On-air broadcasters to call initial Top Rank cards from studio, homes

The on-air broadcasters won’t be ringside when boxing resumes this month.

Promoter Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com that Joe Tessitore, ESPN’s blow-by-blow announcer, will call at least the first two Top Rank cards – on June 9 and 11 – from the ESPN studio in Bristol, Connecticut.

Tessitore’s partners Timothy Bradley, Andre Ward and Mark Kriegl will work from their homes for the time being.

The cards, the first in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March, are subject to strict safety guidelines. That includes limiting the number of people who travel to and attend the shows.

“That’s a temporary thing,” promoter Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com, referring to broadcasting arrangement. “A lot of that had to do with the dangers of travel and so forth. Because the ESPN crew, when they come in, are staying in the bubble for two months.

“So, eventually, I think Joe and the rest of them will be in the arena. I know that Bernie [Osuna] and [Top Rank announcer] Crystina [Poncher] will be in the arena from the beginning. They will be able to interview the fighters and that kind of stuff.”

Members of the media also won’t be allowed to cover the events at ringside.

“We’re doing the first week without media,” Arum said. “And then, assuming everything works out well and we have a handle on everything, we may open it up to three to five media for the second week and gradually increase the number to more than that. But we’re being very, very conservative. We’re working one step at a time.”

Featherweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson and Jessie Magdaleno will headline the June 9 and 11 cards, respectively.

Stevenson (13-0, 7 KOs) will face Felix Caraballo (13-1-2, 9 KOs) in a non-title fight on the ninth. Magdaleno (27-1, 18 KOs) is scheduled to fight Yenifel Vicente (36-4-2, 28 KOs) on the eleventh.