SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® TELECAST OPEN AHEAD OF RETURN TO LIVE BOXING THIS SATURDAY NIGHT

NEW YORK – July 31, 2020 – SHOWTIME Sports has released an exclusive clip from the upcoming open to Saturday night’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast, the network’s first live boxing event since March 13. “Return to Ringside,” written by executive producer David Dinkins Jr., and voiced by SHOWTIME’s blow-by-blow commentator Mauro Ranallo, is a personal look at the role sports can play in healing a nation facing unprecedented challenges. To watch and share this exclusive clip, go to https://youtu.be/Rfk-kAvC5VA.

Following the stoppage of the sport caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Saturday’s telecast will mark 141 days since the last live boxing event on SHOWTIME. During that time, the country has faced uncertain times marked by tragedy and upheaval. “The squared circle has been a theatre of thrills and metaphor for the struggle to overcome the odds,” Ranallo says in the two-and-a-half-minute show open. “While sport is not real life, it is a mirror of the human spirit.”

Saturday’s tripleheader features rising star Angelo Leo squaring off against fellow undefeated contender Tramaine Williams for the vacant WBO Junior Featherweight World Championship in the main event. Talented undefeated prospect Ra’eese Aleem will meet 122-pound contender Marcus Bates in a WBA super bantamweight title eliminator bout in the co-main event and rising light heavyweight prospects Joe George and Marcos Escudero will open the telecast with a 10-round rematch of their November ShoBox showdown that saw George win a narrow-split decision. Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.