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. ET on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App
Undercards Live on ESPN+ Starting at 5:30 pm ET.
Top Rank on ESPN returns to the big house at Madison Square Garden, the historic “Mecca of Boxing”, this Saturday, December 14, for a live presentation of a special tripleheader headlined by pound-for-pound undefeated king, Terence “Bud” Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs), defending his WBO welterweight world title against mandatory challenger, Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 17 KOs). The undercard bouts will stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. Main event coverage will air exclusively on ESPN and stream on the ESPN App (in Spanish) starting at 9 p.m. ET. ESPN Deportes will join the event in progress at 10 p.m. ET.
The tripleheader will also feature IBF lightweight world champion Richard “RC” Commey (29-2, 26 KOs) defending his title against Brooklyn native and rising star Teofimo Lopez (14-0, 11 KOs). In addition, in a 10-round featherweight special attraction, Irish sensation and New York fan favorite Michael “Mick” Conlan (12-0, 7 KOs), will take on the undefeated Russian Vladimir Nikitin (3-0, 0 KOs) in a rematch of their highly controversial 2016 Olympic quarterfinal bout.
Calling the action for ESPN will be Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), former #1 pound-for-pound two-division world titleholder and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward (analyst), and former two-division world titleholder Tim Bradley (analyst). The on-location desk team will feature analysis from Max Kellerman, Mark Kriegel and Bernardo Osuna.
ESPN’s presentation will feature unique production enhancements to bring fans closer to the ring and deliver views that enhance their experience. The production will feature 25 cameras, including a mini FlyCam, an aerial tracking camera system, five super-slow-motion cameras, a jib camera for unique 360-degree vertical and horizontal shots, as well as bumper corner cameras. The mini FlyCam and bumper corner cameras were exclusively developed for Top Rank on ESPN telecasts.
ESPN’s official coverage of fight week continues Wed., Dec 11 with a re-air of “Blood, Sweat & Tears: Countdown to Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas,” (ESPNEWS, 8 p.m. ET) a show that takes fans inside the training camps of the main event fighters.
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Top Rank on ESPN (All times Eastern)
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Date
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Time
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Event
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Platform
|
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Wed., Dec 11
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12:00 p.m.
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Top Rank Boxing on ESPN: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas Press Conference (Live)
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ESPN+
|
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8:00 p.m.
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Blood, Sweat & Tears: Countdown to Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas (re-air)
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ESPNEWS
|
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Fri, Dec 13
|
1:00 a.m.
|
Blood, Sweat & Tears: Countdown to Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas (re-air)
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ESPN2
|
|
4:30 p.m.
|
Max on Boxing: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas Weigh-In (Live)
|
ESPN2
|
|
8:00 p.m.
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Max on Boxing: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas Weigh-In (re-air)
|
ESPNEWS
|
|
10:00 p.m.
|
Max on Boxing: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas Weigh-In (re-air)
|
ESPN2
|
|
11:00 p.m.
|
Blood, Sweat & Tears: Countdown to Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas (re-air)
|
ESPNEWS
|
|
12:00 a.m.
|
Max on Boxing: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas Weigh-In (re-air)
|
ESPNEWS
|
|
1:00 a.m.
|
Max on Boxing: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas Weigh-In (re-air)
|
ESPN2
|
|
Sat., Dec 14
|
5:30 p.m.
|
Top Rank on ESPN: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas Undercards (Live)
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ESPN+
|
|
|
9:00 p.m.
|
Top Rank Boxing on ESPN: Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas (Live)
|
ESPN, ESPN App (in Spanish); ESPN Deportes (joining in progress at 10 p.m. ET)
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About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming service from Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ grew quickly to 3.5 million subscribers in 18 months, offering fans thousands of live events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks, as well as premium editorial content.
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Steven “So Cold” Nelson and Cem “Champ” Kilic were set to tangle Saturday evening in a battle of unbeaten super middleweights on Terence Crawford’s undercard, but an unexpected injury changed their plans.
Nelson and Kilic will now fight in a 10-rounder for the vacant NABO title Saturday, Jan. 11 as the co-feature to the Jesse Hart-Joe Smith Jr. main event at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena (ESPN & streaming on the ESPN App (Spanish), 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). The co-feature slot became available after Rob “Bravo” Brant, who was set to fight Habib “Wild Hurricane” Ahmed, suffered a torn biceps.
“This is one of those moments. When this opportunity presented itself, I knew I had to take it,” Nelson said. “I compare this to when Terence Crawford got the late call to fight Breidis Prescott on HBO. He took advantage of that opportunity, and I am going to take advantage of the ESPN spotlight.”
“While I’m disappointed not to fight on the Dec. 14 card, I am beyond excited to showcase my talent to an even bigger audience just four weeks later on ESPN,” Kilic said. “I have been working hard in Florida with Buddy McGirt so all sports fans can see the best Cem Kilic on fight night!”
Nelson (15-0, 12 KOs), from Omaha, Neb., is part of one of boxing’s great stables, the Brian “BoMac” McIntyre-trained crew that also includes Crawford and junior lightweight world champion Jamel Herring. A 2012 U.S. Olympic team alternate and a U.S. Army veteran, Nelson took up the sport in 2010. He won the first 14 bouts of his career as a light heavyweight before moving down to super middleweight. In his super middleweight debut, Sept. 1 in Omaha, Nelson blew away Derrick Findley in four rounds. Kilic (14-0, 9 KOs) is a Los Angeles-based native of Germany who has won four of his last five by stoppage, most recently stopping Martez McGregor June 15 on the Tyson Fury-Tom Schwarz undercard.
The winner of this battle of world-ranked 168-pounders will position himself for a shot at one of the world titles. Nelson and Kilic have to wait four more weeks for the fight of their lives.
