HBO Latino Kicks Off Saturday HBO Coverage

HBO BOXING^® PRESENTS A DOUBLEHEADER OF RING ACTION WHEN

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^®: TAVORIS CLOUD VS.

BERNARD HOPKINS AND KEITH THURMAN VS. JAN ZAVECK

IS SEEN SATURDAY, MARCH 9

HBO heads to the brand-new Barclays Center in Brooklyn to present a doubleheader highlighted by future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins’ quest for a world title when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: TAVORIS CLOUD VS. BERNARD HOPKINS AND KEITH THURMAN VS. JAN ZAVECK is seen SATURDAY, MARCH 9 (9:30 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call all the action, presented in HDTV and in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: March 10 (10:45 a.m.) and 11 (1:25 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: March 10 (4:45 p.m.) 12 (11:30 p.m.)

In HBO’s first presentation from the Barclays Center, undefeated light heavyweight Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs) from Tallahassee, Fla., puts his belt on the line against Philadelphia legend Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout. Known for his hard-hitting punches, Cloud is making his fifth title defense in this main event. Hopkins, considered to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, looks to make history by becoming the oldest fighter to capture a world title at age 48, having set the previous record at age 46 in May 2011 when he bested Jean Pascal. Hopkins also set a record by successfully defending his middleweight title 20 times over a ten-year reign.

Also from Brooklyn, the opening bout of the evening features Keith Thurman (19-0, 18 KOs) of Clearwater, Fla. and Jan Zaveck (32-2, 18 KOs) of Ptuj, Slovenia, in a scheduled 12-round welterweight contest. Thurman has been fast-tracking through the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions, and this match with the veteran Zaveck kicks off the undefeated 24-year-old’s 2013 quest for a world title shot.

The originally scheduled heavyweight fight between Chris Arreola and Bermane Stiverne was postponed due to Arreola’s illness.

The night of boxing programming continues with the season premiere of the half-hour boxing news program “The Fight Game with Jim Lampley,” which debuts live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn at 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT), or immediately following the conclusion of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

Kicking off the special evening of boxing programming, HBO Latino presents HBO LATINO BOXING: JUAN CARLOS SALGADO VS. ARGENIS MENDEZ at 8:30 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT). In this junior lightweight title fight, Juan Carlos Salgado (26-1-1, 16 KOs) of Mexico City defends his belt against mandatory challenger Argenis Mendez (20-2, 10 KOs) of the Dominican Republic at The Hangar at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Cal. The pair previously met in Sept. 2011, with Salgado scoring the victory. The fight will enable boxing fans to enjoy a title fight exclusively on the HBO Latino service with commentary by the HBO Spanish-language announcers.

Other HBO Latino playdates for the Salgado-Mendez bout: March 10 (9:45 a.m., 3:45 p.m.), 11 (12:25 a.m.) and 12 (7:00 p.m.)

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.

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

Comment on this article