PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS Returns to NBC Sports 12/12

NBC's PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS (PBC) coverage continues in primetime this Saturday, December 12 live at 8:30 p.m. ET, highlighted by a 12-round lightweight bout between Omar "Panterita" Figueroa (25-0-1, 18 KOs) and Antonio DeMarco (31-5-1, 23 KOs) from AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

NBC's coverage also features a 12-round heavyweight bout between Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola (36-4-1, 31 KOs) and Travis "My Time" Kauffman (30-1, 22 KOs). NBC Sports Group presents five hours of live boxing Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m. ET and continuing at 11 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Marv Albert calls the action alongside analysts "Sugar" Ray Leonard and B.J. Flores. Liam McHugh hosts the telecast, with Kenny Rice and Paul Burmeister reporting from ring-side.

A LOOK AT THE MATCHUPS

Figueroa, a Weslaco, Texas, native, made his 140-pound debut on May 9 when he took down former world champion Ricky Burns. He is a former lightweight champion, who made successful defenses against Jerry Belmontes and Daniel Estrada. At the age of 25, Figueroa is unbeaten in 26 fights (25 wins, 1 draw).

The 29-year-old DeMarco won a lightweight championship in 2011 with an 11th-round TKO of Jorge Linhares while trailing on all three scorecards. He followed that up with an impressive 44-second KNOCKOUT of John Molina Jr., and eventually lost his title to Adrien Broner in November 2012. He rebounded with three straight wins before falling to then-unbeaten Jessie Vargas and Rances Barthelemy.

Making his first appearance in San Antonio, Arreola will fight in front of Texas boxing fans for the second straight time after earning a draw against Fred Kassi on July 18 in El Paso. A native of Riverside, Calif., Arreola has challenged top heavyweights over the last decade, and 21 of his 31 career knockouts have come in three rounds or fewer, including 13 in the first round.

Kauffman won the first 18 fights of his career after turning pro in 2006. An experienced fighter with a family history in the sport, he considers Saturday's fight against Arreola a step up in his quest to become the first native of Pennsylvania to win a heavyweight title since Philadelphia's Tim Witherspoon did so in 1986.

NBC Sports Group will present more than 50 hours of PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS (PBC) coverage in 2015, including cards on NBC and NBCSN, and 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.

NBC Sports Live Extra - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs - will stream coverage on NBC and NBCSN via "TV Everywhere," giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store and Apple TV. For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra.