By Jake Donovan
 
There’s no question that Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions series has been a game changer. First announced in January after months of speculation of starting a league of his own, PBC hit the airwaves on March 7 with a televised doubleheader running live from Las Vegas on free-to-air NBC in primetime.

Friday night will mark the fifth installment of the series, spread out over three networks (with more to come). The cards that aired on NBC and CBS represent the three most viewed boxing-related telecasts of 2015, including more than 4 million viewers tuning in for the March 7 premiere, headlined by Keith Thurman's highly entertaining - if one-sided - 12-round decision over Robert Guerrero. 

The show from UIC Pavilion in Chicago is the second PBC episode to air on Spike TV, with the March 13 edition regarded as the most fan-friendly to date. Such are the standards to live up to for the chief principles on this card, as Anthony Dirrell faces Badou Jack in a super middleweight title fight, while Daniel Jacobs defends his middleweight belt versus Caleb Truax. 

Jacobs and Dirrell are the only two fighters in boxing history to overcome cancer and go on to win a major title. They accomplished the feat a week apart last August and are now brought back together for Friday’s telecast. Their opponents, Truax and Jack each contend for their first alphabet belt.

The touching tales of Jacobs and Dirrell were captured in a pre-fight segment which premiered last week on Spike TV. Because of the episode and the considerable investment – financially and physically – into the series, the fighters involved are receiving far more shine than was the case when the top level of the sport was limited to premium cable networks and its same range of fans for every show.

“It’s great for boxing. It’s bringing the fights to an audience that might not have seen it in the past,” acknowledges Truax (25-1-2, 15KOs), who comes in as the crowd favorite with a throng of fans arriving from his native Minnesota. “You’ve seen it on Spike TV, CBS, NBC… it’s great for the fighters and great for casual fans. They’re getting great fights on free TV so it’s great all around.

While Jacobs and Truax disagree on how Friday’s bout will turn out, they are in unison on what it means to fights on the platform on which the bout is presented. 

“It’s one of those things where boxing is long overdue,” believes Jacobs (28-1, 25KOs), fighting for the first time since his title-winning 5th round knockout of Jarrod Fletcher last August. “We put our lives on the line every time we’re in there. I feel like it’s something that we deserve. We had it years ago, back in the 1970s and 1980s in the days of Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

“I’m glad we have this opportunity now… We have the opportunity to be superstars.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox