NBCSN features a special live tripleheader during Fight Night on Saturday, August 9 at 8 p.m. ET from Sands Casino Hotel in Bethlehem, PA. The main event features undefeated Ukrainian sensation Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov (17-0-1, 11 KOs) against New York native Derric Rossy in ten rounds of heavyweight action. Prior to the Glazkov-Rossy fight, is a 12-round light heavyweight championship bout as Robert Berridge (24-1-1, 20 KOs) of New Zealand and Vasily Lepikhin (15-0, 8 KOs) of Russia square off for the PABA and WBO Oriental Light Heavyweight Titles. The tripleheader opens with two more heavyweights, New Zealand native Joseph Parker (9-0, 8 KOs) against Keith Thompson of Birmingham, AL (7-2, 4 KOs) in a six-round showdown.
NBC Sports Group’s Fight Night broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Kenny Rice, analyst B.J. Flores and reporter Chris Mannix call the action.
In his last Fight Night appearance on March 25, Czar Glazkov stunned audiences when he upset former two-division world champion and heavyweight contender Tomasz “Goral” Adamek to secure the #2 position in the IBF and the IBF North American Heavyweight Title. Czar has an impressive 65% (11 of 17) knockout-to-win ratio. Glazkov, 29, now resides in Ft. Lauderdale, FL but is originally from Lugansk, Ukraine. This will be Glazkov’s first fight training with renowned boxing trainer John David Jackson. Jackson also trains fellow Main Events’ stable mate and WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev.
Rossy, 34, is a seasoned veteran with 37 professional fights on his resume. He hails from Medford, NY. He is coming off a 10-round majority decision victory over heavyweight prospect Joe Hanks in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on May 16. Prior to their fight, Hanks had only one career loss. The victory snapped a two-fight loss streak for Rossy. Saturday will be his Fight Night debut.
The second bout of the Fight Night tripleheader features New Zealand native and southpaw Robert “The Butcher” Berridge (24-1-1, 20 KOs) in a 12-round light heavyweight match-up against Vasily “The Professor” Lepikhin (15-0, 8 KOs) for the PABA and WBO Oriental Light Heavyweight Titles. Berridge, 29, is currently on a nine-fight winning streak (all KOs) dating all the way back to Oct. 5, 2012 (second round KO of Joel Casey in Victoria, Australia).
The undefeated Vasily Lepikhin, 29, hails from Gelendzhik, Russia and will make his U.S. debut on Aug. 9th. Since making his professional debut in 2005, Vasily has fought exclusively in his home country, Russia. The undefeated Lepikhin is also on a knockout streak. He has knocked out his last three opponents, all in the first round (Apr. 18, 2013 – TKO Romans Sevcenko; Jun. 13, 2013 – KO Mikhail Demin and Nov. 30, 2013 – KO Alexey Varakin).
Joseph Parker is also undefeated with an astonishing 89% (8 of 9) knockout-to-win ratio. He is coming off a startling seventh-round stoppage against Brian Minto on July 5 when he earned the PABA and WBO Oriental Heavyweight Titles. The Minto fight took place in Parker’s home country of New Zealand. On August 9 he will make his Fight Night and east coast debuts.
Parker’s opponent, Keith Thompson, hails from Birmingham, AL. He is coming off a four-round unanimous decision victory over Derek Walker in his home state of Alabama on April 5. This will be only his second fight in the northeast. He was knocked out by Alexis Santos on May 24 in Dorchester, Mass., the only other time he fought north of the Mason-Dixon Line. This will also be his Fight Night debut.
“We are pleased to bring an exciting tripleheader, including a title bout, to boxing fans on NBCSN,” said Gary Quinn, Vice President of Programming & Planning for NBC Sports Group.
Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, said, “This card meets all of our objectives for Fight Night: we’re bringing back Glazkov, who made his US debut on NBC in 2012, we’re introducing new faces to our audience, and featuring crossroads match ups with exciting prospects. It should be a great night of action on NBCSN.”
About August 9:
The Aug. 9th special triple-header edition of NBCSN Fight Night will take place at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and will feature a ten-round heavyweight match-up between Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov and Derric “El León” Rossy, a twelve round light heavyweight match-up between Robert “The Butcher” Berridge and Vasily “The Professor” Lepikhin and an six-round heavyweight fight featuring Joseph Parker and Keith “Untouchable” Thompson. The undercard bouts are subject to change. Ticket prices are $50 and $75 and available at Ticketmaster.com. The card is presented by Main Events, Peltz Boxing, Titov Promotions and Pushka Promotions in association with Final Forum Promotions and Duco Events. The special triple-header NBCSN Fight Night telecast will begin live at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.
NBC Sports Live Extra:
NBC Sports Live Extra: NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets – will live stream Fight Night at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT on August 9.For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.
