Golden Boy Promotions announced today a deal with VERSUS, the sports network that celebrates real competition in all its forms, to televise the Ricky Hatton vs. Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi vs. Lovemore N'Dou world championship doubleheader. The fights will air live on VERSUS on May 24 at 3:30 PM ET and will originate from the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. The event marks the first time that Golden Boy Promotions and VERSUS will work together to televise a boxing event. The fight will be televised by Sky Box Office in the United Kingdom.
The main event will feature Ricky 'The Hitman' Hatton and Juan Lazcano in a 12-round bout for Hatton's IBO and Ring Magazine Junior Welterweight World Championships with the co-featured bout pitting IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Paulie Malignaggi vs. Lovemore N'Dou in a re-match battle for Malignaggi's title. The bouts are promoted by Punch Promotions in association with Golden Boy Promotions and Frank Maloney Promotions. Malignaggi vs. N'Dou is presented in association with DiBella Entertainment.
"I'm very excited to bring Ricky's fight to his American fans through VERSUS," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. "This is a step in the right direction for fight fans as we at Golden Boy hope to continue to bring big names and big fights to non-pay TV on cable television. The fights between Hatton and Lazcano and Malignaggi and N'Dou are the perfect start to what I hope will be a long relationship with VERSUS."
"We are thrilled to be bringing this level of fight to our network," said Marc Fein, Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and Business Operations for VERSUS. "We look forward to continuing to build our boxing franchise and look forward to working with Golden Boy Promotions on this event."
For more information on Golden Boy Promotions, please visit www.goldenboypromotions.com. For more information on VERSUS, please visit www.versus.com.