NEW YORK (Jan. 15, 2010) – Popular host and play-by-play boxing announcer Nick Charles will make his return to ringside following a five-month battle with bladder cancer. Charles recently announced that he is 80 percent in remission and doctors have given him the go-ahead to return to work.
Charles will rejoin colleagues Steve Farhood and Antonio Tarver on Friday, Jan. 29 when ShoBox: The New Generation kicks off the year with a 10-round bantamweight bout—Chris Avalos vs. Jose Nieves—LIVE on SHOWTIME® (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).
“I never really lost hope and faith that I’d be back on ShoBox working with the finest people I know professionally and personally,” said Charles. “The boxing community has been overwhelmingly supportive. Their inspiration has moved me deeply. As important to me though are the fans of ShoBox who have expressed to me beyond all expectations their concern and encouragement through a difficult illness.”
“We are thrilled to announce the return of Nick Charles to ShoBox,” said Ken Hershman, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®. “Nick is one of the great guys in our business. His strength and perseverance through this ordeal has inspired all of us. We continue to offer our support and love and we look forward to January 29th when Nick returns to the mic.”
It was announced in August that Charles was taking a leave of absence from television—his life-long profession—due to the illness. The last fight he worked was the July 31, 2009, ShoBox event from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif.
Charles has been with the series since its inception in 2001.
Prior to his work on ShoBox, Charles was best-known for his work on CNN where he was hired to help launch the network in 1980. Charles won three Cable Ace Awards as co-host of CNN’s “Sports Tonite.” The versatile, well-traveled Charles–-who has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Columbia College-Chicago, with a major in broadcast journalism–-has worked as a site reporter and host for six Olympic Games, five Goodwill Games and the Pan-Am Games in Havana, Cuba.
For information on SHOWTIME Sports Programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go the new SHOWTIME Sports website at http://www.sho.com/sports.
About ShoBox: The New Generation
Since its inception in July 2001, the critically acclaimed SHOWTIME boxing series, ShoBox: The New Generation has featured young talent matched tough. The ShoBox philosophy is to televise exciting, crowd-pleasing and competitive matches while providing a proving ground for willing prospects determined to fight for a world title. The growing list of fighters who have appeared on ShoBox and advanced to garner world titles includes: Leonard Dorin, Scott Harrison, Juan Diaz, Jeff Lacy, Ricky Hatton, Joan Guzman, Juan Urango, David Diaz, Robert Guerrero, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Malignaggi, Kendall Holt, Timothy Bradley, Bernard Dunne, Yonnhy Perez, Yuri Foreman and Andre Ward.
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.