While ESPN Friday Night Fights recently concluded its 2010 programming season, boxing fans can still turn to ESPN platforms for quality fights through November 2010. ESPN unveiled Thursday an impressive lineup of fights that will air live and exclusively on ESPN3.com for U.S.-based consumers in addition to other ESPN platforms. ESPN will kick start the fall lineup with the Sat., Sept. 4 Felix Sturm/Giovanni Lorenzo (29-2, 21 KOs) bout, which will determine the WBA middleweight title. The fight will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET. live on ESPN3.com and ESPN Deportes. A title defense for Sturm (33-2-1, 14 KOs), the match will be his first fight in 14 months..
In late July, ESPN3.com was announced as the live digital platform for the Sept. 11 (5 p.m. ET) Wladimir Klitschko/Samuel Peter tilt from Frankfurt, Germany. That fight will mark the second time the platform has carried a Klitschko heavyweight bout.
ESPN Deportes will also air the fight on tape-delay at 8 p.m. ET with a re-air set for ESPN on Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs), the unified heavyweight champion of the world, and Peter (34-3, 27 KOs) first met in a 2005 title elimination bout with Klitschko emerging victorious.
Moving from the heavyweight class to a lighter brand of boxing, on Friday, Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN will celebrate Mexico’s 200 years of Independence with exclusive coverage of the Bicentenary Caribbean Rumble. In addition to ESPN3.com coverage, ESPN2 and ESPNPlay, the broadband network for live sports programming in Latin America, will carry the fight live.
The Caribbean Rumble will feature Wilbert Uicab (29-5-1, 18 KO’S) against Edren Dapudong (20-2-0, 10 KO’S) in a 12-round bout for the WBC Silver Flyweight Championship. The co-feature will pit Alisher Rahimov (20-0, 11 KO’s) of Russia against Jose Emilio Perea (18-0, 10 KO’s) of Pachuca, Mexico, for defense of Rahimov’s WBC International Lightweight Championship
On Saturday, Oct. 16, ESPN will again carry another heavyweight championship bout featuring a Klitschko. Just over a month after his brother, Wladimir, takes to the ring, Vitali Klitschko (40-2, 38 KOs) will battle Shannon Briggs (51-5-1, 45 KOs) for the WBC Heavyweight title from Hamburg, Germany. ESPN3.com will carry the action live beginning at 5 p.m. ET. ESPN will air the fight the following day on Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Deportes will air the fight at a time later to be determine
To close out the fall action, a special military-themed ESPN boxing special will air on Monday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET. It will be carried on ESPN3.com and ESPN2 live. The fight card will be announced at a later date. ESPN Deportes will carry the boxing special on Nov. 9 at 9 p.m. ET.