Bounce TV Announces On-Air Talent for Debut of PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS - THE NEXT ROUND

Bounce TV today announced a seasoned line-up of on-air sports talent for the debut of its new monthly series Premier Boxing Champions - The Next Round beginning this Sunday, August 2 at 9:00 p.m. (ET), which will also be streamed live on BounceTV.com. Fred Hickman will anchor PBC The Next Round as host, Fran Charles will call the blow-by-blow action ringside joined by former Super Welterweight WorldChampion Austin "No Doubt" Trout, who will provide insight and analysis.

The main event for the series premiere of PBC - The Next Round will be a 12-round Bantamweight World Championship fight between Juan Carlos "Baby Pacquiao" Payano (16-0, 8 KOs) and Rau'shee "Nuke" Warren (13-0, 4 KOs). Both fighters are Olympians - Payano for the Dominican Republic and Cincinnati southpaw Warren, a three-time Olympian for the United States. Each fighter brings an undefeated record to the battle for the title.

"Fred and Fran combine for more than 50 years of major sports event coverage and Austin will help put viewers in the ring with his current and fresh perspective. We are thrilled to assemble such an impressive and talented team of announcers for our Premier Boxing Champions debut," commented Ryan Glover, President of Bounce TV.

Hickman spent nearly 20 years with CNN Sports where he co-hosted the country's original daily sports-highlights show CNN Sports Tonight. He also served as an anchor for CNN/Sports Illustrated, a host for both NBAandNFLpre-game shows, a co-host of the1992 and 1994 Winter Olympic Games and a co-host of the1994 Goodwill Games. Hickman moved to ESPN in 2004, appearing on flagship shows such as SportsCenter,Baseball Tonight,NBA Shootaround, andNBA Coast to Coast and he has also hosted pre-and post-game shows for the YES Network. Most recently, he served as the sports director for WVUE-TV, Bounce TV's affiliate in New Orleans.

Charles served as a blow-by-blow announcerfor more than seven years. He was also a studio host for NFL Network, where he contributed to NFL GameDay Final, NFL TOTAL ACCESS and Around the League. Charles was also the host of the weekly golf show,PGA Tour SundayonUSA Network, serving as lead anchor for studio segments duringPGA Tourevents. Charles currently serves as a host and reporter for MLB Network.

In 2004, Trout won the U.S. National Amateur Welterweight Championship and after climbing up the ranks as an elite boxer, he won a Super Welterweight World Championship in 2004 by defeating Rigoberto Alvarez. He went on to defend that title four times, including a dominant victory over Miguel Cotto in New York. He is currently on a three-fight win streak as he works towards another world title opportunity.

The co-feature Sunday night is a two-fight tournament in the junior middleweight division: A 10-round match that sees Olympic Silver Medalist Yudel Jhonson (17-1, 9 KOs) taking on the KNOCKOUT machine Jorge Cota (24-1, 22 KOs), plus 10 rounds of Olympian John Jackson (19-2, 15 KOs) battling Dennis Laurente (49-5, 30 KOs). The winners of the two bouts will face-off on a date to be announced soon.

Payano vs. Warren: PBC - The Next Round,promoted by Warriors Boxing and Sampson Boxing, will take place at Full Sail Live, the state-of-the-art performance venue on the campus of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.

BOUNCE TV is free on the broadcast signals of local television stations and corresponding cable carriage. For local channel location, visit BounceTV.com.

BOUNCE TV is the fastest-growing African-American (AA) network on television and has become the #2 most-watched among all AA networks. The network features a programming mix of original and off-network series, theatrical motion pictures, specials, live sports and more. BOUNCE TV has grown to be available in more than 85 million homes across 90 markets, 90% of African American television homes including all of the top AA television markets and three quarters of the total television homes in the United States. Among the founders of BOUNCE TV are iconic American figures Ambassador Andrew Young and Martin LUTHER King III.

For more information visit www.premierboxingchampions.com, follow on Twitter @PremierBoxing, @BounceTV, @JC_Payano, @RauSheeWarren, @WarriorsBoxingProm @Fullsail and @Swanson_Comm and follow the conversation using #PBConBounce, become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PremierBoxingChampions, www.Facebook.com/BounceTV www.Facebook.com/fullsailuniversity and www.Facebook.com/WarriorsBoxingPromo.

SOURCE Bounce TV