Wladimir Klitschko vs Samuel Peter to be on ESPN

HBO turned the fight down and it did not fit in Showtime's schedule, but American boxing fans will still be able to see heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko's rematch with Samuel Peter on various ESPN platforms.

The network announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with Klitschko's K2 Promotions to carry live coverage of the Sept. 11 fight from Frankfurt, Germany's 55,000-seat Commerzbank Arena on ESPN3.com at 5 p.m. ET.

The championship fight will also air at 8 p.m. ET on same-day tape delay on ESPN Deportes with a Sept. 12 replay at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

"We are always looking for opportunities to deliver quality boxing matches on multiple platforms," said Doug Loughrey, ESPN's boxing director of programming. "We are pleased to present another world title heavyweight bout to United States-based boxing fans."

"Friday Night Fights" host Brian Kenny and analyst Teddy Atlas will call the action from a stateside studio.

Atlas could have been at the fight serving as the trainer to Alexander Povetkin, Klitschko's mandatory challenger. However, on Atlas' advice, Povetkin withdrew from the bout last week and gave up a career-high purse of more than $2 million because Atlas did not feel Povetkin was ready for the title shot.

Peter, the next in line, quickly accepted the bout and his promoter, Bob Arum's Top Rank, finalized the agreement with K2 Promotions on Friday. Peter also signed his contract Friday.

On March 12, Peter knocked out Nagy Aguilera in the second round of an elimination bout that moved him up to No. 2 in the IBF's rankings. When Povetkin dropped out, Peter moved into the No. 1 contender spot.

Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs) and Peter (34-3, 27 KOs), a former titleholder, first met in a 2005 title elimination bout in Atlantic City, N.J. Although Peter scored three knockdowns, Klitschko won the clear unanimous decision.

"I had to wait a long time for the rematch," Peter said. "Now I will finish what I missed five years ago. This time I am going straight in and take him out. It's not going to last real long."

Seven months after Klitschko defeated Peter, he knocked out Chris Byrd in the seventh round to win a title. He has made eight defenses while picking up other belts along the way.

"Peter was one of the toughest fights of my career," Klitschko said. "He is an extremely hard puncher and has improved a lot in his last [few] fights. I know what to expect on Sept. 11 and I will be well prepared.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5425866

great for espn and boxing fans..good for the fighters also not to proud to do espn..it uplifts there images as well as espn boxing..hbo and showtime keep up the good snobby work..

Showtime I won't criticize. They have spent whatever their budget is wisely with fights like Perez vs mares, Super 6, etc...

HBO was a bunch of bitches for this.


Great job by ESPN in picking up the fight. Almost makes up for the absolutely dreadful job they did by showing Lebron's the Decision debacle.

I was hoping we would get to see this over here. Great work by ESPN.

ESPN made tons of $ on The Decision and more in the subsequent coverage. I didn't watch it so I can't comment on the quality, but I'm pretty sure several million did which is all they wanted...plus they invented more drama and another storyline they could use to milk more $.

Im shocked that HBO wouldnt want Peter vs Wlad? There last fight was probably the last real good HW fight I have seen as for as good back and fourth action.

n tim that was Mike Mollo vs Golota haha

but yourr ight the first fight was entertaining

HBO only wants Wlad vs Haye. If I'm Wlad, I take less money if that fight occurs and put it on showtime.

Showtime was willing to show Wlad's fight but they had a scheduling conflict.