The April 18 edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates presentado por Corona Extra will feature the semifinals of the Middleweight portion of Boxcino 2014 sponsored by 1800 Tequila.
Friday’s show, from the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, broadband Spanish-language ESPN Deportes+ and WatchESPN. ESPN Deportes will televise the fights at 10:30 p.m. The card is promoted by Banner Promotions.
New Picture (1)Commentators:
Todd Grisham (@GrishamESPN), filling in for Joe Tessitore, will be ringside with Teddy Atlas describing the action for ESPN2, while Doug Kezirian will fill in for Grisham in the studio. Delvin Rodríguez and Pablo Viruega will call the fights for Noche de Combates (Fight Night) on both ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes+, while Leopoldo González and Claudia Trejos will anchor the studio. Bilingual reporter Bernardo Osuna (@osunaespn) will present live interviews and reports for both shows.
Middleweight Semifinal Matchups: Eight Rounds Each
The semifinal round of the Middleweight tournament will feature:
Vitalii Kopylenko (22-0, 12 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (16-1, 6 KOs)
Raymond Gatica (16-5, 13 KOs) vs. Brandon Adams (13-0, 9 KOs)
Middleweight Division Bracket (full-size bracket attached):
Fighter Backgrounds:
N.Y.’s Monroe Jr., the son of former Middleweight contender Willie Monroe, is coming off a six-round unanimous decision win over Donatas Bondas (Bondorovas) in the quarterfinal round of the Boxcino tournament. Kopylenko, fighting out of the Ukraine and a stablemate of WBO Junior Welterweight titlist Ruslan Provodnikov, scored a second-round TKO win over Cerresso Fort in the quarterfinals.
Los Angeles’ Adams is coming off a fourth-round TKO win over Daniel Edouard in the quarterfinal round, while Texas’ Gatica is looking to advance to the finals following a fourth-round TKO win over Sena Agbeko.
About Boxcino 2014:
The tournament, which started in February, is a single-elimination, two-weight class competition featuring eight fighters in the Lightweight and Middleweight divisions. Tournament details, TV schedule and brackets can be found on ESPN MediaZone. ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions Brian Kweder, who oversees content strategy and acquisition for ESPN’s soccer, boxing and bowling properties, recently discussed the tournament in a Q&A on ESPN Front Row. Friday’s Middleweight winners will join Lightweights Petr Petrov and Fernando Cárcamo for a special night of boxing in the big finale for Boxcino 2014 on Friday, May 23, also at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y. The fights will be televised live at 9 p.m. on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
Upcoming ESPN Boxing Schedule:
Date
Time (ET)
Main Event
Location
Networks
Thu, Apr 24
9 p.m.
Josesito López (31-6, 18 KOs) vs. Aron Martínez (19-2-1, 4 KOs)—10 rounds, Jr. Welterweights
Agua Caliente Casino, Palm Springs, Calif.
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
Thu, May 1
9 p.m.
Roberto García (34-3, 22 KOs) vs. Victor Manuel Cayo (32-4, 23 KOs)—10 rounds, Welterweights
Hialeah Park Race Track, Hialeah, Fla.
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
Sat, May 10
8 p.m.
WBC World Heavyweight Championship: Bermane Stiverne (23-1-1, 20 KOs) vs. Chris Arreola (36-3, 31 KOs)—12 rounds
USC Galen Center,
Los Angeles
ESPN, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
*Schedule subject to change
Friday Night Fights and Noche de Combates Social Media:
· Follow ESPN Friday Night Fights on Twitter @ESPNFNF or like it on Facebook.
· Score the fights round-by-round with the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the ESPN FNF Facebook page that allows viewers to score the fight round-by-round.
· Follow ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates on Twitter @ESPNBoxeo.
· For the latest ESPN.com boxing news and analysis follow @ESPNBoxing.