, a vice-president for sports communications with Showtime. “If not, we will go to the local market.” Raymond Stallone, an HBO spokesman, said the network did not rely on promoters to find interpreters. “You can’t just go out and hire somebody that is bilingual,” said Nobu Ikushima, the U.S. coordinator for Teiken, a Japanese promotional and managerial company. “The vocabulary is different. We hire people that know boxing language.”
From "Interpreters Help to Tell the Story Behind the Fight"
New York Times (NY) (01/08/12) Golianopoulos, Thomas