For one week, and quite possibly one week only in the month of August, Friday Night Fights returns on the main ESPN Deportes network. ESPN Deportes+ has aired the last 2 weeks and will be the exclusive Spanish home for the next 3 weeks of fights due to increased coverage of Liga MX on ESPN Deportes. Still, for this week Spanish fans that don't have the online feed available can watch the action live (instead of waiting until Saturday's tape delayed broadcast).
Of course this isn't meant to take away from what Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas do. It's just a straight out fact that this is the one week Spanish boxing fans won't have to tune in online to catch the Spanish feed. And why do I mention this you might ask? Because ESPN doesn't mention it at all in their press release. Here's this weeks fight info from ESPN Media Zone.
Former Interim Featherweight Titlist Fortuna to Meet Franco on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights
The August 2 edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra will feature undefeated former interim Featherweight titlist Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (22-0, 1 NC, 16 KOs, ESPN.com No. 10 ranked Featherweight) and Luis “La Estrella” Franco (11-1, 7 KOs) in the 10-round Featherweight main event. Friday’s s
how from Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla., will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes
, broa
dband Spanish-language ESPN Deportes+ and WatchESPN. The card is promoted by Warriors Boxing.
Commentators:
Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside describing the action for ESPN2, while studio host Todd Grisham(@GrishamESPN) will present all the latest boxing news and highlights. Delvin Rodriguez, will call the fights with Pablo Viruega for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights), whileLeopoldo Gonzalez and Claudia Trejos will anchor the studio. Bilingual reporter BernardoOsuna (@osunaespn) will present live interviews and reports for both shows.
Main Event:
California’s Fortuna, trained by Pablo Sarmiento (who also trains Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez), is coming off a first-round knockout win over Miguel Zamudio.
“Franco is very dangerous, but this fight will prove that Fortuna is the best Featherweight in the world,” Fortuna’s advisor Sampson Lewkowicz said. “When he wins this fight, he will challenge any Featherweight or Super Featherweight in the world.”
Miami’s Franco, a 2004 Olympian for Cuba, is looking to rebound from a 12-round split decision loss to Mauricio Munoz.
“Franco has prepared well for this fight and he’s training hard,” Franco’s trainer Jorge Rubio said. “I think we’re going to win the fight. Fortuna is a big puncher, but we’re going to be better than him in that fight.”
Co-Feature:
Friday’s 10-round co-feature will pit former Welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron (33-5-2, 28 KOs) of Pennsylvania against Dominican Republic’s Jonathan “Muka” Batista (14-1, 7 KOs). Cintron is looking to get back to his winning ways following a 10-round draw with Adrian Granados in his last fight, while Batista scored a first-round TKO over Carlos Rodriguez.
Upcoming Schedule:
| Date | Time (ET) | Main Event | Location | Networks | |
| Fri., Aug 9 | 10 p.m. | Rustam Nugaev (24-6, 14 KOs) vs. José Hernández (14-6-1, 6 KOs)—10 rounds, Lightweights | Morongo Casino, Cabazon, Calif. | ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN | |
| Fri., Aug 16 | 9 p.m. | Andrzej Fonfara (23-2, 13 KOs) vs. Gabriel Campillo (22-5-1, 9 KOs)—12 rounds, Light Heavyweights | U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago | ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN | |
| Fri., Aug 23 | TBD | Argenis Méndez (21-2, 11 KOs) vs. Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10 KOs)—12 rounds, Jr. Lightweights | Turning Stone Casino, Verona N.Y. | ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN | |
*Schedule subject to change
Follow ESPN’s Friday Night Fights on Twitter @ESPNFNF or like it on Facebook. Follow ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates on Twitter @ESPNBoxeo. Also score the fights round-by-round with the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the ESPN FNF Facebook page that allows viewers to score the fight round-by-round.
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