December 22nd will be the date for the tripleheader.
Major broadcast network FOX’s initial foray into paying for boxing content begins a few days before Christmas. The network was previously the home of time buys in which Premier Boxing Champions paid the network for the air time and sold the advertisements themselves. Beginning with this card, however, PBC and FOX will begin a more traditional relationship in which the network pays a good deal of money for the content. FOX needed something to fill the void left by the UFC when the MMA power leaves for ESPN come 2019.
The Charlo brothers will be kicking the deal off by co-headlining the first show. Middleweight contender Jermall Charlo (27-0, 21 KOs) will meet former title challenger Willie Monroe (23-3, 6 KOs) while junior middleweight titleholder Jermell Charlo (31-0, 15 KOs) defends his WBC belt against Tony Harrison (27-2, 21 KOs). Neither matchup is the super compelling debut one would hope would be kicking off a major contract like the FOX deal, but that has never been PBC’s way. While Willie Monroe is a talented boxer at a pretty high level, his ceiling has been exposed as below the world scene twice now by the likes of Gennady Golovkin and Billy Joe Saunders. Tony Harrison is a fun fighter, but he’s been stopped twice by Willie Nelson and Jarrett Hurd. Neither opponent here figures to have much of a chance.
Comically, the determination as to which Charlo twin will main event the show is apparently going to be made via a press conference coin flip. I have no words for that. The show will be in Brooklyn at the Barclay’s Center, the “official home” of Premier Boxing Champions. The card would make a hell of a lot more sense in Houston where the Charlos are from in my view. That’s not what is happening though. Reportedly heavyweight fringe contender Dominic Breazeale will open the broadcast too, making it a tripleheader. There hasn’t been any word on who he might be facing though. PBC will be looking to set up a fight for him with WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder for later in the year in all likelihood.
