Setanta snaps up Woods fight by Ian McNeilly Feb 5th 2008

Clinton Woods' defence of his IBF light-heavyweight title against Antonio ‘Magic Man' Tarver in Tampa Bay, Florida on Saturday, April 12th is to be shown live on Setanta Sports. It's another coup for the Irish subscription channel which has shown admirable commitment to covering boxing. That week is another cracker for British fight fans as the following Saturday (19th) sees Joe Calzaghe take on Bernard Hopkins at light-heavyweight in Las Vegas - also covered by Setanta - which also will be showing David Haye v Enzo Maccarinelli. The fights will not be sold on a stand alone pay-per-view model but will rather be part of the £9.99 a month deal which subscribers get. There is no annual contract though anecdotal feedback on forums has shown that unless you're savvy and organised you might end up with a couple of months subs to pay if you simply wanted to watch the one fight. Speaking personally, in the current pay-per-view climate, at less than a tenner a month Setanta does offer very good value, especially if you're a football and/or golf fan too. And I say that as Editor of a site which still endures a ridiculous ban by Sports Network - which seems to be making Setanta its latest home. Woods is adamant that victory over the American must surely set up a clash with Joe Calzaghe later this year, should the Welshman get past Bernard Hopkins. “That has got to be the dream,” said Woods. “I think me against Tarver and Calzaghe versus Hopkins are the semi-finals, with the winner facing each other in the final.” Perhaps more realistic is a fight against the winner of WBC champion Chad Dawson v Woods' old repeated foe Glencoffe Johnson. That fight is on the same bill as Woods v Tarver, a tactic that is often used by promoters to generate interest in a fight between respective victors. For information on how to subscribe to the channel, go to: setanta.com or call 08712 10 20 30. Virgin Media, BT Vision and Tiscali customers should contact their operator.

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