One month from today: PBC on NBC hits Big Apple live in primetime on NBC

One month from today, on Saturday, April 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET, PBC on NBC makes its Big Apple debut from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The event features four boxers with a combined 127-4-1 record and 80 KOs – undefeated superstar Danny “Swift” Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) vs. Lamont Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs), and middleweight titleholder “Irish” Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KOs) vs. Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs).

The broadcast will feature Brooklyn-born announcers Marv Albert (blow-by-blow) and Al Michaels (host). Albert will call the fights in primetime on NBC alongside analyst “Sugar” Ray Leonard, the six-time world champion and 1976 Olympic gold medalist.

A LOOK AT THE MATCHUPS

Now in his fourth year as a titleholder, Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia will return to Barclays Center for a record fourth time to face Washington, D.C.’s Lamont Peterson, a gifted boxer-puncher with as much heart as talent. Peterson, a former longtime titleholder, once again has a chance to prove himself against Garcia in this long-anticipated clash.

Peter Quillin, born in Chicago but fighting out of New York City, faces Andy Lee in the same arena where he won the middleweight title in 2012 with a six-knockdown performance against Hassan N’Dam in the first boxing card hosted by Barclays Center. An accomplished amateur who was Ireland’s sole boxing representative at the 2004 Olympic Games, Lee returns to fight in New York City for a fifth time.

PBC ON NBC DEBUT

Saturday night’s debut of PBC on NBC was the most-watched professional boxing broadcast since 1998, according to Fast National Data from The Nielsen Company. The PBC on NBC telecast averaged 3.4 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched professional boxing broadcast in 17 years (“Oscar De La Hoya’s Fight Night” on FOX, 5.9 million, Mon., March 23, 1998). A peak of 4.3 million viewers tuned in for the final 15 minutes of the telecast (10:45 – 11 p.m. ET) featuring the exciting final two rounds of of Keith Thurman’s unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero. In addition, PBC on NBC led NBC to a Saturday primetime victory among Adults 18-49.

Following are highlights from Albert, Leonard and Michaels during the debut telecast:

Al Michaels: “Tonight, boxing returns to primetime…in the debut of Premier Boxing Champions on NBC. This is a brand new boxing series that will showcase many of the top fighters in the sport on network television, making boxing far more accessible to fans, with less of an emphasis on jockeying for belts and more of a focus on competitive fights.”

“Sugar” Ray Leonard: “It doesn’t get any better than this – boxing is back on primetime TV. My career, amateur and professional, began on network television. These boxers know the power of the networks. Yesterday, they said they want to be champions and also famous. It all begins right here, right now.”

Michaels introducing blow-by-blow announcer Marv Albert: “Yes, Marv is here, and it counts.”

Marv Albert on calling NBC’s last major primetime bout (Larry Holmes vs. Carl “The Truth” Williams, May 20, 1985): “Yes, I do recall very well that night in Reno, Nevada some 30 years ago….30 years ago, I was 12 at the time.”

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NBC and NBCSN will present 20 live PBC on NBC boxing events in 2015. Within the 20 live shows, NBC Sports Group will present more than 50 hours of PBC coverage, including NBCSN pre- and post-fight programming for NBC telecasts. The Premier Boxing Champions series is created for television by Haymon Boxing.  The PBC on NBC will feature many of today’s brightest stars, in their most compelling matches.

All PBC on NBC shows will be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. NBC Sports Live Extra is available for desktops at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available at the App Store for iPad and iPod touch, on select devices within Google Play, and on windows phones and tablets.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–