James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr will clash at London’s O2 on 23 February in the first major UK event of the new deal between ITV and Haymon Sports’ Premier Boxing Champions, it has been announced.
The Super Middleweight match, to be screened exclusively live on ITV Box Office, will take place against a backdrop of hostility between two fighters who have long made no secret of their mutual dislike and are relishing the prospect of settling their differences in the ring.
James DeGale has already fired off an opening shot in the direction of his opponent.
Han sa: “Really excited and looking forward to being back home to a fight of this magnitude. “I believe Eubank doesn’t have the pedigree, the size and skill to beat me. “Eubank is a decent fighter but every time he has stepped up he has been found out. He has called my name for a long time so now I’ve finally got my chance to zip his lips.”
Eubank Jr responded in kind, sier: “DeGale is going to get the schooling of his career. A good old-fashioned hiding.”
Poxon Sport is the promoter of DeGale v Eubank Jr, as the exclusive promoter of all UK PBC events on ITV.
The fighters faced off at the Hotel Café Royal, in London on Thursday, January 3rd. Live streaming of the press conference was hosted by ITV’s Gabriel Clarke on the ITV Box Office Facebook page and Youtube channel.
Full details of the undercard and how to access this ITV Box Office PPV event across all platforms will be announced and made available in due course. For updated and further information, please go to www.itvboxoffice.com Tickets for the fight go on sale on Friday 4 January at midday to O2 members and to the wider public at midday on Monday 7 Januar. Tickets available from www.AXS.com and Inner Ringside/VIP Hospitality from www.sportandmusic.co.uk.
News of the DeGale v Eubank Jr showdown follows the announcement at the end of December of two major world title fights to be shown free to air on ITV4 as part of the broad scope of the ITV and PBC deal.
On Sunday, Januar 13, Jose Uzcategui defends his IBF Super Middleweight World Championship against unbeaten top challenger Caleb Plant. Coverage will come live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
The following weekend, på 19 Januar, ITV4’s coverage will come live from Las Vegas where Manny Pacquiao will defend his WBA world welterweight title against Adrien Broner. The exclusive ITV4 coverage will also include the much-anticipated showdown between Badou Jack and Marcus Browne for the WBA Interim Light Heavyweight title.
Late last year, ITV announced a ground-breaking new deal with Haymon Sports and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) å bringe eksklusiv dekning av spennende PBC-boksearrangementer i verdensklasse til ITV-seere og kampfans i Storbritannia. Det unike samarbeidet er første gang Haymon Sports og PBC har inngått samarbeid med en britisk kringkaster for å arrangere boksebegivenheter regelmessig i Storbritannia.
Den eksklusive treårsavtalen vil garantere minimum 15 TV-arrangementer hvert år, drawing from PBC’s unrivaled group of over 160 av de beste bokserne i verden, som inkluderer mer enn 60 nåværende og tidligere verdensmestere i kamper arrangert både i Storbritannia og USA.
PBC, idrettene’ eminent boksemerke, sendes over kabel- og nettverks-tv i USA. Kampen i verdensklasse fra arrangementer de neste tre årene vil inkludere gratis-til-luft-sendinger på ITVs kanaler, inkludert ITV hovedkanal og ITV4 og ITV Hub, og vil også inkludere betal per visning på ITVs PPV-kanal, ITV Box Office.
Denne nye avtalen for boksing legger til ITV Sports portefølje av førsteklasses arrangementer, som inkluderer eksklusiv gratis-til-luft-dekning av det engelske fotballagets kvalifiseringskamper for både EM og verdensmesterskap, den 6 Nasjoner og eksklusiv dekning av Rugby World Cup, hesteveddeløp i Storbritannia, Tour de France og French Open.