ESPN will now broadcast the entire Vasiliy Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez card
ESPN announced on Tuesday that the entire Vasiliy Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez lightweight world championship fight will now be televised in its entirety, after the nationally televised LSU-Florida college football game (4 p.m. ET start) on Saturday night. Live coverage is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+.
Originally, only the Lomachenko-Lopez, Alex Saucedo-Arnold Barboza Jr. and Edgar Berlanga-Lanell Bellows fights were scheduled to be shown on ESPN, with the undercard on ESPN+. The entire show will now pick up after the LSU-Florida game is over.
The final press conference will be shown live on ESPN2, Wednesday, Oct 14 at 8 p.m. ET, and the live weigh-in will take place Friday, Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
The lightweight title megafight between WBC Franchise/WBA/Ring Magazine and WBO lightweight titleholder Lomachenko (14-1, 10 knockouts) and IBF lightweight beltholder Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) will be shown live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The 10-round junior welterweight co-main features former world title challenger Alex Saucedo against unbeaten contender Arnold Barboza Jr. In the eight-round ESPN-televised opener, super middleweight knockout sensation Edgar Berlanga tests his perfect record against veteran Lanell Bellows. Berlanga (14-0, 14 KOs) has won all 14 of his professional fights by first-round stoppage.
Fight week and fight night programming will feature ESPN’s boxing commentator team, including veteran broadcaster Joe Tessitore for ringside commentary, alongside former two-division world champion and 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward, and future Hall of Famer Timothy Bradley on the analysis. The onsite location desk team will feature ESPN’s boxing reporter Bernardo Osuna and ESPN’s boxing insider Mark Kriegel.
Schedule of Live Lomachenko vs. Lopez Content on ESPN Platforms
Wed, 10/14 8:00 p.m.
Lomachenko vs. Lopez Final Press Conference (LIVE)
ESPN2
Fri, 10/16
5:00 p.m.
Top Rank: Lomachenko vs. Lopez Weigh-In Special (LIVE)
ESPN2
5:30 p.m.
Max on Boxing: Lomachenko vs. Lopez Weigh-In Special (LIVE)
ESPN2
Sat., 10/17
7:30 p.m.
Top Rank Boxing on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Lopez (Undercard) (LIVE)
ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+
10:00 p.m.
Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Lopez (Main Card) (LIVE)
ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+
Main Card, Undercards and Early Undercards (All times ET)
10:00 PM Main
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez
ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+
Co-Feature
Alex Saucedo vs. Arnold Barboza Jr.
Feature
Edgar Berlanga vs. Lanell Bellows
7:30 PM Undercards
Kendo Castaneda vs. Josue Vargas
ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+
Clay Collard vs. Quincy LaVallais
Jose Enrique Vivas vs. John Vincent Moralde
Jan Carlos Rivera vs. Quinton Randall
Jahi Tucker vs. Charles Garner
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on twitter @JSantoliquito.
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