By Jake Donovan
The Showtime boxing schedule has been extended by one more week, ending its year on a high note with live coverage of the December 19 middleweight title fight between Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders.
News of the fight being picked up by the American cable network was announced Saturday evening, in between bouts on SHO Extreme live from Quebec City, Canada. The middleweight scrap - which takes place at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England - will air live in a Saturday afternoon edition of Showtime Boxing International on Showtime's flagship station, in addition to primary covearge on BoxNation in the United Kingdom.
Both fighters represented their home countries in separate Olympic Games. Lee fought for Ireland during the 2004 Athens Olympics, outpointing Alfredo Angulo before dropping a decision Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam in the second round of competition. Saunders fought for Great Britain in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, also bowing out in the second round of welterweight competition.
Lee (34-2-1, 24KOs) will make the second defense of the belt he acquired in a come-from-behind 5th round knockout of Matt Korobov last December. His lone fight in between came in April, fighting to a 12-round draw with unbeaten former champ Peter Quillin, who will face Daniel Jacobs in a December 5 headlining attraction on Showtime Championship Boxing at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Saunders (22-0, 12KOs) has enjoyed a successful run as an unbeaten contender in the pro ranks. Wins over four straight undefeated middleweights propelled him into title contention, a run that was topped by a 12-round decision over heated rival Chris Eubank Jr. last Novem ber.
Just one fight has followed - a 4th round stoppage over clubfighter Yoann Bloyer this past July. The stay-busy fight came in place of a planned crack at Lee, who suffered an injury and was forced to postpone their title fight from September in Ireland to October 17 in Manchester.
The rescheduled bout also suffered a postponement, as Saunders was injured during training, thus pushing back the bout until December.
At one point, HBO was reportedly interested in securing the rights to the fight, Had the American cable giant been successful, it would have led off an already loaded December 19 fight day with bouts planned for HBO Latino and its flagship network.
It also would have added to its own middleweight stable, on the heels of Gennady Golovkin's knockout win over David Lemieux and - more recently - Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez' World middleweight championship lifting effort over Miguel Cotto just one week ago in Las Vegas.
Whether or not interest passed or the network brass let it slip through the cracks amidst major changes at the top level, Showtime was able to jump in and snatch the intriguing middleweight title bout. It serves as a perfect complement to its divisional predecessor two weeks prior in Quillin-Jacobs and allows Showtime to atone for a relatively slow moving year by ending with a bang.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
