Mike Tyson will appear as a professional boxing promoter tonight on ESPN's Friday Night Fights. With his appearance on Fox earlier this week, Tyson has quickly embedded himself as one of the go to analyst for boxing promotion. Tonight's fight is the season finale on ESPN2 as college football will take center stage for the next 4 months starting next week. Here's the details from ESPN.
Former Heavyweight Champ Mike Tyson Makes Promotional Debut with World Title Doubleheader on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights’ Season Finale
ESPN2 Studio Show at Turning Stone Resort Casino; Tyson On Site Interview; ESPN Deportes Studio Interview with Joe Cortez ; Additional Fights on ESPN3
Former Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will make his debut as a professional boxing promoter with a world title doubleheader August 23 from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y., on the season finale of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra.Friday’s show, promoted by Tyson’s Iron Mike Productions, will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, WatchESPN and broadband Spanish-language ESPN Deportes+. ESPN Deportes will televise Friday’s fights on Saturday, August 24, at 7 p.m.
The 12-round main event will feature an IBF title fight between Junior Lightweight titlist Argenis “La Tormenta” Méndez (21-2, 11 KOs) and Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10 KOs). Friday’s co-feature will be a 12-round WBA interim title fight between undefeated Featherweight Claudio “The Matrix” Marrero (14-0, 11 KOs) and Jesús Cuellar (22-1, 18 KOs).
Commentators:
Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside describing the action for ESPN2, while studio host Todd Grisham(@GrishamESPN) will be at Turning Stone Resort Casino presenting 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) on both ESPN Deportes+ and ESPN Deportes, while Leopoldo Gonzalez and Claudia Trejos will anchor the studio.
Studio Interviews:
Grisham will interview Tyson for ESPN2’s studio show. Retired boxing referee Joe Cortez will be in studio for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates and will discuss the challenges of officiating major fights. Cortez will also score Friday’s fights.
Main Event:
New York’s Méndez won the IBF Junior Lightweight title in his last fight with a fourth-round knockout win over defending titlist Juan Carlos Salgado, while Las Vegas’ Usmanee is looking to rebound from a 12-round decision loss to Rances Barthelemy.
“I think Usmanee’s a good fighter and throws a lot of punches,” Méndez’s trainer Lee Beard said. “I believe that Méndez is a much better fighter, much more talented. He has speed and power in both hands. As long as he does what he’s supposed to do, there’s only one person that’s going to win this fight, and that’s Mendez.”
Usmanee said of Friday’s fight, “Mendez is a great boxer. He is very talented and has good speed and power. He’s a well-rounded fighter and I’m preparing for the best 130-pounder on this planet.”
Co-Feature:
Miami’s Marrero is looking to continue his winning ways after a fourth-round TKO win over former Bantamweight titlist Mauricio Martinez, while Argentina’s Cuellar scored a first-round TKO win over Gustavo Gonzalez in his last fight.
Additional Fights on ESPN3:
ESPN3 will exclusively carry two additional bouts at 7 p.m. before Friday’s 9 p.m. telecast. Friday’s fights on ESPN3: a 10-round Welterweight bout between Ed Paredes (33-3-1, 22 KOs) and Noe Bolanos (25-7-1, 16 KOs) and a 10-round Jr. Lightweight bout between Alexi Collado (16-0, 15 KOs) and Hugo Partida (18-4-2, 14 KOs).
ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members and Apple TV. The network is currently available to more than 85 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational and on-base military networks.
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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