Showtime Invests Further Into The Middleweight Division

By Jake Donovan

Showtime formally announced its plans on Tuesday for live coverage to be provided for the December 19 showdown between Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders, confirming a news entry provided by BoxingScene.com over the weekend.

The middleweight title fight will air live on SHO Extreme (5:00 p.m. ET/PT) from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England in a special edition of Showtime Boxing International. An encore showing will air later evening at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, also on SHO Extreme.

BoxNation will air the event live in the United Kingdom.

The latest addition to the schedule marks nine live broadcasts over nine weekends (including back-to-back weekends of coverage on SHO Extreme preceding Showtime Championship Boxing on the flagship network) to end 2015 on a high note.

Lee (34-2-1, 24KOs) makes the second defense of the middleweight crown he won with a thrilling, 5th round come-from-behind knockout of Matt Korobov last December. The lone fight between then and now for the Irish southpaw came in April, fighting to a 12-round draw with former champ Peter Quillin – who faces Daniel Jacbos this weekend in Brooklyn, which airs live on Showtime.

The winners of the two middleweight bouts could wind up in a head-on collision in 2016. It’s not yet written in stone, but served as a motivating factor in Showtime picking up U.S. rights for the BoxNation broadcast.

“We’re excited to deliver this important matchup of top middleweights to the U.S. audience,” Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports said in a network statement. “The 160-pound class is one of boxing’s hottest and deepest divisions right now, and the winner of this fight should position himself for a major showdown or unification in 2016.”

For the event’s primary promoter – Frank Warren – it’s means to reconnect with an old friend.

“I’m delighted that Showtime will now be televising Lee vs. Saunders live in the U.S. as it confirms the importance of this fight on the world scene,” said Warren, who promotes Saunders. “My relationship with the network goes back many years with fights like Joe Calzaghe vs. Jeff Lacy, Ricky Hatton vs. Kostya Tszyu, Frank Bruno vs. Oliver McCall, plus Naseem Hamed and Nigel Benn fights.

“I believe that Lee vs. Saunders will be another great fight to add to that list because of what’s at stake for both fighters. What lies ahead for the winner will make them fight to their very best.”

Saunders (22-0, 12KOs) challenges for his first major title. The unbeaten contender from England earned the opportunity with a 12-round win over hated rival Chris Eubank Jr. last November, having fought just once since then, a stay-busy knockout win in July.

The reason for the lack of activity for both middleweights is due to injuries and ailments suffered by both. The fight – which marks the first time ever that members of separate Travelling communities meet for a major title – was originally slated to take place in Dublin this past September, only for Lee to come up ill in forcing a postponement.

Lack of availability at the intended venue in accordance with suggested BoxNation TV dates in the United Kingdom forced event handlers to relocate the fight to Manchester. The bout was rescheduled for October 10 in Manchester, only for Saunders to suffer an injury.

That leads to the December 19 showing, with patience proving to be a virtue as the event now gets additional exposure.

“It’s great that my fans in the U.S. will get to see the fight between me and Saunders,” said Lee, a 2004 Olympian for Ireland who gets to fight in front of a U.S. televised audience for his fourth straight fight. “I guarantee it’s going to be exciting.”

For Saunders, it’s the first time that stateside boxing fans will get to see him in the pro ranks.

“This is a massive night for me and I’m excited that it’s going out live to America,” said Saunders, who represented Great Britain in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “The U.S. viewers will get to see just what I can do when I face Lee and become world champion.

“It’s a big boost for me and takes the fight to another level when American TV comes on board and then you know it’s a big fight on the world stage.”

While the tentative plan is for Showtime to pursue a future matchup between winners of the December 5 and December 19 broadcasts, Saunders hopes that a win will allow him to expand his horizons to all of the top middleweight players.

“I hope that (Gennady) Golovkin and (Miguel) Cotto (and recent Cotto conqueror Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez) will be both watching because I’m fast approaching their level and they’ll get to see what I’m all about,” notes Saunders.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox