Keith Thurman Tapped For ESPN `Premier Boxing' Card

ESPN will debut its first live Premier Boxing Champions telecast on July 11, headlined by the Keith Thurman/Luis Collazo welterweight championship fight, the network said Thursday.

The card will also feature a middleweight fight between Tony Harrison and Willie Nelson, said the network. The event is the first of a 12-fight deal ESPN and sister broadcast network ABC reached with boxing promoter Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Championship series this past March. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network, will also televise all PBC on ESPN fights as part of its Noche de Combates series and ESPN International will present coverage across its networks in Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean and Pacific Rim.

Premier Boxing Championship has also reached deals with Spike TV, NBC, CBS, Bounce TV, CBS Sports Network and NBCSN.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.