Reports from Pacquiao-Bradley Weigh-in and International Boxing Hall of Fame
Former Middleweight world champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik (38-2, 33 KOs) and Scott “Cujo” Sigmon (22-3, 12 KOs) will meet in the 10-round Super Middleweight main event June 8 on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra. Friday’s show will air at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN3 from Las Vegas. The card is presented by Top Rank Promotions.
Main Event:
Pavlik enters Friday’s fight having fought current and former titlists Sergio Martinez and Bernard Hopkins and is coming off a March second-round TKO win over Aaron Jaco. After the fight ESPN.com boxing expert Dan Rafael wrote, “The comeback is under way for Pavlik, and so far, so good for the former middleweight world champion, who looked sharp. He looked in tremendous shape and was powerful with his left hand while not even needing to employ the destructive right hand that has been his calling card. Jaco never stood a chance. Pavlik rocked him early in the first round with a left hook and it seemed to be only a matter of time before he got rid of Jaco.”
Virginia’s Sigmon, has won his last six fights, including a 10-round unanimous decision win over Carlton Holland. Sigmon said of Friday’s fight, “The two guys that have been successful against Pavlik moved laterally a lot, counterpunching and timing. But I’m not that guy, so I’m going to have to do it a different way than it’s ever been done… If this fight plays out the way I think it will, this will be an early candidate for ‘Fight of the Year.’”
Pavlik on Friday Night Fights Video Previews
Co-Feature:
Friday’s co-feature will pit Featherweights Jesse Magdaleno (9-0, 6 KOs) against Carlos Valcarcel (12-4-4, 5 KOs). Las Vegas’ Magdaleno is coming off a first-round knockout win over Timothy Fast, while Valcarcel, a 2000 Olympian for Puerto Rico will look to rebound after a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Roberto Marroquin in his last fight.
Also on Friday’s card undefeated Light Heavyweight Mike Lee of Chicago will meet Denver’s Isaiah Barela (3-2, 2 KOs) in a Light Heavyweight matchup.
ESPN2 HD studio host Bernardo Osuna will be on site in Las Vegas on the eve of the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Welterweight title bout and will present a report and interviews from Friday’s weigh-in.
Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside for ESPN2 HD and ESPN3 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino describing the action, while Osuna will present all the latest boxing news and highlights. Alex Pombo and Delvin Rodriguez will call the fights for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights), with Leopoldo Gonzalez and Pablo Viruega in the studio.
ESPN2’s show plans to run a special feature on Pavlik profiling the Youngstown, Ohio fighter (See video clip above) and will include a report from the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend in Canastota New York.
