Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN (PBC on ESPN) presented by Corona Extra will feature live coverage on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN on Wednesday, Oct. 14 of former two-division world champion Devon Alexander “The Great” (26-3, 14 KOs) against Mexican Aron Martínez (19-4-1, 4 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout, from Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The live PBC on ESPN telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET with the co-main event: featherweight world champion Lee Selby (21-1, 8 KOs), making his U.S. debut, vs. Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel (54-4-2, 39 KOs), a former three-division world champion. ESPN Deportes will present Spanish-language coverage of the event as part of its Noche de Combates series.
Live streaming on WatchESPN will be available on computers, smartphones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One via an affiliated video provider. It will also air on ESPN International networks in Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean and the Pacific Rim.
Host Marysol Castro, blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas and reporters Todd Grisham and Bernardo Osuna comprise ESPN’s commentary team. In addition, Hall of Fame boxing writer and ESPN boxing contributor Nigel Collins will provide social media content, insight and analysis.
On ESPN Deportes, Pablo Viruega and Delvin Rodríguez will call the fights, while Leopoldo González, Claudia Trejos and Hall of Fame referee Joe Cortez, will host.
Additional Highlights:
· Nigel Collins narrates a special segment on how champions are made and takes a historical look at the top faces of boxing past.
· Atlas’ Fight Plan: Atlas will demonstrate what each fighter needs to do to win in his “Fight Plan.”
· ESPN.com will provide comprehensive coverage, including pre- and post-fight features, videos and blogs from ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Brian Campbell, and Nigel Collins and ESPN.com’s boxing program “Making the Rounds.”
Fighter backgrounds:
A world champion at 140 and 147-pounds, the 28-year-old Alexander is making his 2015 debut looking for a performance that will vault him back into title contention. Alexander owns victories over Marcos Maidana, Lucas Matthysse, Randall Bailey and Lee Purdy. The St. Louis-native is 4-2 in world title fights with his most recent victory coming via a decision over Jesus Soto Karass.
The 33-year-old Martinez is coming off of a decision loss to Robert Guerrero, in a fight where Martinez dropped Guerrero for the second time in his career and appeared within seconds of being awarded a stoppage victory. Born in Mexico, but fighting out of Los Angeles, Martinez has fought professionally since 2004 and racked up 10 straight victories between 2009 and 2012.
Born in Barry, Wales, Selby picked up his world title with a technical decision over previously undefeated Evgeny Gradovich in May. The 28-year-old has victories over previously unblemished fighters including Joel Brunker, Ryan Walsh, Viorel Simon, Corey McConnell and Stephen Smith. Selby will be making his first start in the United States on October 14.
The Mexican veteran Montiel has won world titles across three weight classes throughout his career that began as a 17-year-old in 1996. He won his first world title in 2000 over Isidro Garcia and went on to have title winning performances over Pedro Alzacar, Ivan Hernandez, Z Gorres, Ciso Morales and Hozumi Hasegawa. Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, Montiel has an eight-fight win streak heading into this match and returns to fight in the U.S. for the first time since 2011.
The PBC series was created for television by Haymon Boxing and features top-level fights between many of boxing’s biggest names. This is the fourth PBC on ESPN event which debuted on ESPN July 11. The last event on Aug. 19 headlined by Leo Santa Cruz’s majority decision win over Abner Mares delivered the largest boxing audience on ESPN since 1998, reaching an average of 1.2 million viewers (P2+).
