Fans have had to subside on classic fights to get their boxing fixes. And some good ones are coming up.
Say what you want about the way Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao played out in 2015; it was huge. That fight and other memorable showdowns will be showcased on ESPN and Showtime this weekend.
ESPN has dedicated four hours to boxing following the 2020 NFL Draft on Saturday. The program is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET.
Here is the ESPN lineup: 7 p.m., Mayweather vs. Zab Judah, in which Mayweather won his first welterweight title and a brawl between corners broke out; 8 p.m., Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez II, in which Pacquiao became the first Asian fighter to win titles in four divisions; 9 p.m., Pacquiao vs. Cotto, in which the Filipino star won a title in a seventh weight class; and 10 p.m., Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, the richest fight in history.
Most of ESPN’s library of fights are also available on ESPN+.
Showtime Boxing Classics will present two memorable fights featuring all-action brawler John Molina at 10 p.m. ET / PT on Friday.
The first bout is Molina’s 2013 unforgettable upset of then-unbeaten Mickey Bey, which took place in Las Vegas. Molina was down on all three cards and time was running out when he scored a miraculous last-minute knockout.
The victory gave Molina’s career a significant boost.
“I still have nightmares about those last 58 seconds and what would have happened to my career had the time ran out,” Molina said. “I would have never signed with Al Haymon without those final 58 seconds.”
The second fight is Molina’s 2014 war with Lucas Matthysse in Los Angeles, in which both fighters went down twice before the Argentine won by 11th round knockout.
“I still have longtime members of the boxing press to this day come up and tell me that in 30 years of covering boxing, the Matthysse fight was the only fight they’ve ever had to turn away from and not watch because it was such a brutal war,” Molina said. “I didn’t realize how special it was till I went back and watched it.”
The programming can be viewed on Showtime, Showtime Anytime and the Showtime stand-alone streaming service.