Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard has been around the ring a few times so he’s happy to be part of the Premier Boxing Championship airing on NBC and Spike TV tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. D.C. native Lamont Peterson fights Danny Garcia in as the main event in a non-title bout from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The series, which began in March, showcases the talents of up and coming boxers. Boxing used to be the norm on network TV until cable and pay-per-view made it much more difficult to find televised fights for free.
“A lot of boxing fans can’t afford pay-per-view and HBO and everything else,” says Leonard. “They’re talented but they’re not household names because they don’t have that TV exposure which they definitely need. There’s so much talent out there, but they just don’t have a platform. I’m so happy to be part of bringing boxing back to the fans for free.”
Well, in a fight that does include household names, Leonard’s pick on the upcoming Mayweather/Pacquiao fight is unsurprisingly, Mayweather.
“All fighters have one more fight left in them,” says Leonard. “Ali against Joe Frazier, or George Foreman, me against Hagler. They are 38 and 37 and I also believe that they’re an anomaly. These are rare guys that have their stuff even in their late 30’s. The only thing is when we reach success, sometimes we become soft, if you will, or more civilized if you will. You’re not hungry. You’re not as driven. I’m really excited about this. It should be an incredible fight. I’m going, in fact, my whole family’s going.”
