Boxing on ESPN

The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Boxing Champions, and Top Rank, as well as Friday Night Fights—a semi-regular series that was broadcast by ESPN and ESPN2 from 1998 through 2015.

Top Rank Boxing

From 1980 to 1996, ESPN broadcast fights from the promoter Top Rank through a weekly series known as Top Rank Boxing, serving as an early staple of ESPN's programming in the 1980s. Top Rank and ESPN later broke away from the partnership; Top Rank shifted its focus on targeting Spanish-language audiences in the U.S., while ESPN succeeded the broadcasts with a new series, Friday Night Fights, which would feature bouts from other promoters. In 2009, ESPN and Top Rank began discussing a renewed deal; co-founder Bob Arum expressed dissatisfaction at the promotion's previous slate deal with Versus, which featured a large number of low-quality bouts. Arum explained that he would be more likely to deal with ESPN for individual fights rather than a long-term contract, explaining that "I ain't coming to them saying, 'Will you buy this fight or that fight.' We're past that. Give me a couple of dates and let us program them. You like them? Fine, give us a couple of more.[1]

On June 17, 2017, The Ring reported that Top Rank was nearing a two-year deal to air a package of fights on ESPN, citing growing dissatisfaction with cuts to HBO's boxing coverage that limited scheduling options for fights. As a result, Top Rank declined to give HBO the rights to the then-upcoming Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn. The partnership was also said to include access to ESPN's archives for a planned Top Rank over-the-top service. On June 19, 2017, ESPN confirmed that it would broadcast Pacquiao vs. Horn.[2] After a negotiation window with HBO expired, ESPN officially announced that it would broadcast two more Top Rank cards in August, including Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Miguel Marriaga and Terence Crawford vs. Julius Indongo.[3]

Friday Night Fights

ESPN Friday Night Fights
Presented by Bernard Hopkins
Starring Various personalities
Narrated by Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English (occasional interpreters)
Production
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time Various
Release
Original network ESPN2
Original release June 7, 1998 (1998-06-07) – May 22, 2015 (2015-05-22)

in 1998, ESPN premiered Friday Night Fights;[4] the series traditionally featured bouts involving up-and-coming and semi-professional boxers, along with studio segments covering headlines and developments across the sport. As implied by its title, the program was primarily broadcast on Friday nights, semi-regularly.[5]

Ringside commentary was provided by Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas; previous seasons featured boxing analyst Max Kellerman alongside Brian Kenny and sportscaster Bob Papa in Tessitore's role ringside with Atlas. The program spawned spinoffs, Tuesday Night Fights and Wednesday Night Fights. A Spanish-language version, Noche de Combates, aired on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America.

Notable appearances

Boxers who have fought on Tuesday Night Fights:

Boxers who have fought on Wednesday Night Fights:

Premier Boxing Champions

On March 19, 2015, ESPN announced that Friday Night Fights would air for the final time on May 22, 2015, covering the finals of the 2015 Boxcino tournament. The network announced that it had reached a multi-year deal with Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions to broadcast 11 events per-year on the main ESPN network, primarily on Saturday nights, and an afternoon event on ABC. Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will carry over to serve as hosts. ESPN is one of several major broadcasters that airs fights through the promotion, which also includes NBC, CBS, their respective cable sports networks, as well as Spike.[4]

Golden Boy

On January 19, 2017, ESPN announced an agreement with Golden Boy Promotions to broadcast Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN. Under a two-year deal, ESPN and ESPN Deportes will broadcast a total of 42 Golden Boy-promoted cards, with 18 airing in 2017 and 24 airing in 2018. The contract includes an option for a third year.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "No longer fighting, Top Rank, ESPN talk about fights". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "ESPN to televise Manny Pacquiao’s next fight as part of new Top Rank agreement". Bloody Elbow (SB Nation). Vox Media. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford to headline live ESPN cards in August". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 "ESPN Joins Premier Boxing Champions’ Corner, Knocking Out ‘Friday Night Fights’". Deadline.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Friday Night's Alright (For Fighting): Goodbye FNF". The Queensbury Rules. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "'Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN' begins partnership in March". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.