Clubhouse Article

Meet ESPN Friday Night Fights’ Host: Bernardo Osuna

January 4th, 2012 by Colin M Jarman

To celebrate ESPN’s Friday Night Fights series appearing on ESPN America for the first time, we ‘touched gloves’ with the show’s new host and previewed the opening show’s action-packed promo video.

Bernardo Osuna, one of the most honored boxing journalists in the industry, was recently named new studio host of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights show.

Osuna will make his debut ESPN’s Friday Night Fights kicks off its 14th season in the States and its first appearance on ESPN America on Friday 6th January 2am UK / 03:00 CET.

ESPN America recently caught up with Osuna and asked him what excites him most about this opportunity as the new Friday Night Fights studio host.

“This is a great opportunity,” said Osuna. “This seat has been occupied by men I respect greatly. I consider [former host] Brian Kenny a mentor. To step in this seat is a great responsibility, a great honor and it excites me because I’m a fan of Friday Night Fights.

“I think anyone who is a boxing fan looks to Friday Night Fights for their boxing fix, not only in the ring, but as a way to keep up to date with what’s happening in the boxing world. Viewers want to know what fights are coming up, they want to hear previews and recaps of what happened during the week. The studio portion of the show offers great insight. To be the face of Friday Night Fights is something that I’ve dreamed about and for it to happen is really something very exciting.”

For viewers who might not know, this is not Osuna’s first time appearing on Friday Night Fights. Osuna served as a guest analyst in Friday Night Fights’ studio in 2009-2010. I asked him a little bit about how he got his start and how he came to work at ESPN.

“It all started in 1993 when I was an intern over at a Telemundo station in LA,” said Osuna.

“I got the boxing beat. My passion for boxing runs deep and that’s what brought me to Friday Night Fights. I was a guest analyst in 2009 and 2010 with Brian Kenny and was part of a rotating panel that included boxing great Bernard Hopkins, ESPN.com’s boxing expert Dan Rafael, and cruiserweight contender B.J. Flores.

“That was my first visit to Friday Night Fights. I got a taste for it and what it means to the boxing fan. When they offered me this opportunity to come to ESPN and to be a part of the Friday Night Fights family, as well as work for ESPN Deportes hosting, reporting and anchoring, I had to jump on it. What better place than ESPN to cover sports.”

Friday Night Fights fans can look forward to some new and exciting changes this year involving social media.

“A lot of the new changes that we’ll be implementing have to do with social media,” said Osuna.

“That’s what we are going to focus on, allowing our fans to have a say. Via Twitter, viewers can ask me questions. Ultimately this show is about what our fans want and social media is the one way to get a pulse on what they are really interested in. On Facebook, viewers will have a chance to score the fight round-by-round. I’ll be doing the same and we’ll compare after the fight is over. All of this will be a way to enhance the Friday Night Fights viewing experience.”

Osuna will host from ESPN’s Connecticut studios, but occasionally will be on site at Friday Night Fights or in ESPN’s Los Angeles studios.

Follow Osuna on Twitter @osunaespn

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ESPN’s Friday Night Fights’ Season Premiere:
Davis vs. Lopez; Dyah Davis Special Feature
Friday 6th January 2am UK / 03:00 CET.

ESPN’s Friday Night Fights 2012 calendar starts on January 6, when super middleweights “Dangerous” Dyah Davis (20-2-1, 9 KOs) and Alfonso “El Tigre” Lopez (22-1, 17 KOs) meet in a 10-round main event from Key West, Florida.

Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside outdoors describing the action, while studio host Bernardo Osuna will also include all the latest boxing news and highlights. Friday’s show will present a special feature on Davis (son of 1976 U.S. Olympic Gold medalist Howard Davis Jr.).