BT Sport Boxing Launch Night - Lomachenko v Sosa, Smith v Williams, Flanagan v Petrov

[smashup]

Big time boxing arrives on BT Sport on Saturday April 8 as we host a massive show from the Manchester Arena.
All the action is live on BT Sport 1 from 8.30pm and will also be available to watch right here on BTSport.com and via the award winning BT Sport App.


In what promises to be a dramatic night of action, WBO world lightweight champion Terry Flanagan tops the bill as he defends his belt against tough Russian Petr Petrov in front of his home fans.
The stacked card also sees domestic rivals Liam Smith and Liam Williams clash for the interim WBO world super welterweight title, while double Olympic champion Nicola Adams and the highly rated Daniel Dubois makes their professional debuts.
Then, later that evening, BT Sport Pack subscribers will be able to catch Vasyl Lomachenko’s defence of his WBO world super-featherweight title against Jason Sosa live on BoxNation as part of the ground-breaking deal that sees the UK’s only specialist boxing channel made available to BT Sport Pack subscribers at no extra cost.
And if you are not yet a subscriber to BT Sport we can set you up in just 15 minutes here.


Terry Flanagan v Petr Petrov
Terry Flanagan defends his WBO world lightweight crown when he faces Madrid-based Russian Petr Petrov over 12 rounds.
Undefeated Flanagan (32-0, 13 KOs) holds the longest current unbeaten run in British boxing and will be making the fifth defence of his crown since winning the vacant belt by stopping Jose Zepeda in July 2015.
Since then the 27-year-old has grown into the role of champion and convincing wins over Diego Magdaleno, Derry Mathews, Mzonke Fana and Orlando Cruz have seen him become one of the biggest names in the division.
The Manchester City fanatic has been vocal about his desire to face the best and is targeting a showdown against pound for pound king Vasyl Lomachenko at the Etihad.
However, before such an outing is possible Flanagan will need to get past the tough and underrated Petrov.
Petrov (38-4-2, 19 KOs) has twice challenged for the world title before and his only two defeats since 2007 came to Marcos Maidana and Dejan Zlaticanin. The 33-year-old is the WBO’s second-ranked contender behind Felix Verdejo.

Liam Williams v Liam Smith
The potential fight of the night sees Liam Williams face Liam Smith in a mouth-watering domestic clash for the interim WBO world super welterweight title.
However, bragging rights will be just as important on the night after the pair heavily goaded each other in the build-up – with Smith especially vocal in his opinion that he is class above his Welsh rival.
The 28-year-old Liverpudlian has certainly boxed at a higher level having previously held the WBO world super welterweight title before facing Saul ‘Canelo’ Alverez at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Although Smith was knocked out by a body shot in the eighth round he wasn’t outclassed and believes he will have far too much for a still green Williams.
Williams, unsurprisingly, sees it differently. The 24-year-old won the vacant WBO European super welterweight title in his last outing – an eighth round stoppage win over Gabor Gorbics in Cardiff last November - and also holds a win over the previously undefeated Gary Corcoran.


The professional debut of Nicola Adams
Two time Olympic champion Nicola Adams needs no introduction to fight fans who witnessed her skill and power at the London and Rio de Janeiro Games.
The 34-year-old rejected the chance to make it a hat-trick at Tokyo in order to give herself the chance of emulating her hero Muhammed Ali and winning a world title in the paid ranks.
Expect the fighter – who veteran promoter Frank Warren admits has changed his opinion about women boxing – to be fast tracked to elite level.


The rest of the undercard
There is an intriguing crossroads clash as the undefeated Jack Catterall steps up in class to face the experienced Martin Gethin for the WBO inter-continental super lightweight title.
Catterall, who made his name by knocking out London 2012 Olympian Thomas Stalker, has looked imperious in his last few fights and will be keen to make a statement against former British champion Gethin.
Former Tyson Fury sparring partner and amateur champion Daniel Dubois makes also makes his professional debut on the card.
Dubois tipped as a potential Tokyo 2020 medallist hopeful but instead opted to chase his dream of becoming the youngest ever British-born heavyweight world champion.
The impressive Zolani Tete, who ended Paul Butler’s unbeaten run in 2015, faces Arthur Villanueva.

