HBO World Championship Boxing returns Saturday with Saunders vs. Lemieux

HBO Sports closes out 2017 with a high-stakes middleweight slugfest from the boxing hotbed of Quebec when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: BILLY JOE SAUNDERS VS. DAVID LEMIEUX AND ANTOINE DOUGLAS VS. GARY O’SULLIVAN AND CLETUS SELDIN VS. YVES ULYSSE JR. is seen SATURDAY, DEC. 16 at 9:40 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Place Bell in Laval, Quebec. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

The fights will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.

The main event features a 160-pound title showdown, as undefeated middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders (25-0, 12 KOs) brings his crown and colorful personality across the Atlantic for a scheduled 12-round bout with Montreal brawler David Lemieux (38-3, 33 KOs). The 28-year-old Saunders, who hails from the UK, won his title belt from Andy Lee in 2015 and is making his first appearance outside his country.

Lemieux, 28, is a thunderous puncher who has thrilled fans with his style and power. Accepting every challenge, he scored what some observers consider to be a candidate for Knockout of the Year last March when he finished Curtis Stevens in the third round of a fight seen on HBO.

The co-feature is a ten-round middleweight battle between Antoine Douglas (22-1-1, 16 KOs) and Gary O’Sullivan (26-2, 18 KOs). Douglas, 25, hails from Burke, Va., while the 33-year-old O’Sullivan, from Cork, Ireland, is making his HBO debut. Both fighters are fighting professionally in Canada for the first time.

The opening bout is an intriguing super lightweight ten-round showdown, as Brooklyn’s Cletus Seldin (21-0, 17 KOs), fresh off a stunning KO win on Nov. 11, makes a quick turnaround to face Montreal’s Yves Ulysse Jr. (14-1, 9 KOs). Seldin, 31, has fought 17 of his 21 pro bouts on Long Island; Ulysse Jr., 29, looks to raise his profile in the 140-pound division.

The tripleheader will mark the fifth Saturday in six weeks that HBO has presented live boxing, dating back to Nov. 11, showcasing a wide range of hungry young fighters, emerging stars and world-class champions.

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All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.

The executive producer of HBO Sports is Rick Bernstein; producer, Dave Harmon; director, Johnathan Evans.

® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.