Spence-Garcia, more: Boxing TV schedule for Dec. 2-5
Errol Spence Jr vs Danny Garcia headlines a busy week in boxing.
Wednesday, Dec. 2
ESPN+, 2:00 pm ET, Ryan Walsh vs Jazza Dickens, Serge Michel vs Ricards Bolotniks. MTK wraps up its last two Golden Contract tournaments at 126 and 175 with what should be entertaining fights, both well-matched. These tournaments really have been good TV pretty much every time out, save for the 140-pound final, which was not good TV. BLH will have live coverage.
Thursday, Dec. 3
NBC Sports Network, 9:00 pm ET, Brian Ceballo vs Larry Gomez. Ring City USA returns for the second episode of the new series. Serhii Bohachuk was originally meant to be the headliner against Brandon Adams, but that’s off, so welterweight Ceballo steps up. He’s a debatable prospect, maybe, but this is a good matchup because Gomez has the tools to tell us what Ceballo is (or isn’t). Ceballo is arguably about the level of prospect Brian Mendoza was a year ago when Gomez upset Mendoza. BLH will have live coverage.
Friday, Dec. 4
DAZN, 1:00 pm ET, Billy Joe Saunders vs Martin Murray. Here’s a fight that was meant to happen at 160 years ago, didn’t, and now we’re getting it at 168 for Saunders’ WBO belt. Murray is still gritty, tough, and comes to fight, but he’s definitely past his best days. That said, Saunders is a wildly inconsistent fighter. James Tennyson and Zach Parker are also in action, with opponents flown in who are almost certainly no better than opponents Eddie could’ve bought a few train tickets for if necessary. BLH will have live coverage.
Saturday, Dec. 5
ESPN+, 2:00 pm ET, Anthony Yarde vs Lyndon Arthur, Willy Hutchinson vs Lennox Clarke. The Queensberry cards may be coming back more consistently to ESPN+, as this one is on the schedule. It’s a good fight, two of the best domestic light heavyweights in the UK for Arthur’s Commonwealth title. Hutchinson-Clarke is another good domestic matchup, for the vacant British and Commonwealth titles at 168. Hutchinson is a prospect Queensberry clearly like a lot, and Clarke’s only loss is a split decision against Lerrone Richards a year ago, which is also his most recent fight. BLH will have live coverage.
PPV, 9:00 pm ET, Errol Spence Jr vs Danny Garcia, Sebastian Fundora vs Jorge Cota, Josesito Lopez vs Francisco Santana, Julio Ceja vs Eduardo Ramirez. The first FOX PPV effort from PBC since the co-produced FOX/ESPN Wilder-Fury 2 show in February, and will be the last major PPV event of 2020 and probably for at least a few months, which is kind of a relief. Times are what they are and things is what they is and all that, but getting hit with $75 PPVs on Sept. 26, Oct. 31, and Dec. 5 while PBC mostly serves up table scraps you’d be half-ashamed to give your dog on FOX and Showtime has been pretty rough for The Consumer. Anyway, Spence-Garcia is a good fight, and to give PBC credit, both PPVs they put together in September and October wound up quite entertaining, a lot of action, some real highlight stuff. Fundora is building something of a cult following while also emerging as a contender at 154. Lopez always comes to fight and Santana is scrappy, too. Ceja-Ramirez could really be quite a good fight, possible show-stealer. We’ll see if last year’s car crash has had any lasting impact on Spence as far as his performance in the ring. Garcia’s a two-division champ and nobody to play with even at your best. BLH will have live coverage.