HBO’s hit late-night boxing franchise presents an action-packed tripleheader when HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: ROCKY MARTINEZ VS. MIKEY GARCIA, NONITO DONAIRE VS. VIC DARCHINYAN II AND VANES MARTIROSYAN VS. DEMETRIUS ANDRADE is seen SATURDAY, NOV. 9 at 9:30 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Tex., exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Other HBO playdates: Nov. 10 (9:00 a.m.) and 11 (12:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Nov. 10 (4:00 p.m.) and 12 (11:30 p.m.)
In the 12-round main event, Puerto Rico’s Roman “Rocky” Martinez (27-1-2, 16 KOs) puts his junior lightweight title on the line against fast-rising Mikey Garcia (32-0, 27 KOs) of Oxnard, Cal. Martinez, 30, will be defending his belt for the third time this year following a split-decision victory over the previously undefeated Diego Magdaleno in April. Garcia, 25, makes his debut in the 130-pound weight class after holding a featherweight title earlier this year. The undefeated slugger is quickly becoming one of the most feared punchers in the fight game, having seen the final bell just twice in his last 22 contests, a span of five years. The bout marks Martinez’s second appearance on the network and Garcia’s sixth.
The co-main event, a featherweight fight scheduled for ten rounds, is a rematch between Filipino Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KOs) of San Leandro, Cal., and Armenian Vic Darchinyan (39-5-1, 28 KOs) of Glendale, Cal. In July 2007, Donaire scored the upset of the year when he knocked out then-undefeated flyweight titlist Darchinyan in the fifth round of his seventh title defense. Donaire, 30, launched his career to new heights with that win, while Darchinyan, 37, had to battle his way back into the championship ranks.
The evening opens with a pair of undefeated records and a vacant world title belt on the line, as Vanes Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21 KOs) of Glendale, Cal., squares off against Demetrius Andrade (19-0, 13 KOs) of Providence, RI, in 12-round a junior middleweight fight. Martirosyan, 27, puts his Olympic skills to the test after a draw against Erislandy Lara last November. An Olympian with a highly-decorated amateur career, Andrade, 25, has knocked out three of his last four opponents and is making his HBO debut.
The first episode of the HBO reality series “24/7 Pacquiao/Rios” debuts at approximately 12:15 a.m. (ET/PT) immediately following the boxing action.
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All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.
