Top Rank on ESPN to Feature Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Jose Pedraza WBA/WBO Lightweight Unification Bout
To Share: https://es.pn/2AQ3NIH
Live and Exclusively on ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Saturday, December 8 at 9 p.m. ET from The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden
ESPN+ to Stream Undercards Live Starting at 6 p.m. ET
One of the biggest boxing events of the year airs live on ESPN Saturday, December 8 from The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The reigning WBA lightweight champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) is set to take on WBO champion Jose “Sniper” Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs) in a title unification main event airing live and exclusively on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET, immediately following the live presentation of the 2018 Heisman Trophy Ceremony. Top Rank on ESPN coverage starts just after 6 p.m. ET starting with live streaming of the undercards on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment and ESPN.
Two additional fights round out Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN with marquee appearances by rising stars Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe and Teofimo Lopez. ESPN+ will stream the undercards live headlined by Guido Vianello facing Luke Lyon (5-1-1, 2 KOs) starting at 6 p.m. ET.
Calling the fight for ESPN will be Joe Tessitore and Mark Kriegel, with former two-division world titleholder, Tim Bradley (analyst), reporter Bernardo Osuna and on-location studio contributors Stephen A. Smith, Kevin Connors, former pound-for-pound two-division world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward, and ESPN Deportes’ coverage includes play-by-play from Robert Sierra and analyst Delvin Rodriguez.
ESPN’s official coverage of fight week kicked off Monday, December 3 with “Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko” – an encore presentation of Vasiliy Lomachenko’s last two fights — Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Guillermo Rigondeaux (December 9, 2017) and Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Jorge Linares (May 12, 2018).
ESPN+ will also feature:
- Countdown to Lomachenko vs. Pedraza, a four-part series that takes viewers behind the scenes as one of the world’s great pound-for-pound fighters attempts to unify lightweight world titles against WBO world champion Pedraza. Episodes include:
- “Loma: Under the Knife” (available now) — rare footage of Lomachenko prepping for shoulder surgery, the surgery itself, how he injured it vs. Jorge Linares, and how his team handled his comeback.
- Unifying The Belts (premieres today) — Lomachenko and Pedraza talk about their chances and ambitions to unify the lightweight title belts.
- Fishing with Loma (premieres Wednesday, Dec 5) — Behind the scenes day fishing with Lomachenko and his team off the coast of California.
- Training The Loma Way (premieres Thursday, Dec 6) — Inside Team Lomachenko’s unique training strategies, including unique outdoor and mental training.
- The final press conference, which will stream live on Thursday, December 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET.
- The Boxing Beat with Dan Rafael premieres Tuesday, the weekly ESPN+ original show will include a look ahead to Lomachenko vs. Pedraza with ESPN boxing guru Dan Rafael.
- The weigh-in will stream live Friday, Dec 7 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Also airing on ESPN2.
News & Information, Digital and SportsCenter
Leading up to the fight, ESPN will preview the event on studio programming and online, including:
- On air profiles of Lomachenko by Teddy Atlas and Pedraza by Mark Kriegel
- Up-to-date on-scene coverage every step of the way from Rafael who will be with the fighters multiple days this week
- News updates and a complete guide to the fight on ESPN.com and the ESPN app from Rafael out Friday, December 7
- ESPN Fantasy game Streak for the Cash will offer fight predictions for the Co-Main and Main Event during the ESPN live event telecast Saturday, December 8
Top Rank on ESPN (All times Eastern) 2018
Date | Time | Event | Platform |
Mon, Dec 3 | 8:00 p.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko | ESPN2 |
Tue, Dec 4 | 12:00 a.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko | ESPNEWS |
11:30 p.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko | ESPN2 | |
Thu, Dec 6 | 9:00 p.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko | ESPNEWS |
12:30 p.m. | Lomachenko vs Pedraza Final Press Conference | ESPN+ | |
Fri, Dec 7 | 1:00 a.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko | ESPN2 |
1:30 p.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In | ESPN2, ESPN+ | |
9:00 p.m. (re-air) | Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In | ESPNNEWS | |
Sat, Dec 8 |
12:00 a.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko | ESPNEWS |
2:00 a.m. (re-air) | Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In | ESPNEWS | |
11:30 a.m. (re-air) | Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In | ESPNEWS | |
12:00 p.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko | ESPNEWS | |
5:00 p.m. (re-air) | Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In | ESPNEWS | |
6:00 p.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Undercards | ESPN+ | |
9:00 p.m. | Top Rank on ESPN: Main Event Vasiliy Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) vs. Jose Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs) Isaac Dogboe (20-0, 14 KOs) vs Emanuel Navarrete (25-1, 22 KOs) Teofimo Lopez (10-0, 8 KOs) vs Mason Menard (34-3, 24 KOs) |
ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio | |
Sun, Dec 9 |
1 a.m. (re-air) |
Top Rank on ESPN (Main Event) | ESPN2 |
5 p.m. (re-air) |
Top Rank on ESPN (Main Event) | ESPN Deportes | |
8 p.m. (re-air) |
Top Rank on ESPN (Main Event) | ESPN2 |