Britain’s biggest and best Hall of Fame promoter, Frank Warren was at the O2 Indigo today to announce the launch of his revolutionary television station, BOXNATION. The new venture will air the mouth-watering world title fight between champion Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew.
The bout in Liverpool’s Echo Arena on October 15th is part of an exclusive double header with stateside giants, Golden Boy Promotions. After Cleverly defends his WBO light-heavyweight title against Bellew the broadcast will then switch to Los Angeles’ Staples Centre to show another light-heavyweight world title showdown. Record breaking Bernard Hopkins defends his WBC title against fellow American Chad Dawson.
BOXNATION is the only channel of its kind to be 100% dedicated to boxing and it’s available on Sky Channel 456 and Virgin Media. It will show two boxing shows every week, major amateur tournaments, Steve Bunce’s Boxing Hour, daily news and updates, an extensive archive of classic fights and MMA.
Frank Warren commented, “This is what all boxing fans have been waiting for – a dedicated channel, 100% percent committed to showing the best fights from around the world. It’s a big challenge in my career, but I’m really excited by BoxNation and it takes me back to my early years when I was at ITV doing a show a week.”
One man who’s excited about the new movement is Wales’ 11th world champion, Nathan Cleverly. He said, “Obviously it’s quite easy to be cynical about a new channel and everything. But coming up here today, now I realise how good this could be and I think everyone else feels the same on this table. We’re just sat here, Frank’s got the list by the side of us and he’s reading through some of the fights that are going to be shown and it looks awesome. It’s going to be exciting!”
“Just when boxing needs a lift, this channel could get it back to the levels that it was years ago. I think the viewing figures will be good because of the fights, they look great. We’ve got a full table here full of young talent coming through and every fighter is a great talent on their own.” added Cleverly.
Not only will BOXNATION air Frank Warren Promotions events; it will also feature regular shows from America’s biggest promotional company, Golden Boy and the dominating promotional force in Eastern European boxing, Sauerland Promotions. Also the brainchild of Frank Warren’s sons, Francis and George, named Queensberry Promotions will also stage regular shows featuring Britain’s top prospects.
The channel has a star studded presentation team with the elite of British boxing journalists, such as Jim Rosenthal, Paul Dempsey, Steve Bunce and John Rawling. BOXNATION will be free-to-air for the first few months, including Cleverly-Bellew, before it charges just £10 a month.
You can follow BOXNATION on Twitter at Twitter.com/@BoxNation456
