Todd Grisham and former boxing champion Sergio Mora will guide viewers through the first in a monthly series of boxing matches slated to air on TNT and truTV and stream on DAZN. “The Fight,” as the show is known, comes about as the result of a partnership between the international streaming outlet and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports.
The inaugural installment of the program will be headlined by undefeated WBO Lightweight World Champion Abdullah Mason, who will defend his title against former world champion Joe Cordina. The match will air live from Cleveland’s Wolstein Center on Saturday, July 4 at 8 p.m. eastern.
Adam Lefkoe ,the TNT Sports veteran, will anchor studio coverage alongside Terence Crawford, boxing analyst Tim Bradley Jr., and former two-time world champion Shawn Porter.
In addition to Grisham and Mora calling the fight, veteran boxing journalist Chris Mannix will serve as both a ringside reporter and studio analyst.
Other fights slated for the evening include Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington vs. Rene Palacios; Tiger Johnson vs. Christopher Guerrero; and Deric “Scooter” Davis vs. Carlos Ramos.
Under the new alliance, DAZN can curate matches based on its alliances with top boxing promoters, including Top Rank, Matchroom Boxing, Golden Boy Promotions, and Queensberry Promotions.
If “The Fight” sounds similar to a series of celebrity golf tournaments that TNT Sports backs under the title “The Match,” well, it’s probably not a coincidence. TNT has created several new sports franchises that are less reliant on the nation’s major sports leagues, part of a growing effort by traditional media companies to take more control over the sports rights that fill up so much more of their programming schedules. The cost to show top tier games from the NFL and NBA, among others, continues to rise. With that in mind, many of the nation’s big media companies have tried to launch their own entities. Warner also works with the three-on-three Unrivaled women’s basketball league, and recently unveiled a new “Dunkman” league alongside Shaquille O’Neal, while showing games from Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League.