Full card:
Terry Flanagan v Petr Petrov (lightweight) for the WBO world lightweight title
Liam Williams v Liam Smith (super welterweight) for the interim WBO world super welterweight title.
Nicola Adams v TBA (flyweight)
Jack Catterall v Martin Gethin (super lightweight) for the WBO inter-continental super lightweight title
Daniel Dubois v TBA (heavyweight)
Zolani Tete v Arthur Villanueva (bantamweight)
'Jimmy' Kilrain Kelly v Rick Godding (super welterweight)
Steven Lewis v Andy Keates (super welterweight)
Mark Heffron v TBA (super middleweight)
Zelfa Barrett v TBA (super featherweight)
Mason Cartwright v Justin Menzie (super welterweight)
Jordan Thompson v TBA (cruiserweight)
Anthony Leak v TBA (middleweight)




Vasyl Lomachenko v Jason Sosa
Vasyl Lomachenko defends his WBO world super-featherweight title against Jason Sosa at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland.
The Ukrainian, who knocked out the previously undefeated Nicholas Walters in his last outing, takes on New Jersey’s Sosa – who himself relinquished the WBA world title in order to allow the contest to go ahead.
Lomachenko, a double Olympic champion and widely regarded as one of the best amateur boxers to ever lace up a pair of gloves, has looked imperious in his last few contests after jumping straight into the elite level of the paid ranks.
The 29-year-old fought for a world title in just his second contest as a professional and, while that effort ended in a split decision to an overweight Orlando Salido, won the title in his third bout against the then undefeated Gary Russell Jr.
Victories over Suriya Tatakhun, Gamalier Rodriguez and Romulo Koasicha followed before he jumped up a weight division to knockout Roman Martinez for the WBO world super featherweight title.
The breakdown of the hard-hitting Walters cemented his place in the pound for pound listings and it is surely only a matter of time before ‘Hi-Tech’ again moves up in weight to challenge the very biggest names in the sport.
However, he has a very dangerous opponent in Sosa to deal with first.
The American stunned the world last June by dethroning Javier Fortuna in Beijing with a dramatic late stoppage victory, handing Fortuna his first loss and collecting his first world title in the process.
In his maiden defence, Sosa convincingly beat popular Liverpudlian Stephen Smith over 12 in Monte Carlo to set up this huge clash.

[Master]

Do you think they will start doing PPV when they get enough interest?

[smashup]

It's Boxnation basically but free to BT customers so hopefully will just continue as normal

Just watched this little documentary about Lomachenko, it reveals that his Dad (said to be one of the best trainers in the world) started teaching him to box at age 4 - 9 then took him out of boxing and made him go to dancing lessons from 9 -14 then took him aside and said now you have the footwork you can go back to being a boxer.

Genius!!! and fuck me it shows as Lomachenkos foot speed is insane

[Fenster]

The whole idea is so Warren can do PPVs, he even held a press conference about it.

[erics44]

i'm not sure warren has any PPV worthy fighters at the minute tho

does he?

[smashup]

Saunders v Golovkin which should happen might be the starter?
I remember when they first announced the BT/Boxnation deal Warren and BT released this so i'm still clueless as to how it will work?

I've been watching Boxnation for free through BT Sports for about 2 months now and have already seen some big fights, im wondering if these 10 "further events" are only to be shown to actual Boxnation paying members meaning for me as a BT customer i'll have to pay per view to see them?

• From 2017, Frank Warren will promote 20 UK events a year, Live on BT Sport

• The 20 UK events will also be shown Live on BoxNation

• From 2017, BoxNation will be included in BT Sport’s pack of channels and available to all BT Sport customers

• Frank Warren will promote a further 10 events, in the UK per year, Live and Exclusive on BoxNation

• BoxNation customers can still look forward to over 30 events per year from around the World, including output deals with the biggest Promoters in the USA, Top Rank and Golden Boy.

• A total of 30 live televised boxing events will see Frank Warren as Europe’s most active Promoter

• Deal will mark the start of a new era for Boxing in the UK

Hall of Fame Promoter Frank Warren and his pioneering boxing channel BoxNation have signed a multi-year deal with the multimedia and telecommunications giant, BT.

The landmark deal will see Warren promote 20 premium live boxing events a year that will be simulcast on BT Sport and BoxNation.

The ground-breaking deal will see a further ten events per year, including top tier pay-per-view events and other high-quality domestic shows broadcast, exclusively on BoxNation.

A total of 30 live televised boxing events per year will see Frank Warren cement his place as Europe’s most active Promoter.

