HBO Programming Alert-BAD Kicks Off At 10 PM ET

HBO SPORTS PRESENTS A MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE SHOWDOWN WHEN

HBO BOXING AFTER DARK^®:  SEBASTIAN ZBIK VS. JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR.

AND MIKEY GARCIA VS. RAFAEL GUZMAN IS SEEN SATURDAY, JUNE 4

HBO’s hit late-night boxing franchise presents a middleweight title showdown  when HBO BOXING AFTER DARK:  SEBASTIAN ZBIK VS. JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR. AND MIKEY GARCIA VS. RAFAEL GUZMAN is seen SATURDAY, JUNE 4 at 10:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT), from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, exclusively on HBO.  The HBO Sports team of Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates:  June 5 (10:30 a.m.) and 6 (12:35 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates:  June 5 (4:45 p.m.) and 7 (11:00 p.m.)

From Schwerin, Germany, middleweight titleholder Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10 KOs), 29, is making both his U.S. and HBO debut in this scheduled 12-round bout.  A native of Culiacan, Mexico, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0-1, 30 KOs), 25, is the son of Julio Cesar Chavez, perhaps Mexico’s greatest fighter, who fashioned a brilliant career with 115 pro fights from 1980 to 2005.  The younger Chavez, who is also making his first appearance on HBO, previously fought at Staples Center in 2005 and is counting on a strong home-crowd advantage.

The previously announced fight between Mikey Garcia and Miguel Beltran, Jr. has been cancelled due to injury.  The opening bout now features the 23-year-old Garcia (25-0, 21 KOs), a fast-rising featherweight from Oxnard, Cal., versus 25-year-old Rafael Guzman (28-2, 20 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico.  This 126-pound tilt is scheduled for ten rounds.  Garcia returns to HBO after his impressive win in March over Matt Remillard in Atlantic City.