(Oct. 24, 2018) — From heavyweight to junior flyweight, a pair of world-class bouts with significant implications will be showcased in the coming days on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN.
In a 12-round heavyweight title elimination bout this Saturday, Oct. 27 from the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria, hometown favorite Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) will take on Hughie Fury (21-1, 11 KOs). The Pulev-Fury stream will begin at 4 p.m. ET.
The action continues from the Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay City, Philippines, on Monday, Oct. 29 at 7 a.m. ET when Felix Alvarado (33-2, 29 KOs) battles Randy Petalcorin (29-2-1, 22 KOs) for the vacant IBF junior flyweight world title. In the co-feature, Giemel Magramo (21-1, 17 KOs) will defend the WBO Oriental flyweight belt in a 12-rounder against Sebastian Sanchez (11-5, 8 KOs).
Pulev and Fury are both former world title challengers seeking a second shot at the brass ring. Fury lost a narrow majority decision to Joseph Parker for the WBO title in September of last year. He rebounded with a fifth-round TKO against countryman Sam Sexton for the British title. Pulev put forth a courageous effort versus Wladimir Klitschko in a 2014 bid for the unified title, falling short via fifth-round knockout. He has won five in a row since the Klitschko loss, including impressive showings against Kevin Johnson, Dereck Chisora, and former world champion Samuel Peter.
Alvarado, a two-time world title challenger, is one of the fiercest punchers in the lighter weight classes. He is 15-0 with 14 knockouts since dropping a unanimous decision in a bid for Juan Carlos Reveco’s WBA flyweight title on June 6, 2014. Five months before the Reveco loss, Alvarado fell via unanimous decision to Kazuto Ioka for the WBA 108-pound title. Petalcorin, who will have the home canvas advantage, has won six straight since a controversial split decision defeat to Omari Kimweri.
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About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the premium multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI) segment in conjunction with ESPN. ESPN+ offers fans two exclusives, original boxing programs The Boxing Beat with Dan Rafael (Tuesdays, weekly) and In This Corner (twice monthly). In addition to exclusive Top Rank boxing content, programming on ESPN+ includes hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, thousands of college sports events (including football, basketball and multiple other sports from more than 15 conferences), UFC (beginning in 2019), Grand Slam tennis, international and domestic rugby, cricket, new and exclusive documentary films and series, acclaimed studio shows and the full library of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 films. Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.
