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HBO's live bi-coastal welterweight tripleheader on Saturday night (9 ET/6 PT), one of the network's biggest nights of boxing in years, meant mapping out complicated announcer assignments. Here's what you will see an hear Saturday night:
• Bob Papa and Max Kellerman will be at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., calling the first two bouts of the night -- titlist Kermit Cintron's defense against Walter Matthysse and Arturo Gatti's fight against "Contender" star Alfonso Gomez.
• HBO analyst Emanuel Steward is also Cintron's trainer, but will wear a microphone and provide occasional comments during the bout. When it's over, he'll join Papa and Kellerman at ringside to call Gatti-Gomez.
• The scene will then shift to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., where Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant will call the de facto main event, Antonio Margarito's much-anticipated title defense against mandatory challenger Paul Williams. Analyst Lennox Lewis won't work at either site because he is attending his brother's wedding this weekend.
• Harold Lederman, HBO's unofficial ringside judge, will be in Atlantic City, where he will score the two fights there. After Gatti-Gomez, he and Steward will watch Margarito-Williams via monitor. Lederman will score the fight and Steward will provide analysis to go along with Lampley and Merchant.
• Although it depends on how long the fights go, viewers probably will also see highlights from undercard fights from Carson involving 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward and heavyweight prospect Cristobal Arreola.
• When the tripleheader is over, boxing continues on HBO when "Countdown to Hopkins-Wright" premiers immediately following live fight coverage. The 30-minute special previews next Saturday night's HBO PPV fight between light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright.
• Bob Papa and Max Kellerman will be at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., calling the first two bouts of the night -- titlist Kermit Cintron's defense against Walter Matthysse and Arturo Gatti's fight against "Contender" star Alfonso Gomez.
• HBO analyst Emanuel Steward is also Cintron's trainer, but will wear a microphone and provide occasional comments during the bout. When it's over, he'll join Papa and Kellerman at ringside to call Gatti-Gomez.
• The scene will then shift to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., where Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant will call the de facto main event, Antonio Margarito's much-anticipated title defense against mandatory challenger Paul Williams. Analyst Lennox Lewis won't work at either site because he is attending his brother's wedding this weekend.
• Harold Lederman, HBO's unofficial ringside judge, will be in Atlantic City, where he will score the two fights there. After Gatti-Gomez, he and Steward will watch Margarito-Williams via monitor. Lederman will score the fight and Steward will provide analysis to go along with Lampley and Merchant.
• Although it depends on how long the fights go, viewers probably will also see highlights from undercard fights from Carson involving 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward and heavyweight prospect Cristobal Arreola.
• When the tripleheader is over, boxing continues on HBO when "Countdown to Hopkins-Wright" premiers immediately following live fight coverage. The 30-minute special previews next Saturday night's HBO PPV fight between light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright.
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