In honor of the late boxing promoter Dan Goossen, ESPN2 will televise live a three-hour ESPN Boxing Special presented by Corona Extra on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 10 p.m. ET. Goossen, who passed away September 28, was a longtime promoter for ESPN’s boxing coverage. Most notably, Goossen promoted the WBC World Heavyweight Championship between Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola televised on ESPN in May. Thursday’s telecast will include a tribute from some of Goossen’s colleagues in the boxing world.
“We wanted to do something special in honor of Dan and we thought of no better way than to put on a great night of boxing just like he had done for so many years on ESPN,” said Brian Kweder, ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions. “Dan’s contributions to the sport of boxing are well documented, but he was also a joy to work with and be around. I’m hopeful that he has a ringside seat wherever he may be for these fights.”
Headlining Thursday’s card will be a 10-round Jr. Middleweight matchup between former Jr. Middleweight titlist Austin “No Doubt” Trout (27-2, 14 KOs) of New Mexico and Mexico’s Luis Grajeda (17-3-2, 13 KOs). The bout from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., will also be televised live on ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates presentado por Corona Extra and will be available via WatchESPN. The card is promoted by Goossen Promotions.
Commentators:
Todd Grisham and analyst Teddy Atlas will be ringside describing the action for ESPN2, while Pablo Viruega and analyst Delvin Rodríguez will call the fights for ESPN Deportes. Claudia Trejos and Leopoldo González will anchor the ESPN Deportes studio, while bilingual reporter Bernardo Osuna will present live reports and interviews for both shows.
Main Event:
In his last fight, Trout closed out the ESPN Friday Night Fights season on Aug. 22 with a 10-round unanimous decision win over Daniel Dawson. Grajeda, who also last fought on Friday Night Fights, is looking to get back to his winning ways following a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Willie Nelson.
Undercard:
Thursday’s show will include three fights in addition to the main event. Undefeated 2012 U.S. Olympian “Sir” Marcus Browne (12-0, 9 KOs) of New York, and Maryland’s Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan (21-4, 14 KOs) will meet in an eight-round Light Heavyweight contest. Former Light Heavyweight titlist Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (30-6, 21 KOs) of Florida and former Cruiserweight world title challenger Johnathon Banks (29-2-1, 19 KOs) of Detroit will meet in a 10-round Heavyweight bout. Contenders Oscar “El Guerrero” Escandon (23-1, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles and Tyson “Prince of Hali” Cave (24-2, 8 KOs) of Canada, will square off in a 12-round WBA interim Super Bantamweight title fight.
About ESPN Boxing
ESPN is home to ESPN Friday Night Fights and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates (Spanish version), a weekly boxing series which runs between January and August and showcases some of the best bouts in the boxing industry. Friday Night Fights began on October 2, 1998 and Noche de Combates (formerly Viernes de Combates) began on January 10, 2004. ESPN began televising boxing on April 10, 1980 when weekly boxing returned to television for the first time since 1964, with the debut of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN.
