McKinson, Harris in action Sunday

Unbeaten welterweights Michael McKinson and Martin Harkin will face off in a special edition of #MTKFightNight on Sunday, Oct. 18 from Production Park Studios in Wakefield, England.

The McKinson-Harkin card streams live and exclusively on ESPN+ starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and it will close out a historic week of fight action on the ESPN family of networks, highlighted by Saturday’s lightweight unification battle between WBC Franchise/WBA/WBO world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko and IBF kingpin Teofimo Lopez (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+, coverage start at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT).

McKinson (18-0, 2 KOs) had a step-up year in 2019, winning the vacant WBO European title over Russian veteran Evgeny Pavko and besting the previously undefeated Luis Alberto Veron by one-sided decision. He makes his 2020 debut against Scottish upstart Harkin (13-0, 5 KOs), who knocked out the then-unbeaten James Moorcroft back in January.

“Martin Harkin is a dangerous puncher. It’s a dangerous fight for me, but I’ve proven before that I can swim with sharks,” McKinson said. “I’m excited about the challenge, and I’m very excited to fight finally.”

Harkin said, “I’m very excited to be fighting. This is a great platform to show people who I am. I’ve slipped under the radar and I’m mostly unknown, so I’m delighted with this chance and I’m going to grab it with both hands.

THE AVOIDED MAN ❓

Undefeated @mikeytheproblem looks to again show just why he is so feared when he faces fellow unbeaten boxer @mharkin92 this weekend.

FREE LIVE STREAM ➡️ https://t.co/KQqNqmzdTo#MTKFightNight
? @ProdParkStudios
? SUNDAY
? @ESPN+ / @IFLTV#TeamMTKGlobal pic.twitter.com/zJppn3y6W9

— MTK Global ? (@MTKGlobal) October 16, 2020

In other streaming action on ESPN+:

Commonwealth flyweight champion Jay Harris (17-1, 9 KOs) will defend his title in a 12-rounder against former English super flyweight champion Marcel Braithwaite (9-2). Harris last fought in February and dropped a unanimous decision to WBC flyweight world champion Julio Cesar Martinez in one of the best fights of 2020.

Former IBF bantamweight world champion Paul Butler looks to extend his winning streak to six against Ryan Walker (11-2, 2 KOs) in an eight-rounder at bantamweight.

Romanian former kickboxing world champion Amansio Aaraschiv (2-0) will face veteran Scott James (6-6-1) in a four-round middleweight tilt.

In an eight-round welterweight bout, Jack “Demolition Man” Rafferty (12-0, 7 KOs) will take on Tom Hill (9-1, 2 KOs).