ESPN has announced its upcoming ESPN+ streaming service will broadcast the WBO welterweight title fight between Terence Crawford and Jeff Horn.
The fight was originally supposed to take place on April 14, likely on either ESPN's main television channel or on pay-per-view, but after Crawford suffered a hand injury, the fight got delayed for June 9. Once the fight got delayed, the network announced its upcoming ESPN+ service will launch on April 12, giving sports fans the ability to watch numerous sporting events on ESPN+ as well as exclusive events previously not planned to be on television.
Through an expansion in the 2017 multi-year agreement between Top Rank Boxing and ESPN, ESPN+ will add 12 exclusive Top Rank Boxing events on the online platform as well as six international events. The first of those international events is the April 21 welterweight bout between former world champion Amir Khan and Phil Lo Greco that is taking place in England.
?Top Rank is thrilled to extend our agreement to include these additional world-class events for ESPN+. This addition offers a 360 approach to the entire boxing vertical, including live world class events, unparalleled coverage, as well as access to historical moments in the sport,? Top Rank Boxing President Too duBoef said in a press release.
ESPN+ will also provide subscribers a chance to see past ESPN boxing fights and fights from Top Rank's archive. These fights include the legendary Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier trilogy, Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran trilogy, Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao and more. The service will also air all future Top Rank Boxing undercard fights that were previously only available on the WatchESPN app.
Crawford will be competing for his first world title at welterweight after previously holding all four major world titles at junior welterweight. The June 9 fight will be Horn's second title defense.