HBO BOXING® PRESENTS AN ACTION-PACKED CARD HIGHLIGHTED BY THE RETURN OF A SUPERSTAR WHEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®: CANELO ALVAREZ VS. JAMES KIRKLAND AND HUMBERTO SOTO VS. FRANKIE GOMEZ PLUS THE REPLAY OF MAYWEATHER VS. PACQUIAO IS PRESENTED SATURDAY, MAY 9

In one of the most-anticipated events on the action-packed HBO Boxing calendar, the brightest, fastest-rising star in the sport meets one of his toughest challenges to date when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: CANELO ALVAREZ VS. JAMES KIRKLAND AND HUMBERTO SOTO VS. FRANKIE GOMEZ is seen SATURDAY, MAY 9 at 9:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Minute Maid Park in Houston, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will be ringside to call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: May 10 (10:30 a.m.) and 11 (11:45 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: May 10 (3:00 p.m.) and 12 (11:30 p.m.)

Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) of Jalisco, Mexico and James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) of Austin, Tex. will compete in a scheduled 12-round super welterweight fight. Both men are known for an aggressive, come-forward style, which should produce an all-action affair.

Following an impressive 2014 campaign that included victories over fierce brawler Alfredo Angulo and crafty southpaw Erislandy Lara, Alvarez, 24, makes his 2015 debut looking for another dominant performance in his return to Texas, where a fervent fan base will provide a hometown feel for the Mexican slugger.

With just two fights over the last three years, including a stunning knockout of Glen Tapia in 2013, Kirkland, 31, returns rested and primed for battle. The Texas native boasts remarkable knockout power, having not allowed any opponent to reach the final bell since 2007. The winner will be in line for a super welterweight title fight later this year.

A scheduled ten-round super lightweight fight opens the evening, with seasoned veteran Humberto Soto (65-8-2, 35 KOs) squaring off against undefeated Frankie Gomez (18-0, 13 KOs). Soto, 34, is a former three-division champion coming off a decisive victory last September over John Molina, Jr., while unbeaten prospect Gomez, 23, continues to rise in the ranks.

Leading off the telecast will be the replay of the May 2nd blockbuster pay-per-view event from Las Vegas in which Floyd Mayweather met Manny Pacquiao in a much anticipated welterweight unification title bout.

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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 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Jon Crystal; director, Johnathan Evans.

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