ESPN+, the upcoming direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International in partnership with ESPN and featuring ESPN branded content, will launch on April 12 and offer fans a dynamic lineup of live sports, original content and an unmatched library of award-winning on-demand programming – all for a subscription price of $4.99 per month.
On April 21st from the SSE Arena in Belfast, Ireland, a match-up of two well known and accomplished featherweights takes place as Carl Frampton (24-1, 14 KOs) faces Nonito Donaire. As of now, no U.S. television network has picked up the rights for this bout.
There has never been a heavyweight to unify four major sanctioning body titles. After this weekend, one big step in that direction should be made. The WBA/IBF/IBO titlist Joshua (20-0, 20 KO) is already the most consistent ticket seller in the sport and he’s really just getting started. Is he the next dynasty at the top of the scale or do we look back one day and see one of the best promoted flashes in the pan ever?
This coming Saturday night, Showtime will televise the sixth fight involving IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs). Showtime signed a multi-fight deal with Joshua in the aftermath of his big IBF world title win over Charles Martin in early 2016.
The Top Rank/ESPN series has been on a strong run of late and that continued this weekend with the entertaining slugfest between Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam, who went 12 hard fought rounds with Ramirez coming away with the vacant WBC 140-pound title.
The biggest boxing star in the California Central Valley since at least Hector Lizarraga, if not Mac Foster, takes his act to the Big Apple. 2012 Olympian Jose Ramirez (21-0, 16 KO) will attempt to win a vacant WBC belt at 140 lbs. against dangerous Amir Imam (21-1, 18 KO) in a fight that could answer big questions about both men.
HBO Boxing jets across the Atlantic to familiar territory – the boxing hotbed of London, England for an important heavyweight matchup as HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: DILLIAN WHYTE VS. LUCAS BROWNE is presented SATURDAY, MAR. 24 at 6:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) with a same-day replay at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) from the landmark O2 venue in London. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
The ratings for Oscar Valdez’s fight Saturday night were significantly higher than for his previous ESPN appearance. The card headlined by Valdez’s victory over Scott Quigg drew an average of 1.1 million viewers, according to ratings released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Valdez’s previous fight on ESPN, a unanimous-decision defeat of Genesis Servania on September 22, helped draw an average audience of 706,000.
Mikey Garcia’s victory over Sergey Lipinets didn’t draw as many viewers as Garcia’s win against Adrien Broner in his previous fight. Garcia-Lipinets was watched by a peak audience of 689,000 and averaged 618,000 viewers Saturday night, according to ratings released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Garcia-Broner peaked at 937,000 viewers and averaged 881,000 on July 29.
Last night's Top Rank on ESPN saw Oscar Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs) retain his WBO featherweight title against Scott Quigg while fighting under a canopy at the rainy StubHub Center, the famed outdoor boxing venue in Carson, Calif. south of downtown Los Angeles. The telecast includes two of 2018’s top five highest-rated fights on cable television in 2018, according to preliminary audience results from Nielsen. The Valdez vs. Quigg world championship fight aired live and exclusively on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and streamed live on the ESPN App.