(Photos: Stacey Verbeek/Frank Warren) – Former Unified Heavyweight World Champion Tyson Fury picked up his opponent, Sefer Seferi, after scaling 276 ½ pounds at the official weigh-in on Friday for his long-awaited return tomorrow/Saturday at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Sereri weighed-in at 210 pounds for their 10-round bout, which will stream live in the U.S. exclusively on SHOWTIME Sports social media platforms.
Fury, a former WBA, WBO and IBF Heavyweight World Champion, will return for the first time in 31 months in the SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL® social media offering, which begins live at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT on the SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page and SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel.
Undefeated 140-pound contenders Terry Flanagan and Maurice Hooker both measured 139 ¼ pounds for their WBO Junior Welterweight World Championship that will serve as the chief support for Fury vs. Seferi.
Live coverage for the Frank Warren-promoted event will be provided by BT Sport with U.K. sportscasters John Rawling providing the blow-by-blow and Richie Woodhall the analysis. Boxing broadcaster Ray Flores and analyst Chris Mannix will deliver pre and post-fight analysis from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles for the SHOWTIME Sports audience.
The live stream of Fury vs. Seferi will precede that evening’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® doubleheader that features WBA Featherweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz in a highly anticipated rematch against former world champion Abner Mares live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from Staples Center. In the co-feature, Jermell Charlo will face Austin Trout for the WBC Super Welterweight World Championship.
Fight # 1 – 16:00 HRS 4 X 3 Minute Rounds International Light-Heavyweight Contest
ZAC BURTON 12st 7lbs V DOMINIK LANDGRAF 12st 9lbs 12oz.
Fight # 2
6 X 3 Minute Rounds Heavyweight Contest
ALEX DICKINSON V DAVE HOWE (weigh-in on the day)
Fight # 3
6 X 3 Minute Rounds International Light-Heavyweight Contest
LYNDON ARTHUR 12st 8lbs 4oz V CHARLES ADAMU 12st 5lbs 1oz
Fight # 4
6 X 3 Minute Rounds International Cruiserweight Contest
JORDAN THOMPSON 14st 4lbs V DMITRI KALINOVSKI 13st 12lbs 8oz
Fight # 5
6 X 3 Minute Rounds Super-Welterweight Contest
JACK McGANN 11st 5lbs 3oz V DWAIN GRANT 11st 6lbs
Fight # 6
8 X 3 Minute Rounds International Super-Featherweight Contest
ZELFA BARRETT 9st 6lbs 4oz V EDWIN TELLEZ 9st 5lbs 8oz
BT SPORT BROADCAST GOES LIVE AT 19:00 HRS
Fight # 7 – 19:05 HRS
10 X 3 Minute Rounds Heavyweight Contest
NATHAN GORMAN 17st 11lbs 4oz V SEAN TURNER 18st 9lbs
Fight # 8
THE VACANT WBC INTERNATIONAL SUPER-WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minute Rounds
J.J METCALF 11st V AITOR NIETO 10st 13lbs 4oz
Fight # 9
THE VACANT WBC INTERNATIONAL SILVER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minute Rounds
MARK HEFFRON 11st 5lbs 2oz V ANDREW ROBINSON 11st 5lbs 8oz
Fight # 10
“Frank Warren, for Queensberry Promotions, sponsored by 32Red and FootAsylum and in association with RocNation Sports”
THE VACANT WBO WORLD SUPER-LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
12 X 3 Minute Rounds
TERRY FLANAGAN 9st 13lbs 5oz V MAURICE HOOKER 9st 13lbs 4oz
Fight # 11
“Frank Warren, for Queensberry Promotions, sponsored by 32Red and FootAsylum and in association with EC Boxpromotion”
10 X 3 Minute Rounds International Heavyweight Contest
TYSON FURY 19st 10lbs 7oz V SEFER SEFERI 15st 2oz
Fight # 12
6 X 3 Minute Rounds Super-Lightweight Contest
SAM MAXWELL 10st 1lb V KANE BAKER 10st
Fight # 13 – Follow On
8 X 3 Minute Rounds Middleweight Contest
JACK FLATLEY 11st 8lbs 4oz V TROY WILLIAMSON 11st 6lbs 8oz
Fight # 14 – Follow On
8 X 3 Minute Rounds Cruiserweight Contest
JACK MASSEY 14st 4lbs V IAN TIMS 14st 3lbs 10oz
Former Unified Heavyweight World Champion Tyson Fury took one more step toward ending his 31-month exile from the sport as he met face-to-face with Sefer Seferi at the final press conference Wednesday at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
SHOWTIME Sports will live stream the long-awaited return of Fury (25-0, 18 KOs), a former WBA, WBO and IBF Heavyweight World Champion, this Saturday, June 9 from Manchester Arena when he faces Sefer Seferi in a 10-round heavyweight bout from Manchester Arena. The SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL® social media offering will stream live exclusively to U.S. audiences on the SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page and SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT.
Here’s what Fury had to say on Wednesday:
“If he has knocked out 21 men before, if he gets it on my chin he will knock me out too.
“I look at Sefer like I look at Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, anybody. He’s a dangerous puncher.
“I could have picked someone a lot easier than Sefer; someone to knock out in a round. But I need rounds.”
On his Heavyweight rivals: “They know the message – I’m back. I don’t ever remember feeling any better than I do now.
“I feel sharper now, more power. I fell out of love with the game but now the love is thriving, we are back on fire for one another.
“You’re going to be the best Tyson Fury you have ever seen.”
“There are no nerves at all. I feel like I have been a goldfish in a tank, trapped and now I am getting released back into the river where I belong. So just put me there and watch me swim.”
“I don’t ever remember feeling any better than I do now. I feel shaper now, faster than I’ve ever been, more power, I just want it more.
“It was a lost relationship, it was like I was married to the game too long and we sort of fell out of love with each other.”
In the opening bout of the live stream, local hero Terry Flanagan (33-0, 13 KO’s) will look to become a two-division world champion when he clashes with unbeaten American Maurice Hooker (23-0-3, 16 KO’s) for the vacant WBO Super Lightweight crown. This will be the third live streaming boxing event this year on SHOWTIME Sports social media platforms.
Live coverage for the Frank Warren promoted event will be provided by BT Sport with U.K. sportscasters John Rawling providing the blow-by-blow and Richie Woodhall the analysis. Boxing broadcaster Ray Flores and analyst Chris Mannix will deliver pre and post-fight analysis from Staples Center in Los Angeles for the SHOWTIME Sports audience.
The live stream of Fury vs. Seferi will precede that evening’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® doubleheader that features WBA Featherweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz in a highly anticipated rematch against former world champion Abner Mares live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed in the West Coast) from Staples Center. In the co-feature, Jermell Charlo will face Austin Trout for the WBC Super Welterweight World Championship.