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Vasiliy Lomachenko Faces Guillermo Rigondeaux in a Battle of Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalists for the WBO World Junior Lightweight title

Live and Exclusively on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App Saturday, December 9 at 9 p.m. ET from the Theater at Madison Square Garden

Debut of Five-Box Mosaic “Around the Ring” Streaming Live on ESPN3 and the ESPN App

The biggest boxing match of the year airs live on ESPN Saturday, December 9 from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Top Rank on ESPN will drop gloves just after 9 p.m. ET with a full slate of marquee fights on ESPN, ESPN Deportes on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App following the live presentation of the 2017 Heisman Trophy Ceremony. Calling the fight for ESPN will be Joe Tessitore and Mark Kriegel, with guest analyst Tim Bradley, reporter Bernardo Osuna and on-location contributor Stephen A. Smith. ESPN Deportes’ coverage includes play-by-play from Pablo Viruega and analyst Delvin Rodriguez.

Two of the top ten pound-for-pound fighters in the world collide for the WBO Junior Lightweight World Title as champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (9-1-0, 7 KO) defends his belt against the unbeaten WBA Super Bantamweight world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0-0, 11 KO). Saturday’s fight marks the first time in boxing history that two-time Olympic Gold Medal winners will face each other at the professional level. Rigondeaux won Gold at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games while Lomachenko won Gold at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games. The International Boxing Hall of Fame will enshrine both pairs of gloves used in Saturday’s bout.

*Last fight ruled No Contest after unintentional late KO

Three additional fights round out Saturday’s TV card with marquee appearances by rising stars Shakur Stevenson, Chris Diaz and Mick Conlan. ESPN3 airs Top Rank undercards available in English and Spanish beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

ESPN’s official coverage of fight week kicked off Tuesday, December 5 with five Top Rank athletes on the Bristol campus for a Car Wash featuring a live SportsCenter appearance for Lomachenko. The final press conference streamed live on ESPN3 Thursday, December 7 and the weigh-in airs live on ESPN2 Friday, December 8 at 2 p.m. ET. Also available on fight night Saturday, December 9 will be a five-box mosaic offering Around the Ring streaming live on ESPN3 and the ESPN App with enhanced views of the ring as well as access to both fighter locker rooms and corner cameras.

Top Rank on ESPN (All times Eastern)

News & Information, Digital and SportsCenter

Leading up to the fight, ESPN will preview the event on studio programming and online, including:

• On air profiles of Lomachenko by Teddy Atlas and Rigondeaux by Claudia Trejos
• A feature on Lomachenko written by Mark Kriegel https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/21681715/training-just-piece-puzzle-vasiliy-lomachenko-lomachenko-vs-rigondeaux-espn
• A by-the-numbers overview from the ESPN Statistics and Info team
• A profile on Rigondeaux from The Undefeated
• News updates and a complete guide to the fight from ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael out Friday, December 8
• Up-to-date on-scene coverage every step of the way from ESPN.com writers Arash Markazi and Dan Rafael who will be with the fighters multiple days this week
• ESPN Fantasy game Streak for the Cash will offer select fight-by-fight and predictions on the ESPN live event telecast Saturday, December 9

For more information visit:  www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing;

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Media Contacts:

TOP RANK

Lee Samuels:  702-378-1083 / Lee@toprank.com

Gardy Lopez:  787-246-3668 / GLopez@toprank.com

Fred Sternburg: 303-548-0707 / TooFred@aol.com

ESPN

Ardi Dwornik: 646-547-5612 / ardi.r.dwornik@espn.com

Santa Brito: 646-547-5602 / santa.brito@espn.com