This Saturday night immediately following the Heisman Trophy award show the ESPN tripleheader broadcast begins which features Terence Crawford’s return and a very intriguing matchup between Teofimo Lopez and Richard Commey at 135.
Crawford to defend WBO welterweight title LIVE on ESPN against Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas Saturday evening (9 p.m. ET) from Madison Square Garden
The fighters were all business on the press conference dais.
Tripleheader will also feature Richard Commey-Teofimo Lopez lightweight title fight and the Michael Conlan-Vladimir Nikitin featherweight grudge match – Saturday, Dec 14 at 9 p.m.
Pound-for-pound king and WBO welterweight world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford returns to Madison Square Garden Saturday evening (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) as the headliner for the card of the year, a three-headed monster that will follow the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
On December 14, Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of Boxing, will once again play host to one of the most highly anticipated fights in boxing as IBF Lightweight World Champion Richard Commey (29-2, 26 KOs), of Brooklyn, NY, makes the second defense of his title against #1-ranked mandatory challenger Teofimo Lopez (14-0, 11 KOs), also of Brooklyn, NY.
Next up for Teofimo Lopez – a title shot. Lopez passed the toughest test of his young career, defeating the previously undefeated Masayoshi Nakatani via unanimous decision (118-110 2x and 119-109) in an IBF lightweight world title eliminator in front of 2,100 fans at The Theater at MGM National Harbor.
In a harder than expected fight, Teofimo Lopez had to reach deep to defeat Masoyoshi Naktani by a 12 round unanimous decision in an IBF lightweight title eliminator on Friday night in a competitive bout at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Watch LIVE and exclusively on ESPN+ beginning at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT – Entire undercard to stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 pm ET/ 3:30 pm PT.
With Title shot on the line, Lightweight Sensation Teofimo Lopez takes on Masayoshi Nakatani on Friday Night at The MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland – IBF Lightweight Eliminator streamed Live on ESPN +.
The young champion took the old veteran to school. Richard “RC” Commey made the first defense of his IBF world lightweight title, knocking down former world champion Ray Beltran four times en route to an eighth-round knockout in front of 2,795 fans at Pechanga Resort Casino.