Heavyweight championship boxing makes an EPIX return next month with
America’s latest line of offense! World champions WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO
and ALEXANDER POVETKIN will defend their titles on July 7 and July
14, respectively, and both fights will be televised live in the U.S.
exclusively on EPIX, the multiplatform premium entertainment
service. EpixHD.com will stream the fights live as part of a
special free trial offer for boxing fans.
Klitschko, the World Boxing Association (WBA) Super heavyweight /
International Boxing Federation (IBF) / World Boxing Organization (WBO)
heavyweight champion, will battle top-rated contender TONY THOMPSON
at Stade de Suisse, in Berne, Switzerland, in a rematch of their 2008
fight.
Povetkin will risk his undefeated record and WBA heavyweight crown
against former two-time heavyweight champion and current No. 1 contender
and mandatory challenger HASIM RAHMAN. The July 14 telecast will
also feature an all-British heavyweight war between former two-division
world champion DAVID HAYE and one-time heavyweight title
challenger DEREK CHISORA for the vacant WBA Intercontinental
heavyweight title. Both fights will take place in the West Ham Football
Club's Boleyn Ground at Upton Park in London.
You don’t have to look any further than this press conference encounter
to see where the bad blood began which led to the making of Haye vs.
Chisora – check out the video on the EPIX
YouTube page.
These six gladiators boast a combined record of 207-17-2 (163 KOs) – a
92% winning percentage and a 79% victory by knockout ratio.
As has become the custom, EPIX will once again present the
closed-captioned simulcast of this world championship rumble on its
jumbotron in Times Square in New York City (Broadway between 44th
and 45th Sts.)
"Tony Thompson gave me one of my toughest fights when we fought the
first time, back in 2008,” said Klitschko. “In this rematch, I will show
the world that I have only gotten better and plan to successfully keep
all of my titles. The soccer stadium in Berne is beautiful and this will
be a great event with over 30,000 people in attendance. I always get so
much energy when so many fans are in the large stadiums to watch me
fight. This will be the sixth fight in a row that I have fought in a
soccer stadium and I am happy that EPIX is broadcasting this event live
in the US."
“I'm delighted that my fight against David Haye will be live on EPIX so
that my fans in the US will get to see me knock him out,” said Chisora.
“This is a huge fight in Europe and has taken over all the media
coverage and will get bigger and bigger as we get closer to the night."
“EPIX is very pleased to continue its exclusive live U.S. telecasts of
championship boxing. The fireworks displayed by the recent Froch vs.
Bute super middleweight championship has continued to produce excitement
for U.S.-based fight fans and audience growth for the EPIX Sports boxing
series. It was the perfect follow-up to our unprecedented heavyweight
championship trilogy, which featured Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali
Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin successfully defending their world
titles over three consecutive weeks earlier this year. And here we are
again with Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin once again
defending their titles in consecutive weeks on EPIX,” said Travis
Pomposello, EPIX CCO and executive producer of EPIX Sports.
Klitschko (57-3, 50 KOs), of Kiev, Ukraine, is a two-time world
heavyweight champion. Wladimir began his first title reign in 2000 when
he captured the WBO heavyweight title via a unanimous decision over
defending champion Chris Byrd. Byrd suffered two knockdowns in that
battle. Klitschko’s two-year title reign included five successful
defenses – all by knockout – before losing the belt to Corrie Sanders in
2003. Klitschko returned to the world championship throne in 2006, this
time as IBF champion, when he dethroned Chris Byrd in a title rematch.
This victory was even more emphatic than the first one with Klitschko
stopping Byrd in the seventh round. Since that fight, Klitschko has
taken on and defeated all comers while unifying the title with victories
over WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov, and WBA champion David Haye. He
enters this fight riding an eight-year, 15-bout winning streak. His most
recent victory was a fourth-round knockout of former two-time world
champion Jean Marc Mormeck, on March 3, which was televised live to the
U.S. by EPIX.
Thompson (36-2, 24 KOs), from Washington, D.C., is a power-punching
southpaw who is ready to give Klitschko his Berne notice when they meet
again for the title. Thompson earned his first world title shot with
Klitschko by stringing together an eight-year, 27-bout winning streak,
which featured victories over top-rated contenders Luan Krasniqi, Timur
Ibragimov, Dominick Guinn, and Vaughn Bean. Though unsuccessful in his
challenge of Klitschko, Thompson gained valuable experience and a hunger
for another world title fight. Since losing to Klitschko in 2008,
Thompson has returned to the top of the IBF ratings by winning his five
subsequent fights – all by knockout – including stoppages of Chazz
Witherspoon and Owen Beck.
