Mario Lopez of Saved by the Bell fame is stepping into a new role that brings together two parts of his career: television and boxing.
The actor and longtime television host will become the new host of DAZN's Inside the Ring when the boxing program returns for its second season. DAZN announced the news on Monday, stating that he would return to the show. The program will stream twice a week on DAZN Boxing and Ring Magazine's YouTube pages, according to boxing insider Mike Coppinger.
Lopez is best known to television audiences as A.C. Slater from Saved by the Bell, a role he played in the original series before returning for the show's 2020 reboot. He also spent more than a decade hosting Extra, where he became a familiar face in entertainment news. His latest project, however, puts him in a very different setting.
Boxing isn't new territory for Lopez. He's trained for several years at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Boxing Club near Los Angeles and has shared videos of his progress with fans on social media. He's also worked around the sport as a guest color commentator for boxing events.
His connection to boxing has extended to podcasting, too. Lopez has been a longtime host of The 3 Knockdown Rule podcast alongside Ring Magazine's Steve Kim, which gives him another outlet to talk about the sport beyond his work in front of the television camera.
The new position also comes with a larger role for Lopez as DAZN continues building its boxing coverage. Joining him on Inside the Ring will be Coppinger and a rotating group of analysts.
For Lopez, the move gives him a chance to put his years of television experience and longtime interest in boxing together in one place. Rather than simply appearing around the sport, he'll now be the person leading the charge when Inside the Ring returns.
