HBO is throwing fan-friendly boxing events in NY and LA leading up to Canelo vs. Golovkin bout

Boxing  fans – and wannabe boxers – on both coasts can now join in on the pre-fight hype and hoopla  surrounding the big bout between Canelo Alavarez  and Gennady Golovkin on Saturday, Sept. 16 in Las Vegas.

HBO, which is broadcasting the long-awaited   middleweight championship match  as a live pay-per-view event, is also hosting  a pair of fan-friendly, boxing-related  pop-up activities in  Los Angeles and New York in the days leading up to the fight.

On Friday,  Sept. 8, from noon to 8 p.m.,  Windward Plaza at L.A.’s  famed Venice Beach  will be the site of  free boxing training classes run by former pro fighter Alex Brenes of City of Angels Boxing.

Also included among the day’s festivities  is an outdoor screening of part one of HBO’s  acclaimed “24/7 Canelo-Golovkin,” the documentary series chronicling the behind-the-scenes buildup to their historic fight.

The screening   precedes the second episode  of “24/7 Canelo/Golovkin,” which premieres Saturday, Sept. 9,   following the live “Boxing After Dark”  triple header from the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.,  featuring  Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs. Roman (Chocolatito) Gonzalez, Naoya Inoue vs. Antonio Nieves, and Carlos Cuadras vs. Juan Francisco Estradaat.

The  L.A. event  will also present a live  panel of boxing experts that includes Brenes, TV sports reporter Jessica Rosales, sportscaster Ricardo Celis, and  analyst and ringside judge Harold Lederman.

On Friday, Sept. 15 – the day before the fight – the fun moves to New York, where  visitors to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1can take part in free boxing training classes held by experts from two of the city’s top  clubs – the Church Street Gym in lower Manhattan and Mendez Boxing on E. 26th.

The New York pop-up will also feature  a screening of “24-7,” and both the L.A. and New York events will include gift-card giveaways to attendees.

The  Canelo vs. Golovkin HBO pay-per-view broadcast, live from  the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, will begin at  8 p.m. ET and  5 p.m. PT.