Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN will feature live coverage on ESPN on Saturday, August 29 at 10 p.m. ET from Los Angeles’ STAPLES Center of a 12-round featherweight bout between undefeated Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17 KOs) and Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 Kos).
Fighter backgrounds:
A two-division world champion with a fan-friendly style, the 26-year-old Santa Cruz won his first world title in 2012 before adding another belt in 2013, which he defended four times. Unbeaten as a pro, Santa Cruz moved up in weight in his last fight and handily defeated Jose Cayetano on the pay-per-view undercard of the record-breaking Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight. Born and raised in Los Angeles to Mexican parents, Santa Cruz faces the toughest challenge of his career when he squares off against the Mexican warrior Mares.
Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and fighting out of Downey, Calif., Mares first tasted world championship gold in 2011 when he beat Joseph Agbeko to win the bantamweight world title. He continued his rise up the pound-for-pound list with wins over Anselmo Moreno and Daniel Ponce De Leon to win world titles at super bantamweight and featherweight respectively. The 29-year-old has won three straight fights including his first PBC appearance in a victory over Arturo Reyes in March. He will look to add another career milestone and take hometown bragging rights by defeating the unbeaten Santa Cruz.
ESPN’s Coverage of Santa Cruz vs. Mares
ESPN will provide live coverage of Friday’s weigh-in the 6 p.m. hour of SportsCenter, with Tessitore and Atlas providing commentary. ESPN3 will stream live coverage of Friday’s weigh-in and a live undercard fight featuring Mexican favorite Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo taking on Hector “The Hurricane” Munoz at 9 p.m, on the Saturday of the fight.
ESPN.com will present comprehensive coverage, including pre- and post-fight features, videos and blogs from ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Brian Campbell, and Nigel Collins and ESPN.com’s boxing program “Making the Rounds”.
ESPN Deportes will dedicate more than five hours of live, on-site programming around PBC, beginning Friday, August 28 with live segments, interviews and analysis during the following shows: Los Capitanes (3 p.m.), Golpe a Golpe Weigh-In Show (6 p.m.), Cronometro (7 p.m.) and SportsCenter (7:30 p.m.)
A special edition of Golpe a Golpe will air at 9 p.m. on Saturday, leading up to the fight, followed by post event SportsCenter (12 a.m.), all telecast live.
Coverage around the bout will be led by ESPN Deportes experts Jorge Eduardo Sanchez and David Faitelson alongside Marquez and Chavez.
