BRISTOL, CTm January 9 — Future Hall of Fame middleweight and light heavyweight great Bernard Hopkins has been hired by ESPN as a “boxing analyst” for the 2009 season of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. Hopkins, who will make a series of regular appearances on the show, will handle his first assignment tonight alongside ESPN longtime host Brian Kenny for the FNF season debut featuring Cuban rising stars Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Erislandy Lara from Terrible’s Primm Valley Casino Resorts in Primm, Nevada..
Hopkins will make regular appearances on the show and is excited to work with Kenny to hone his broadcasting skills.
“We anticipate that Bernard will add an entertaining and knowledgeable element to our Friday Night Fights coverage,” said Matt Sandulli, ESPN senior coordinating producer for Friday Night Fights.
“This is an area I have wanted to get in to for some time as everyone knows I like to talk, and definitely have an opinion,” Hopkins said shyly. “I will train as hard for this job as I do for my fights and hope to deliver the same championship results that have been part of my career. I appreciate ESPN giving me the opportunity and look forward to working with Brian Kenny, who is one of the best broadcasters in the business, to hone my skills and develop my broadcasting talent.”
Weigh-In Photos: Gamboa 126, Gonzalez 127½
All photos: Rick Pineda – “El Ciclon” Yuriorkis Gamboa will go into his fight tomorrow (Friday, January 9th) against Roger “Speedy” Gonzalez with 126 lbs. At today’s weigh-in at Terrible’s Primm Valley Casino Resorts Gonzalez showed up a little too heavy for their 10 round featherweight clash bringing 127.5 lbs.
Heavyweight sensation Odlanier Solis will give his US debut with 246 lbs. defending his WBC international champion title against “Big Man” Kevin Burnett (253 lbs.),
2005 world amateur champion Erislandy Lara brought 154 lbs. to the scale while his opponent Rodrigo Aguiar weighed in at 157 lbs.
The show will be broadcasted on ESPN2 as “Friday Night Fights” season premiere. There will be seven fights in total. Doors open at 5.00pm. Some tickets are still available for US$ 35.00 and US$ 10.00 (plus fees); call 1-800-FUN-STOP or visit www.primmvalleyresorts.com.