Epix Continues its Foray Into Boxing June 25th:
Live world championship boxing returns to EPIX with the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title fight between defending champion Felix Sturm and top-rated contender Matthew “Mack the Knife” Macklin, televised live to the U.S. from the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, Saturday, June 25, exclusively on EPIX the multiplatform premium entertainment service.
EpixHD.com, will stream the fight live as part of a free two-week trial offer. The live broadcast and the live stream on EPIX and EpixHD.com, respectively, will begin at 5 p.m. ET.As has become the custom, EPIX will once again present the closed-captioned simulcast of this world championship rumble on a jumbotron in Times Square (Broadway at 44th St.)
“The middleweight division is one of boxing’s most storied and exciting divisions and EPIX looks forward to exclusively broadcasting the Sturm-Macklin middleweight title fight to the U.S. It should be a very exciting match-up,” said Mark Greenberg, President and CEO of EPIX.
Sturm (35-2-1, 15 KOs), of Leverkusen, Germany, is a three-time middleweight champion. His current reign as WBA champion, now in its fourth year, began on April 28, 2007 with a 12-round decision victory over defending champion Javier Castillejo, avenging a previous world title loss. Sturm has successfully defended the title nine times since with the most recent title defense taking place in February, a seventh-round TKO of Ronald Hearns, son of the Hall of Famer Tommy Hearns.
Macklin (28-2, 19 KOs), hails from Birmingham, England, though the proud Irishman travels on an Irish passport. He enters this world championship battle riding a four-year, 11-bout winning streak, including a third-round TKO victory of Wayne Elcock for the British middleweight title in 2009 and European middleweight championship victories over Amin Asikainen (TKO 1) in 2009 and Shalva Jomardashv (TKO 6) and Ruben Varon (W 12) in 2010. He is currently world-rated No. 2 by the WBA and No. 4 by the World Boxing Organization.
For Epix, this is now the third European-based fight that they have picked up the rights for in the United States, and which would have otherwise not been broadcast live here. They’ve had some bad luck, with Odlanier Solis crumpling in one round with a bum knee, and Nathan Cleverly having his opponent Juergen Braehmer withdraw in the days leading up to the bout. Sturm vs. Macklin is an intriguing middleweight clash though, and will be a treat for fight fans in the states to see.
