Earlier today, President of Programming for NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network Jon Miller was joined by 6-time world champion and Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard to officially unveil the Premier Boxing Champions on NBC boxing series, a joint venture with Haymon Boxing that will bring the sport of boxing back to network television. As previously reported by FightHype.com, the first event will take place on March 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and will feature interim WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman defending his title against former champion Robert Guerrero as well as three-division former world champion Adrien Broner taking on John Molina. Fans can look forward to another event on April 11, when WBC & WBA jr. welterweight champion Danny Garcia takes on IBF jr. welterweight champion Lamont Peterson.
Along with the fight announcements, several other key elements of the PBC on NBC series were revealed, including the following:
- 20 total televised events in 2015 that will appear on both NBC and NBC Sports Network.
- 11 events to appear on the main network with 5 of those 11 taking place during prime-time.
- Pre and post-fight coverage of the events.
- Al Michaels will be the host and blow-by-blow commentator.
- Sugar Ray Leonard will be the lead analyst.
- Each boxer who competes in a PBC series bout will be subjected to rigorous, Olympic-style random drug testing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency [USADA].
- Each boxer who competes in a PBC series bout will benefit from evaluations by staff physicians from the Cleveland Clinic and the PBC series will support the clinic's brain health study of professional fighters.
- The PBC series will bring fans inside the ring for an immersive, innovative viewing experience with advancements relating to lighting, camera work, and other enhancement to be revealed.
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