Two devastating knockout specialists go toe-to-toe as the sport’s most decorated heavyweight puts his crown on the line to battle a fearless challenger when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO VS. DAVID HAYE is seen live SATURDAY, JULY 2 (4:45 p.m. ET/1:45 p.m. PT) from the Hamburg Imtech Arena in Hamburg, Germany, exclusively on HBO, with a replay later that same day at 9:45 p.m. (ET/PT). The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Roy Jones Jr. will call the action, which will be presented in HDTV and in Spanish on HBO Latino, as well as closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired.
Other HBO playdates: July 3 (9:15 a.m.) and 4 (11:50 p.m.)
Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs) of Kiev, Ukraine returns to Germany hoping to extend his winning streak to 14 matches. A heavyweight titleholder since 2006, he added a second belt to his collection in 2008. With enormous punching power and overwhelming size and strength, the 35-year-old is the dominant force in the heavyweight division. After 49 knockouts, Klitschko looks to add another belt to his collection.
A former cruiserweight champion and current heavyweight titleholder, London’s David Haye (25-1, 23 KOs) has delivered dominating knockouts with his aggressive and charismatic fighting style. Moving up to the heavyweight division in Nov. 2008, Haye proved he had the power to win big in the division, taking a title belt from Nikolay Valuev in 2009. Now, the 30-year-old rising star seeks to capture boxing’s top prize before a partisan outdoor crowd.
One of the most highly anticipated heavyweight fights in years, this title unification bout could fill the 55,000-seat Hamburg Imtech Arena, which is home to German Bundesliga soccer club Hamburg SV.
All WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING events are broadcast in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.
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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.
Melligen vs. Lujan, Bey Jr. vs. Rodriguez on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights
ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra will originate from San Antonio, Texas July 1 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN3D, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3.com when former welterweight world title challenger Sebastian “Iron” Lujan (37-5-2, 1 ND, 23 KOs) and undefeated lightweight Mickey Bey (16-0-1, 8 KOs) are featured in co-main events. Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside at Freeman Coliseum describing the action, while studio host Brian Kenny will present all the latest boxing news and highlights. The card is presented by Top Rank Promotions.
Friday will be the third telecast on ESPN 3D, with additional telecasts July 8, July 22 and August 5.
ESPN Deportes will present an interview with the USA’s number-one ranked amateur Jose Ramirez, who won the USA lightweight championship last weekend in Colorado Springs, qualifying for the Olympic trials in Mobile in August.
This Friday Argentina’s Lujan who has won his last 11 fights, including a May 10-round unanimous decision win over Jorge Miranda in his last fight, will meet the Philippine’s “Mighty” Mark Melligen (21-2, 14 KOs). Lujan took this fight on short notice when originally scheduled Freddy Hernandez was injured in training.
“We’ve wanted this fight with Melligen for some time,” said Lujan’s advisor Ray Alcorta. “When Hernandez was injured, I called the matchmaker and told him Lujan was still in the gym and ready to go, and they took him. He’s in good shape. He’s ready to fight.”
Cleveland’s Bey, looking to rebound after an eight-round draw against Jose Hernandez in his last fight, will meet Mexico’s Alejandro “Soma” Rodriguez (12-3, 6 KOs). Bey, a 2004 U.S. Olympian trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr. said, “I’ve been getting ready for this fight for about six weeks so far, Floyd is pretty well-rounded and so am I. You never know what a guy’s going to, so I just go in there, feel him out, see what he’s going to do. That’s what I do every fight.”
Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Tomas Villa added to Lara-Williams undercard on 7/9
Los Angeles, CA (June 29, 2011) – World Boxing Council (WBC) Featherweight Champion, Jhonny Gonzalez, returns to the ring on a Televisa broadcast, after becoming a three-time World Champion this past April when he traveled to Japan to knockout the defending World Champion, Hozumi Haswegawa in the 4th round.
With Mexico’s premier television network televising prior to the live HBO broadcast, Gonzalez will showcase his devastating power-punching skills against the tough Texan, Tomas “El Norteño” Villa, on July 9 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City with the 12-round bout between Paul “The Punisher” Williams and undefeated Cuban Erislandy Lara, in what will be the first defense of Gonzalez under the promotional partnership between Del Pueblo Promotions and Goossen Tutor Promotions.
Fights between Mexicans and Mexico-Americans have been historic in the international boxing landscape for many years, including one’s between the great Ruben “Puas” Olivares and Bobby Chacon; Oscar de la Hoya vs. Julio Cesar Chavez; “Jessie” James Leija against Gabriel Ruelas; Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz, along with many others, and Televisa jumped at the chance to spotlight Gonzalez as he looks to join these elite ranks with his challenge against Villa.
“El Norteño,” as Villa is commonly referred to, is a true warrior of the ring. In his last bout Villa thoroughly outgunned Salvador Sanchez II, and believes he can do the same with the Mexican World Champion.
“It’s a dream for me fighting for a World Championship after 10 years of hard work. I will fight to the finish and do everything I can to become World Champion,” Villa said.
Gonzalez, along with his recently inducted Hall of Fame manager and trainer, Ignacio Beristain, have their sight on keeping the title against the rugged Villa.
Gonzalez stated, “I’ve got the best of both worlds, fighting in the U.S. and letting my fans see me in Mexico on Televisa. I will go out there and do what fans love to see from their fighters, look to knock Villa out cold!”
Oswaldo Kuchkle of Del Pueblo Promotions said it was the opportunity needed for Jhonny to be able to go that next step. “With Televisa and HBO present, what better way for Jhonny to make a statement that he’s willing to fight any of the other champions. We would like to bring (Orlando) Salido or (Elio) Rojas to Mexico in a big event or (Yuriorkis) Gamboa if he’s up to the challenge.”
ABOUT WILLIAMS VS. LARA EVENT
Paul “The Punisher” Williams looks to make statement against unbeaten and world ranked Cuba native Erislandy Lara (15-0-1, 10 KOs) in a battle of southpaws. Williams-Lara headlines the HBO telecast in a scheduled 12-round bout, which also features WBA #1-ranked Rico Ramos (19-0, 10 KOs) challenging World Champion, Akifumi Shimoda (23-2-1, 10 KOs) in a 12-round bout for the Tokyo native’s WBA Super Bantamweight Championship. The undercard event preceding the televised portion features heavyweight sensation Chris Arreola (32-2, 28 KOs) taking on hard-punching Friday “The 13th” Ahunanya (24-7-3,13 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout.
The championship event is promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions and hosted by Caesars Atlantic City with the Williams-Lara bout being presented in association with Golden Boy Promotions and the Ramos-Shimoda bout being presented in association with Teiken Promotions. The Williams vs. Lara and Shimoda vs. Ramos bouts will be broadcast on HBO’s Boxing After Dark beginning at 10:15 PM ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). Doors open at 6:30pm and first bout begins at 7:00pm. Tickets, priced at $300, $200, $100 and $50, can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at ticketmaster.com.