Wladimir Klitschko stands head and shoulders above the heavyweight division with two titles to his name. This Saturday, he defends his crowns against top-ranked contender Tony Thompson, the 6'5" southpaw with an eight-year unbeaten streak, who's ready to measure himself against the best.

Catch the action LIVE from Hamburg, Germany, Saturday at 4:30 pm ET/1:30 pm PT, and again at 10 pm. For more, check out Ron Borges' overview. (http://www.hbo.com/boxing/events/2008/0712_klitschko_thompson/index.html)


12:30 AM on TSN

Klitschko vs. Thompson is live on TSN alt (4:30 pm ET/1:30 pm PT). Klitschko is a 6-1 favourite, but with his glass jaw, you never know.

Affliction has their debut card on saturday night and it likely is the best in the history of the sport. (http://www.afflictionclothing.com/banned_july19/)
The main card is a pay per view
Fedor Emelianenko (#1 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Tim Sylvia (#5 Heavyweight in the World)*
-Josh Barnett (#4 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Pedro Rizzo
-Andre Arlovski (#6 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Ben Rothwell
-Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
-Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead

The preliminary matches are on the fight network prior to the pay per view and are also topnotch.
-Aleksander Emelianenko (#10 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Paul Buentello
-Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin

In an effort to screw affliction the UFC threw together a fight card at the last minute. I will be PVR'ing it. However all fighters were given short notice so it could be a mixed bag
Main Card Bouts:
-Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight in the World)* vs. James Irvin (at Light Heavyweight)
-Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy
-Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca
-Jake O'Brien vs. Cain Velasquez
-Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns
-Jesse Taylor vs. C.B. Dollaway

Finally the Dream 5 card is on HDNET on Sunday

Lightweight Grand Prix Finals (16-man tournament)
-Shinya Aoki (#3 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Caol Uno
-Tatsuya Kawajiri (#4 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Eddie Alvarez
[Semi-Finals and Finals will take place on the same night]

Lightweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout:
-Joachim Hansen vs. Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill

Non-Tournament Bouts:
-Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Joe Benavidez
-Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Katsuyori Shibata
-Motoki Miyazawa vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
-Mark Hunt vs. Jerome LeBanner

Great time to be a fan of the sport.

Are either of the UFC or Affliction bouts being broadcast in HD?

I saw the UFC one advertised as being on Spike HD. I assume Sportsnet will air it in HD in Canada as it is live on Sportsnet as well.

Not sure about Affliction.

The Affliction event is available in HD. Affliction: Banned (HD) (http://www.viewerschoice.ca/details/?41864). SD is $10 cheaper.

HDNet will be showing Countdown to "Affliction Banned" - Fedor vs. Sylvia tonight, before their regular Inside MMA show.

This fight is not to be missed.

The Cotto vs. Margarito pay-per-view telecast, begins July 26, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT

Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico
Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico

EliteXC Saturday Night Fights this weekend on CBS. In the US Showtime will air a card before the main CBS card. The Showtime card will include Canadian Travis Galbraith. Not sure if the Fight Network will show it in Canada.

CBS Card
Middleweight Championship: Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Welterweight Championship: Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson
Lightweight: Nick Diaz vs. Thomas Denny
Women's Bantamweight: Shayna Baszler vs. Cristiane Santos

Showtime Card
Heavyweight Championship: Antonio Silva vs. Justin Eilers
Light Heavyweight: Rafael Feijao vs. Travis Galbraith
Featherweight: Wilson Reis vs. Brian Caraway

I'm not a huge MMA fan, but I'm looking forward to Lawler-Smith II.

Also the UFC will counter with a reair of UFC 84 on Spike featuring BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the Lightweight Championship.

This fight is not to be missed.


A modern boxing classic.

It looks like we get to see a recorded replay of the Judah-Clottey fight (as well as Cotto-Margorito replay) on TSN Monday,AUG 04 instead of seeing it live on Saturday night Aug02.

I am sick to death of boxing coverage taking a backseat to NASCAR or curling on TSN. I am now investigating how to break free from the chains of the CRTC.

Anyone know how I can get HBO and Showtime?

I get tired of TSN doing the same thing to tennis. This time it is the CFL that TSN is airing instead. You really can't argue with that. They paid a lot of money for exclusive rights. What I don't understand is why they aren't just airing the fight on the Alternate Feed.

even if they do air the alternate feed, often Shaw doesn't carry it.

this was the case with the last Wlad Klitschko fight.

I don't get TSN-Alt either. Really they need two full time stations, but thats whole different situation.

It looks like we get to see a recorded replay of the Judah-Clottey fight (as well as Cotto-Margorito replay) on TSN Monday,AUG 04 instead of seeing it live on Saturday night Aug02.

I am sick to death of boxing coverage taking a backseat to NASCAR or curling on TSN. I am now investigating how to break free from the chains of the CRTC.

Anyone know how I can get HBO and Showtime?
Don't feel bad, I have HBO HD on my big dish (4dtv) keep in mind the Miguel cotto vs. Antonio margarito was HBO PPV I went to a Sports bar to watch it, it will be on HBO this Saturday.

The HBO/Showtime fights are live on there channels unless they are PPV, if so it will be the next week, well maybe during the week to, not sure though.

In the last few weeks there has been:

Very little LIVE MMA or Boxing.

Very little NEW or RECENTLY RECORDED material.

CONTINUOUS repeated showings of an EXTREMELY LIMITED selection of older material.

I hope this is just a temporary "time of season" situation 'cause if not the future outlook of the channel doesn't look too great.

TSN hasn't been airing much of anything because of the Olympics. Here are some title fights coming up on TSN the second half of the month. All times ET.

Sat Aug 23 - 1:00pm - ESPN Friday Night Fights
Fernando Beltran vs. Takalani Ndlovu for the vacent IBO Featherweight Title

Fri Aug 29 - 10:30pm - Rumble At Rama V
Steve Molitor vs. Ceferino Dario Labarda for the IBF Junior Featherweight Title


It should be noted that Fernando Beltran has moved up in weight since April when Molitor defeated him to retain the IBF Junior Featherweight Title. He will get a second chance at a title in a row, we'll have to see if he takes advantage of the opportunity.

Beltran vs. Ndlovu is going to be good. I'm not gonna be home so I have to Tivo it, but it should be a really entertaining fight.

Both fighters lost for the very first time in there last bout, The engaging Diaz became a world champion at age 20, thanks to an exceptionally quick pair of hands. With an extensive resume of thrilling fights, Katsidis is an exciting, all-action fighter who has scored 20 knockouts in 24 bouts, forging a reputation as one of the biggest, most relentless punchers in the lightweight division. Sept 6th, 10:15pm ET/PT.

The evening's co-feature highlights two ambitious contenders, as Houston's Rocky Juarez squares off against hard-punching former champion Jorge Barrios,

Juan Diaz (33-1, 17 KOs)
Michael Katsidis (23-1, 20 KOs)

Rocky Juarez (27-4, 19 KOs)
Jorge Barrios (47-3-1, 34 KOs)

http://www.hbo.com/boxing/

Diaz-Katsidis will be on TSN (the main feed, not TSN2) in Canada because the NASCAR race has been delayed until tomorrow.

Not a bad main fight.