Povetkin (24-0, 16 KOs), of Russia, captured the vacant WBA heavyweight
title last August, winning a gutsy unanimous decision over former WBA
heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev, who entered the fight as the No.
1-rated contender. Povetkin, the 2004 Olympic super heavyweight gold
medalist, has an impressive resume which includes a knockout victory
over former two-time heavyweight champion Chris Byrd, and unanimous
decision victories over one-time heavyweight title challenger Eddie
Chambers and former U.S. Olympians Jason Estrada and Larry Donald.
Povetkin enters this fight having won four of his last seven bouts by
knockout, including his December 3 title defense, an eighth-round
stoppage of Cedric Boswell. Povetkin, who has had all of his heavyweight
title fights televised live in the U.S. on EPIX, returns to the ring
fresh from successfully defending his championship belt, via majority
decision on February 25, against WBO cruiserweight Marco Huck, ending
Huck’s four-year, 15-bout winning streak.
Rahman (50-7-2, 41 KOs), of Baltimore, MD, has fought nearly every
notable heavyweight and is certainly no stranger to fighting for the
world heavyweight championship. In fact, he is the last American to hold
a heavyweight title belt. The highlight of his career came in 2001 when
he knocked out defending champion Lennox Lewis in the fifth round to
capture the heavyweight title. After losing the title in the immediate
rematch later that year, Rahman was able to fight his way back into
contention where he regained the WBC heavyweight title in 2005 via a
unanimous decision over Monte Barrett. After losing the title to Oleg
Maskaev in 2006 – the last time an American has ever worn a heavyweight
champion belt – Rahman has won nine of his last 11 bouts, eight by
knockout, with the lone blemishes being a TKO loss to heavyweight
champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2008 and a No Contest to three-division
world champion James Toney.
Chisora (15-3, 9 KOs), of London, returns to the ring on the heels of
his two most notable fights. Last December, in a fight that was
televised live in the U.S. on EPIX, Chisora, an underdog fighting
outside his native United Kingdom for the first time, out-boxed
undefeated No. 1 heavyweight contender Robert Helenius over 12-rounds in
his native Finland only to have the judges return a narrow split
decision victory to Helenius to the outrage of fans and media alike.
Based on that performance, Chisora, the former BBBoC British heavyweight
champion and Commonwealth (British Empire) heavyweight champion earned a
title shot with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko on February
18, also televised live to the U.S. on EPIX. Though he lost a unanimous
decision, it was the first time in nearly two years that Klitschko had
been forced to go the distance. Chisora’s professional resume boasts
consecutive knockout victories of Danny Williams and Sam Sexton, who had
a combined record of 54-9 when he defeated them in 2010.
Haye (25-2, 23 KOs), of London, captured his first world title in 2007,
knocking out defending WBC/WBA cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormeck
in the seventh round. He added the WBO crown to his war chest in his
first defense, a second-round pasting of Enzo Maccarinelli the following
year. He vacated the titles to move up to the heavyweight division and
in only second fight as a heavyweight dethroned WBA heavyweight champion
Nikolay Valuev, via majority decision. He successfully defended the
title twice, knocking out former two-time heavyweight champion John Ruiz
and 2000 Olympic gold medalist and fellow countryman Audley Harrison in
the ninth and third rounds, respectively, both in 2010. Haye lost the
crown last July, losing a unanimous decision to Wladimir Klitschko in a
title unification fight. Haye’s fight against Chisora will be his first
since that loss.
About EPIX
EPIX, a joint venture between Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA and VIA.B), its
Paramount Pictures unit, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) and
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), is a premium entertainment network available on
television, video-on-demand, online and on consumer electronic devices.
With access to more than 15,000 motion pictures spanning the vast
libraries of its partners and other studios, EPIX provides a powerful
entertainment experience with more feature films on demand and online
and more HD movies than any other service. It is the only premium
network providing its entire monthly line-up of new Hollywood hits,
classic feature films, documentaries and original concerts, comedy and
sporting events on all platforms. EPIX delivers more than 3,000 titles
to authenticated subscribers on EpixHD.com and on hundreds of devices
including Xbox 360 consoles, Android™ tablets and mobile phones, Roku®
players, Samsung® Smart TVs and Blu-ray™ players, Apple® iPads®,
iPhones® and more. EPIX is available to over 30 million homes nationwide
through distribution partners including Charter Communications, Cox
Communications, DISH Network, Mediacom Communications, NCTC, Suddenlink
Communications and Verizon FiOS.
For more information about EPIX, go to www.EpixHD.com.
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