World Championship Boxing returns Saturday on HBO

Foto Credito: David Spagnolo/Main Events

Two of the world’s top light heavyweights face off in a highly anticipated title showdown when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: SERGEY KOVALEV VS. JEAN PASCAL, VYACHESLAV GLAZKOV VS. STEVE CUNNINGHAM AND ISAAC CHILEMBA VS. VASILY LEPIKHIN is seen SATURDAY, MARCH 14 at 9:45 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from the Montréal Bell Centre in Montréal, Canada, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: March 15 (9:30 a.m.) and 16 (midnight)

HBO2 playdate: March 17 (11:00 p.m.)

In the main event, undefeated Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) of Kopeysk, Russia, now living in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., takes on Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs) originally from Port-au-Prince Haiti, now living in Laval, Quebec, Canada in a 12-round light heavyweight title contest.  The fast-rising, hard-hitting Kovalev has taken the division by storm with an 85% knockout ratio, and solidified his standing with a 12-round unanimous decision in a title unification bout against future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins last November. One of the sport’s top attractions thanks to his fan-friendly style, Kovalev enjoyed a banner year in 2014, earning fighter of the year honors from a host of boxing news organizations. The fight marks his sixth HBO appearance.

Also known for his rugged style and never-back-down approach, Pascal was last seen on HBO in Jan. 2014 when he defeated Lucian Bute. He’ll draw support from a partisan hometown crowd in this showdown.

In the co-feature, Vyacheslav Glazkov (19-0-1, 12 KOs) from Lugansk, Ukraine, now living in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., takes on Steve Cunningham (28-6, 13 KOs) of Philadelphia in a scheduled 12-round heavyweight title elimination fight. The winner will be a contender for a heavyweight title bout with Wladimir Klitschko.

Glazkov was a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist for Ukraine. Cunningham, a former two-time cruiserweight titleholder, has drawn inspiration from his nine-year-old daughter Kennedy, who has triumphed over a heart defect and survived a heart transplant. Both fighters are making their HBO debuts.

In the opening bout, Isaac Chilemba (23-2-2, 10 KOs), originally from Blantyre, Malawi, now living in Johannesburg, South Africa, takes on undefeated Vasily Lepikhin (17-0, 9 KOs) from Gelendzhik, Russia, in a scheduled 12-round light heavyweight contest.  Rising steadily in the ranks of the light heavyweight division, Chilemba has a 4-0-1 record against undefeated opponents. In his third North American appearance, Lepikhin will look to make a major move in the rankings.

Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter attwitter.com/hboboxing.

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 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Dave Harmon; director, Johnathan Evans.

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