It’s a tripleheader feast for boxing fans on Thanksgiving weekend when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ VS. MICHAEL KATSIDIS, ANDRE BERTO VS. FREDDY HERNANDEZ AND CELESTINO CABALLERO VS. JASON LITZAU is presented live SATURDAY, NOV. 27 (9:45 p.m. ET/6:45 p.m. PT) from MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward will be ringside for all the action, presented in HDTV and in Spanish on HBO Latino..
The main course is a scheduled 12-round lightweight title tilt, with Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KOs) of Mexico City taking on Australia’s Michael Katsidis (27-2, 22 KOs) in a potentially explosive matchup. Ring veteran Marquez, one of the sport’s elite, quickly rebounded from his loss to Floyd Mayweather with a convincing win over former unified lightweight champion Juan Diaz in July. Katsidis, who trains in Thailand, is widely considered one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, and is on a four-bout winning streak since losing to Diaz in a split decision.
In the middle bout, undefeated welterweight titleholder Andre Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) from Winter Haven, Fla. puts his perfect record and title on the line against top contender Freddy Hernandez (29-1, 20 KOs) of Mexico City in a scheduled 12-round, 147-pound contest. Berto is defending his title for the fourth time, while Hernandez will be making his first world title challenge.
The evening kicks off with a scheduled ten-round super featherweight bout pitting fast-rising Celestino Caballero (34-2, 23 KOs) from Panama City, Panama against Jason Litzau (27-2, 21 KOs) of St. Paul, Minn. Caballero, who has a super bantamweight title, is often listed amongst the sport’s best and most avoided fighters, and is moving up to challenge Litzau at 130 pounds. Litzau earned the opportunity to face Caballero by defeating former Olympic Silver Medalist Rocky Juarez in his last bout.
All HBO boxing events are broadcast in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.
The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Dave Harmon; director, Marc Payton.
® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.