- Live and Exclusively on ESPN, ESPN Deportes
- Saturday, December 8 at 9 p.m. ET from The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden
- ESPN+ to Stream Undercards Live Starting at 6 p.m. ET
One of the biggest boxing events of the year airs live on ESPN Saturday, December 8 from The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The reigning WBA lightweight champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) is set to take on WBO champion Jose “Sniper” Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs) in a title unification main event airing live and exclusively on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET, immediately following the live presentation of the 2018 Heisman Trophy Ceremony.
Top Rank on ESPN will drop gloves just after 6 p.m. ET starting with the undercards on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment and ESPN.
Two additional fights round out Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN with marquee appearances by rising stars Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe and Teofimo Lopez. ESPN+ will stream the undercards live headlined by Guido Vianello facing Luke Lyon (5-1-1, 2 KOs) starting at 6 p.m. ET.
Calling the fight for ESPN will be Joe Tessitore and Mark Kriegel, with former two-division world titleholder, Tim Bradley (analyst), reporter Bernardo Osuna and on-location studio contributors Stephen A. Smith, Kevin Connors, former pound-for-pound two-division world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward, and ESPN Deportes’ coverage includes play-by-play from Robert Sierra and analyst Delvin Rodriguez.
ESPN’s official coverage of fight week kicked off Monday, December 3 with “Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko” – an encore presentation of Vasiliy Lomachenko’s last two fights — Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Guillermo Rigondeaux (December 9, 2017) and Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Jorge Linares (May 12, 2018).
ESPN+ will also feature:
Countdown to Lomachenko vs. Pedraza, a four-part series that takes viewers behind the scenes as one of the world’s great pound-for-pound fighters attempts to unify lightweight world titles against WBO world champion Pedraza. Episodes include:
“Loma: Under the Knife” (available now) — rare footage of Lomachenko prepping for shoulder surgery, the surgery itself, how he injured it vs. Jorge Linares, and how his team handled his comeback.
Unifying The Belts (premieres today) — Lomachenko and Pedraza talk about their chances and ambitions to unify the lightweight title belts.
Fishing with Loma (premieres Wednesday, Dec 5) — Behind the scenes day fishing with Lomachenko and his team off the coast of California.
Training The Loma Way (premieres Thursday, Dec 6) — Inside Team Lomachenko’s unique training strategies, including unique outdoor and mental training.
The final press conference, which will stream live on Thursday, December 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET.
The Boxing Beat with Dan Rafael premieres Tuesday, the weekly ESPN+ original show will include a look ahead to Lomachenko vs. Pedraza with ESPN boxing guru Dan Rafael.
The weigh-in will stream live Friday, Dec 7 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Also airing on ESPN2.
News & Information, Digital and SportsCenter
Leading up to the fight, ESPN will preview the event on studio programming and online, including:
- On air profiles of Lomachenko by Teddy Atlas and Pedraza by Mark Kriegel
- Up-to-date on-scene coverage every step of the way from Rafael who will be with the fighters multiple days this week
- News updates and a complete guide to the fight on ESPN.com and the ESPN app from Rafael out Friday, December 7
- ESPN Fantasy game Streak for the Cash will offer fight predictions for the Co-Main and Main Event during the ESPN live event telecast Saturday, December 8
Top Rank on ESPN (All times Eastern) 2018
Date Time Event Platform
Mon, Dec 3
8:00 p.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko ESPN2
Tue, Dec 4
12:00 a.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko ESPNEWS
11:30 p.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko ESPN2
Thu, Dec 6
9:00 p.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko ESPNEWS
12:30 p.m. Lomachenko vs Pedraza Final Press Conference ESPN+
Fri, Dec 7
1:00 a.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko ESPN2
1:30 p.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In ESPN2, ESPN+ 9:00 p.m. (re-air) Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In ESPNEWS
Sat, Dec 8
12:00 a.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko ESPNEWS 2:00 a.m. (re-air) Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In ESPNEWS 11:30 a.m. (re-air) Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In ESPNEWS 12:00 p.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Best of Lomachenko ESPNEWS 5:00 p.m. (re-air) Top Rank on ESPN: Lomachenko vs. Pedraza Weigh-In ESPNEWS 6:00 p.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Undercards ESPN+ 9:00 p.m. Top Rank on ESPN: Main Event Vasiliy Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) vs. Jose Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs) Isaac Dogboe (20-0, 14 KOs) vs Emanuel Navarrete (25-1, 22 KOs) Teofimo Lopez (10-0, 8 KOs) vs Mason Menard (34-3, 24 KOs) ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio
Sun, Dec 9
1 a.m. (re-air) Top Rank on ESPN (Main Event) ESPN2 5 p.m. (re-air) Top Rank on ESPN (Main Event) ESPN Deportes 8 p.m. (re-air) Top Rank on ESPN (Main Event) ESPN2
