
Billy Joe Saunders and Ryan Burnett Headline Champions Weekend Cards Exclusively on ESPN+
Burnettt-Jelbirt Gomera to serve as main event
for Friday’s stacked card beginning at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT
Saunders to battle Shefat Isufi for vacant WBO super
middleweight title Saturday with live stream starting at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30
a.m. PT
(May 13, 2019) — Champions Weekend is coming to ESPN+, as two of the United
Kingdom’s most dynamic fighters — former WBO middleweight world champion Billy
Joe Saunders and former unified bantamweight world champion Ryan Burnett — are
set to headline separate shows.
Burnett will battle Jelbirt Gomera for the
vacant WBC International super bantamweight title Friday at Ulster Hall in his
hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Burnett-Gomera live stream will
begin at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT exclusively on ESPN+ and will also feature
a compelling vacant IBF European junior lightweight title fight between
Declan Geraghty and Marco McCullough. Geraghty and McCullough were roommates in
the Irish amateur ranks and will renew acquaintances with a world ranking on
the line.
Saunders will take center stage Saturday, as he
battles Shefat Isufi for the vacant WBO super middleweight title from Lamex
Stadium in Stevenage, England. The Saunders-Isufi live stream will start at
2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT on ESPN+ and will also include the highly
anticipated heavyweight showdown between 2016 Olympic super heavyweight silver
medalist Joe Joyce (8-0, 8 KOs) and former world title challenger Alexander
Ustinov (34-3, 25 KOs).
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Saunders (27-0, 13 KOs) made three successful
defenses of the title he won from Andy Lee on Dec. 19, 2015, punctuating his
middleweight title run with a dominant decision over David Lemieux in December
2017. A 2008 Olympian, Saunders captured British, Commonwealth and European
middleweight titles, defeating the likes of Chris Eubank Jr., John Ryder and
Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan. Isufi (27-3-2, 20 KOs) has won 10 consecutive fights,
most recently defending his WBO Intercontinental super middleweight belt with a
unanimous decision over Mohamed El Achi in his adopted hometown of Munich,
Germany.
Burnett (19-1, 9 KOs) recently signed a
long-term promotional contract with Top Rank and will be competing at super
bantamweight after a sterling run at bantamweight. He defeated Lee Haskins via
unanimous decision in June 2017 to win the IBF world title, and four months
later, he bested Zhanat Zhakiyanov to unify the IBF and WBA super world titles.
Burnett suffered his first pro defeat last November when he tore his oblique
while throwing a punch versus Nonito Donaire and was forced to retire on his
stool following the fourth round.
Gomera (14-5, 7 KOs) is a Filipino southpaw who
will be fighting for the first time outside of Asia. He is a former Filipino
super bantamweight and featherweight champion and is coming off an eight-round
unanimous decision win over Lloyd Jardeliza.
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