On the eve of the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley welterweight title bout, ESPN’s Friday Night Fights will originate from Las Vegas, Nev., May 6 at 10 p.m. on ESPN2 when undefeated lightweight Diego Magdaleno (18-0, 6 KO’s, WBA #7, WBC #22) and Ring Magazine’s No. 8- ranked featherweight Bernabe “The Real Deal” Concepcion (30-3-1, 17 KO’s) are featured in co-main events. Brian Kenny and Teddy Atlas will be ringside at Mandalay Bay describing the action.
ESPN and ESPN Deportes will provide extensive coverage of events leading up to the Pacquiao-Mosley fight including:
Wednesday: live SportsCenter press conference reports by ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael and ESPN Deportes’ Jaime Motta;
Thursday: live satellite interviews of each fighter on SportsCenter;
Friday: Rafael will analyze the fight during ESPN2’s First Take and SportsCenter. Kenny and Atlas will cover the weigh-in live during the 6 p.m. SportsCenter. Golpe a Golpe, ESPN Deportes’ boxing news and information show, hosted by world champion Juan Manuel Marquez and Jorge Eduardo Sanchez with special reports from Jaime Motta, will broadcast live for the weigh-in at 6 p.m.
ESPN’s Friday Night Fights and SportsCenter will feature Teddy Atlas analyzing the fight using virtual technology. Visit http://es.pn/iZ1BNa to watch a clip of the segment.
Undefeated Lightweight and Former Featherweight Challenger Featured on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights
Hometown favorite Magdaleno, who is coming off a fifth-round TKO over Marcos Leonardo Jiminez, will meet Gilberto “El Latigo” Sanchez-Leon (29-9-2, 11 KO’s).
After his last fight, Rafael wrote, “Magdaleno drew an enthusiastic crowd to watch him dismantle Jimenez, of the Dominican Republic. Magdaleno was in control. He was aggressive, worked Jimenez over to the body and landed hard shots with both hands throughout the fight. By the fifth round, Jimenez looked spent, but Magdaleno was still fresh. With about 30 seconds left in the round, Magdaleno cracked him with a flush left hand while Jimenez was in a corner. It was just the start of a sustained flurry of blows that Magdaleno rained down on Jimenez for the rest of the round. He threw dozens of punches as Jimenez could do little more than try to cover up. Good performance for the developing Magdaleno.”
Magdaleno said of Friday’s fight “I saw Gilberto Sanchez-Leon fight at the Palms when my younger brother fought there in February. I remember watching a couple of rounds of his fight. I noticed he’s a tall fighter, but he doesn’t fight using that length and reach. He’s a tough guy, very durable. It looks like he likes to conserve himself and box on the inside. I’ve got something for him.”
Former two-time featherweight world title challenger Concepcion, will meet Juan Carlos “El Pez” Martinez (16-12-1, 5 KO’s). Concepcion, who is managed by Pacquiao, will look to rebound after being TKO’d in the second round against WBO featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez.
After the fight Rafael wrote on ESPN.com, “Lopez was hammering Concepcion and had sent him staggering into the ropes courtesy of a big straight left hand about a minute into the fight. Thirty seconds later, Lopez knocked him down to all fours with a right hook as the crowd went absolutely wild. Concepcion was able to continue and Lopez kept on blistering him with straight left hands. He was firing punches in bunches and seemingly on the verge of a stoppage when Concepcion threw a hail Mary overhand left and dropped Lopez to his backside with 13 seconds left in a shocking turn of events.
“Late in the round, Lopez sent Concepcion reeling with a right hook and followed up with a left hand to the head that knocked him down for the second time. As Concepcion struggled to his feet, the referee called off the exciting shootout at 2 minutes, 37 seconds.”
