(October 16, 2020) — Unbeaten welterweights Michael McKinson and Martin Harkin will face off in a special edition of #MTKFightNight on Sunday, Oct. 18 from Production Park Studios in Wakefield, England.
The McKinson-Harkin card streams live and exclusively on ESPN+ starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and it will close out a historic week of fight action on the ESPN family of networks, highlighted by Saturday’s lightweight unification battle between WBC Franchise/WBA/WBO world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko and IBF kingpin Teofimo Lopez (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+, coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT).
McKinson (18-0, 2 KOs) had a step-up year in 2019, winning the vacant WBO European title over Russian veteran Evgeny Pavko and besting the previously undefeated Luis Alberto Veron by one-sided decision. He makes his 2020 debut against Scottish upstart Harkin (13-0, 5 KOs), who knocked out the then-unbeaten James Moorcroft back in January.
“Martin Harkin is a dangerous puncher. It’s a dangerous fight for me, but I’ve proven before that I can swim with sharks,” McKinson said. “I’m excited about the challenge, and I’m very excited to fight finally.”
Harkin said, “I’m very excited to be fighting. This is a great platform to show people who I am. I’ve slipped under the radar and I’m mostly unknown, so I’m delighted with this chance and I’m going to grab it with both hands.
In other streaming action on ESPN+:
- Commonwealth flyweight champion Jay Harris (17-1, 9 KOs) will defend his title in a 12-rounder against former English super flyweight champion Marcel Braithwaite (9-2). Harris last fought in February and dropped a unanimous decision to WBC flyweight world champion Julio Cesar Martinez in one of the best fights of 2020.
- Former IBF bantamweight world champion Paul Butler looks to extend his winning streak to six against Ryan Walker (11-2, 2 KOs) in an eight-rounder at bantamweight.
- Romanian former kickboxing world champion Amansio Aaraschiv (2-0) will face veteran Scott James (6-6-1) in a four-round middleweight tilt.
- In an eight-round welterweight bout, Jack “Demolition Man” Rafferty (12-0, 7 KOs) will take on Tom Hill (9-1, 2 KOs).
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