ESPN2 Studio Show On-Site

The February 28 edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates presentado por Corona Extra will feature the quarterfinals of the Middleweight portion of Boxcino 2014 sponsored by 1800 Tequila.

Friday’s show, from Harrah’s Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, broadband Spanish-language ESPN Deportes+ and WatchESPN. ESPN Deportes will televise the fights at 10:30 p.m. The card is promoted by Banner Promotions.

Boxcino 2014:
The tournament, which started last week, is a single-elimination, two-weight class competition featuring eight fighters in the Lightweight and Middleweight divisions. Tournament details, TV schedule and brackets can be found on ESPN MediaZone. ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions Brian Kweder, who oversees content strategy and acquisition for ESPN’s soccer, boxing and bowling properties, discusses the tournament in a Q&A on ESPN Front Row.

Positive Social Media Reaction to start of Boxcino 2014:

Steve Kim—MaxBoxing

 

Mark Ortega—Behind the Gloves, Ring TV, Boxing Monthly

Ramon Aranda—3 More Rounds, Oakland Examiner

Commentators:
Joe Tessitore will be ringside with Teddy Atlas  describing the action for ESPN2,  while studio host Todd Grisham (@GrishamESPN) will be on site (see Grisham and Atlas preview this week’s action). Delvin Rodríguez and Pablo Viruega will call the fights for Noche de Combates (Fight Night) on both ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes+, while Leopoldo González  and Claudia Trejos will anchor the studio. Bilingual reporter BernardoOsuna (@osunaespn) will present live interviews and reports for both shows.

Middleweight Quarterfinal Matchups: Six Rounds Each

The first round of the Middleweight tournament will feature:

Donatas Bondas (18-4-1, 6 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (15-1, 6 KOs)
Cerresso Fort (17-2-1, 11 KOs) vs. Vitalii Kopylenko (21-0, 11 KOs)
Daniel Edouard (23-4-2, 14 KOs) vs. Brandon Adams (12-0, 8 KOs)
Raymond Gatica (13-2, 8 KOs) vs. Sena Agbeko (15-0,15 KOs)

Middleweight Division Bracket (click to enlarge):

 

Fighter backgrounds:
New York’s Monroe Jr., who has won his last five fights, is coming off a six-round unanimous decision win over Miguel Alvarez, while Chicago’s Bondas is looking to score another victory after a six-round unanimous decision win over Skylar Thompson. Ukraine’s Kopylenko, a stablemate of Junior Welterweight titlist Ruslan Provodnikov, scored a fifth-round technical decision win over Marko Benzon in his last fight, while Minnesota’s Fort is looking to rebound from a fourth-round TKO loss to Caleb Truax. Los Angeles’ Adams is coming off a second-round TKO win over Francisco Rios, while Florida’s Edouard is looking to get back to his winning ways following a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Peter Manfredo Jr. In his last outing, Tennessee’s Agbeko scored a first-round knockout win over Daniel Sowah, while Texas’ Gatica is looking to rebound from a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Fernando Guerrero.

Upcoming Schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Main Event	Location	Networks
Fri, Mar. 7	9 p.m.	Rustam Nugaev (26-6, 16 KOs) vs. Marvin Quintero (25-4, 21 KOs) — 10 rounds, Lightweights	Pala Casino, Pala, Calif.	ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN
Fri, Mar. 21	9 p.m.	Vanes Martirosyan (33-1-1, 21 KOs) vs. Mario Alberto Lozano (27-4, 20 KOs) — 10 rounds, Junior Middleweights	Morongo Casino, Cabazon, Calif.	ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN
Fri, Mar. 28	9 p.m.	Boxcino Lightweight Semifinals: eight rounds each  Chris Rudd (13-1, 8 KOs) vs. Petr Petrov (33-4-2, 14 KOs) Miguel González (23-3, 16 KOs) vs. Fernando Carcamo (16-5, 13 KOs)	4 Bears Casino, New Town, N.D.	ESPN, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN

*Schedule subject to change

Friday Night Fights and Noche de Combates Social Media:

• Follow ESPN Friday Night Fights on Twitter @ESPNFNF or like it on Facebook.
• Score the fights round-by-round with the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the ESPN FNF Facebook page that allows viewers to score the fight round-by-round.
• Follow ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates on Twitter @ESPNBoxeo. 
• For the latest ESPN.com boxing news and analysis follow @ESPNBoxing.

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