BoxNation, the UK’s first and only dedicated boxing channel, will be now be included in BT Sport’s pack of channels and made available to all new and existing BT Sport customers as part of their subscription.
The pioneering deal offers Frank Warren, BT, EE and BoxNation the chance to work collectively in expanding the popularity and customer reach of boxing in the UK.

With BoxNation being added to the BT channel pack, all BT Sport and BoxNation customers will now be able to enjoy the very best international and domestic live fights, classic fight footage from Warren’s 40 year archive, award-winning documentaries, originally produced content, weekly magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.

The Channel of Champions, BoxNation, is currently available on major platforms including Sky, Freeview, Virgin, TalkTalk, online and apps, for just £12 a month showing the very best live fights both internationally and domestically, as well as non-stop 24-hour quality boxing programming.

Since its launch in 2011, BoxNation has grown to become one of the of the World’s major boxing broadcasters.
The channel has consistently showcased the very best live fights from at home and around the world led predominantly by Frank Warren’s UK promoted events and complimented by premium international events from overseas suppliers including Top Rank, Golden Boy, Showtime and HBO.
BoxNation has shown some of the biggest fight nights in recent history, including Haye v Chisora, Mayweather v Canelo, Saunders v Eubank, Khan v Canelo and many, many more.

BT and EE’s mobile customers will also be able to watch on the BT Sport App, and this will mean Frank Warren’s events are able to reach an unrivalled audience in the UK.
In addition to the huge distribution growth this new partnership will deliver, Frank Warren and BoxNation are set to propel their business to a new level after this monster deal with the largest multimedia and telecommunications company in the UK.

This ground-breaking deal, combined with BoxNation’s existing PPV functionality, is set to give the channel the ability to deliver the very biggest and globally significant boxing events and stars to the UK.


Delia Bushell, managing director BT TV and BT Sport said: “BT’s mission has always been to make top tier sport available to more people, offering unbeatable value.”

“Our expanding list of sports rights will now include BoxNation and access to boxing world title fights on BT Sport channels, all included in the price of the BT Sport subscription. We are taking the fight to our rivals in 2017 and we’ll be in great shape.”

Frank Warren, Hall of Fame Promoter and Chairman of BoxNation said: “I’m delighted that I have signed a deal to bring boxing to BT Sport. This is the beginning of a new era for the sport in this country and I am delighted to be working exclusively with a broadcast and telecommunications powerhouse in BT.
Iconic fight nights have the ability capture the imagination of the public, and I am looking forward to building some fantastic events with BT Sport.

"This long-term deal will give BT Sport customers access to BoxNation and my talented stable of fighters and we are delighted to be giving BoxNation, a channel we have worked so hard to build, the vast distribution it deserves.

"I am looking forward to doing what I do best, building boxing stars and promoting memorable events. 30 events a year across both BT Sport and BoxNation will allow me to give my fighters the contests and exposure to become household names.

"This deal is the beginning of a new era not just for me, but for British Boxing and I cannot wait to get started. Roll on 2017!”

George Warren, CEO of BoxNation said: "We are delighted to sign this ground-breaking deal with multimedia and telecommunications giant BT. Since the inception of the channel five years ago we have worked diligently to grow the business by consistently staging and televising the best domestic and international fights.

“With BT Sport, we now have the platform to take the channel to new levels and to continue growing BoxNation and the sport of boxing in the UK.

“We look forward to delivering BT an excellent schedule of events that will get the pulses racing.”

Details of an unmissable first quarter schedule of live action that BT Sport’s and BoxNation’s customers can look forward to, will be announced in the near future.

[Fenster]

I'd sooner pay for this card than AJ-Wlad. In fact, i'm more looking forward to Smith-Williams than the Wembley fight.

Smith-Williams doesn't need any explaining, as long as you're not one of those British weirdo fans that think boxing is pony unless it's in America. I think Williams will prove to be a future "world" champ in-waiting.

Flanagan-Petrov: Warren had a pop at Flanagan's manager and trainer for going against his advice by insisting on this fight. I also saw some American writer/comms (clued up ones that know all about world boxing not just yanks) nonchalantly pick Petrov to beat Flanagan as though he was the hot favourite. The bookies make Flanagan a 1/8 cert, Petrov a 5/1 dog. 5/1!!! (11/2 best). What!? A!? The fuck!? Where's the betting slips...

Tete-Villanueva - these two have some mental sparkos between them. Tete is mustard (although listening to BoxNation is galling, as they make him out to be Sugar Ray). Check out Villanueva-Juan Jimenez 1 for the best headbutt sparko ever. Brilliant.