ESPN Exclusively Airs WBC World Heavyweight Championship Fight Tonight

By: TV News Desk May. 10, 2014

ESPN will exclusively televise the 12-round World Boxing Council (WBC) World Heavyweight Championship fight and rematch between top-rated contenders Bermane "B. Ware" Stiverne (23-1-1, 20 KOs) and Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola (36-3, 31 KOs) live tonight, May 10, at 8 p.m. ET. The fight from the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif., will be televised live in the U.S. on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and will be presented by Corona Extra. The fight will also be available on computers, smartphones, tablets, Apple TV, Xbox and Roku via WatchESPN.

ESPN will also carry the fight exclusively in Latin America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Canada (via TSN/RDS). In addition, ESPN will televise the fight in Australia and New Zealand. The card is co-promoted by Don King Productions and Goossen Tutor Promotions.

"ESPN has a long history of carrying world class boxing events, but this certainly ranks up there with the best that we've televised," said Brian Kweder, ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions. "Dan Goossen and Don King deserve credit for having the vision to distribute this historic match to as many households as possible and we are thrilled to be televising the fight."

King, promoter of Stiverne, said, "ESPN is in it to win it and 'win' in it they have hitting a grand slam homerun in public opinion in welcoming the prodigal son of the sport of boxing - The WBC Heavyweight Championship of the World Title Event - back to America Halleluiah!"

Goossen, promoter of Arreola, said, "For nearly 35 years, ESPN has been the premier destination for sports fans. We're thrilled to work with their team to allow fans around the world the opportunity to watch a World Heavyweight Championship on what is the undisputed Worldwide Leader in Sports."

Stiverne, a Florida resident of Haitian descent, first met California-based, Mexican-American Arreola last April for the right to challenge then-Heavyweight titleholder Vitali Klitschko for the WBC belt. Stiverne scored a 12-round unanimous decision win earning the right to face Klitschko. After Klitschko vacated his title in December to focus on his political career in the Ukraine, Stiverne and Arreola were chosen to fill the vacant title. The two will not only battle for the vacant WBC World Heavyweight title, but also to become the first boxers of Haitian or Mexican descent to hold a Heavyweight title.

Additional details will be announced in the coming weeks.

About ESPN Boxing: ESPN is home to ESPN Friday Night Fights and ESPN Deportes' Noche de Combates (Spanish version), a weekly boxing series which runs between January and August and showcases some of the best bouts in the boxing industry. Friday Night Fights began on October 2, 1998 and Noche de Combates (formerly Viernes de Combates) began on January 10, 2004. ESPN began televising boxing on April 10, 1980 when weekly boxing returned to television for the first time since 1964, with the debut of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN.