Tonight, is the premiere of MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout on truTV, a new live primetime boxing series at 10 p.m. ET from The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas with two scheduled matches.
Main Event: 12-Round Bout for the WBO Lightweight World Championship
Takahiro Ao (southpaw) Ray Beltran
27-3-1, 12 KOs vs. 29-7-1, 17 KOs
Age: 31 (4/6/84) Age: 33 (7/23/81)
Born: Chiba, Japan Born: Los Mochis, Mexico
Resides: Tokyo, Japan Resides: Phoenix, AZ
Height: 5’6½” Height: 5’8”
Reach: 68½” Reach: 68”
*Started boxing at *Former sparring partner three years old of Manny Pacquiao
*Trains at Teiken Gym *This will be his third (nine current champions) title fight in two years
10-Round Bout for NABF Welterweight Championship
Mikael Zewski Konstantin Ponomarev
26-0, 20 KOs vs. 27-0, 13 KOs
Age: 26 (2/13/89) Age: 22 (10/17/92)
Born: Quebec, Canada Born: Miass, Russia
Resides: Quebec Resides: Miass
Height: 5’10” Height: 5’10”
Reach: 70” Reach: 70”
The network’s presentation will feature the first-ever domestic use of “Spidercam” technology for a live boxing telecast, providing dynamic coverage of this new series. “Spidercam” will provide definitive views of the action throughout the series by operating on a four-point system of cables from designated points beyond the corners of the boxing ring. The suspended camera has the ability to provide compelling 360-degree angles of the action including the ability to move in three dimensions – left/right, forward/backward and up/down, and will first be used in Friday’s main event.
Commentators for the event will include Kevin Kugler (play-by-play), with Timothy Bradley (analyst and former WBO welterweight champion and former WBO and two-time WBC junior welterweight champion) and Crystina Poncher (reporter). Closed captioning in Spanish will also be available.
Following this Friday’s debut from Las Vegas, the second week of the MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout on truTV series will be live from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Friday, May 8, at 10 p.m.
As part of its entitlement sponsorship of the boxing series on truTV, MetroPCS will receive camera-visible center ring and corner pad brand placement for each fight, as well as inclusion in all promotional messaging across truTV and other Turner Broadcasting networks.
