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Top Rank on ESPN to Feature Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Jose Pedraza WBA/WBO Lightweight Unification Bout

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.

Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing

Top Rank on ESPN

  • 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

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