ESPN will televise Premier Boxing Champions, a series created for television by Haymon Boxing, featuring top-level fights between many of boxing’s biggest names. The multi-year agreement was announced today. The first of 12 two-hour annual live Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN (PBC on ESPN) telecasts is scheduled for Saturday, July 11, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
There will also be shows televised on ABC as part of the deal.
ESPN telecasts will air live in primetime. ABC broadcasts will air on Saturday afternoon, with further details to be announced at a later date. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network, will also televise all PBC on ESPN fights as part of its Noche de Combates series.
Live coverage will also be available through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One via an affiliated video provider. The agreement also includes worldwide rights via ESPN International.
Card details of the first PBC on ESPN telecast and subsequent shows will be announced at a later date. ESPN’s long-standing Friday Night Fights will celebrate its last show Friday, May 22 with the finals of the Boxcino 2015 tournament.
“ESPN has a long history of carrying world-class boxing events and the new Premier Boxing Champions series continues our commitment to the sport with premier-level primetime fights previously only available on premium cable networks,” said John Skipper, ESPN president.
PBC on ESPN telecasts will be produced by ESPN. Blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore and analyst Teddy Atlas, both recipients of the prestigious Sam Taub Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism presented by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), will call the fights ringside on ESPN and ABC. Additional on-air commentators will be announced at a later date.
ESPN3, ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, will present non-televised undercard bouts and PBC on ESPN weigh-ins live leading up to the fights. Stories about the fighters and the fights will also be featured on ESPN.com and on SportsCenter.
Since the start of the year, Al Haymon's Haymon Boxing has secured television deals with NBC/NBC Sports, CBS/Showtime, Spike TV and Bounce TV.
All of the deals—with the exception Showtime and Bounce TV—are time buys.