Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reported in his weekly chat today that a deal is set for ESPN3.com to pick up yet another international fight for American consumers, as the online network will have the October 15 fight between super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute and American challenger Jesse Brinkley.
This is really quite a strong development for American boxing fans, as this will be the fourth fight within about a month that ESPN3 has picked up. Last Saturday, they aired the Felix Sturm-Giovanni Lorenzo bout in Germany, and will have Wladimir Klitschko-Samuel Peter II tomorrow afternoon. On October 16, they'll be airing Vitali Klitschko-Shannon Briggs, one day after Bute-Brinkley.
Those who don't yet have access to ESPN3 will also be able to see replays of the fights. Klitschko-Peter II will be airing on Sunday on ESPN, and the Klitschko-Briggs and Bute-Brinkley fights will air together on ESPN on October 17.
Bute (26-0, 21 KO) is facing mandatory challenger Brinkley (35-5, 22 KO) at the Bell Centre in Montreal.