CATHEDRAL CITY ? Ready or not, Cathedral City boxer Timothy Bradley will have his close-up beginning tonight when HBO features the three-time WBO light welterweight champion on its Emmy-award winning series.
HBO’s four-episode documentary series ?24/7: The Road To Pacquiao/Bradley? debuts at 7:15 p.m., and 10:15 p.m., today. The series will take an in-depth look at both Bradley and fighter of the decade Manny Pacquiao as they prepare for their June 9 WBO welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
For those who don’t subscribe to HBO, a replay will air at 9 p.m. and midnight today on CNN.
Each episode will replay multiple times and will later be available in the on-demand service.
?You always have great fighters who come along to re-energize the sport and Timothy Bradley is a great example of that,? said Mark Taffet, HBO’s senior vice president of sports operations and pay-per-view. ?The light has been shining on him for a while, and we’ll have him in the fight of his career.?
Bradley has appeared on HBO since he fought Carlos Abregu in 2010. Since that time, Taffet said the three-time light welterweight champion has impressed people at HBO.
?He’s been on a number of HBO and HBO pay-per-view fights and he’s extremely knowledgeable, and articulate and well spoken,? Taffet said. ?He’s been a great young man to work with.?
Taffet also thinks Bradley will be an interesting character for the show, based on the feedback they’ve gotten for two other programs to promote the June 9 fight.
Friday was the premiere of ?Face Off With Max Kellerman? which featured Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach with Bradley and his trainer Joel Diaz.
Also premiering this week was ?Portrait of a Fighter,? which was a profile of Bradley. But 24/7 has become the premier sports documentary series on television.
It has earned 16 sports Emmys in the past five years for production excellence.
The series has also been valuable for HBO in helping to promote their pay-per-view events.
?Boxing is hot right now,? Taffet said. ?The viewership is up and we’re bullish on the sport. The programming we have leading up to a fight, ?24/7? and ?Portrait of a Fighter? are performing very well. Fan’s can’t get enough.
?The last few years, we’ve had more million buys in pay-per-view fights than in many of the years past. We’re presenting the biggest fights and the best fighters, and fans continue to support it.?
