NBC Sports to Debut PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS in Primetime, 3/7

In five days, on Saturday, March, 7, boxing returns to primetime broadcast television with the debut of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC at 8:30 p.m. ET. The debut of PBC on NBC features a pair of blockbuster bouts - Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero, and Adrien Broner vs. John Molina Jr. - from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Blow-by-blow announcer Marv Albert and analyst "Sugar" Ray Leonard call the action. Al Michaels will host. Laila Ali and B.J. Flores serve as corner analysts, joined by reporter Kenny Rice.

NBC Sports Group has bolstered its PBC on NBC team with the addition of two experts -- veteran boxing referee Steve Smoger and boxing historian Steve Farhood.

Smoger, who began refereeing professional fights in 1982 and worked bouts featuring stars Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, and Vinny Pazienza, will sit ringside with Albert and Leonard, offering them rules insight. An upcoming June 2015 inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Smoger will only be utilized in an on-air capacity if there is a rules controversy which needs discussion or clarification.

Farhood, who has covered boxing since 1978 for The Ring and KO Magazine as well as for multiple television networks, joins the PBC on NBC team as a ringside editorial consultant.

NBC and NBCSN will present 20 live PBC on NBC boxing events in 2015. Within the 20 live shows, NBC Sports Group will present more than 50 hours of PBC coverage, including NBCSN pre- and post-fight programming for NBC telecasts. The Premier Boxing Champions series is created for television by Haymon Boxing. The PBC on NBC will feature many of today's brightest stars, in their most compelling matches.

All PBC on NBC shows will be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra via "TV Everywhere," giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. NBC Sports Live Extra is available for desktops at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available at the App Store for iPad and iPod touch, on select devices within Google Play, and on windows phones and tablets.