Tinley Park Rumble" Fighters To Sign Autographs During Thunderbolts Homestand

Fighters Set To Sign Autographs At Thunderbolts' Weekend Homestand

June 2 (Merrillville, In) - On Friday, June 5th and Saturday, June 6th, Octavius James' One In A Million Inc. will join forces with the reigning Frontier League champions in the form of the Windy City Thunderbolts when fighters from the upcoming sensational card dubbed "Tinley Park Rumble" will be on hand at Standard Bank Stadium, 14011 S. Kenton Ave- Crestwood, IL, to sign autographs; gates open at 6 p.m. with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

"The Thunderbolts have dominated and been the class of the Frontier League these past few years and we are definitely excited about going out to the beautiful Standard Bank Stadium," said Octavius James, C.E.O. of One In A Million Inc. "This is a great opportunity for boxing fans and baseball fans alike to come meet some of the top fighters the world of boxing has to offer while enjoying a night of professional baseball."

Michael "Midnight Stalker" Walker (19-2-2, 12 KOs), "Iron" Orphius Waite (5-0, 3 KOs), Ed "2 Fast 2 Furious" Ochoa (8-0, 8 KOs), Bobby Jaskierny (3-1, 2 KOs), Josh Crouch (4-0, 4 KOs) and Angel Hernandez (12-3, 10 KOs) are scheduled to be in attendance for pictures and autographs; subject to change.

Walker vs. Waite will make up the explosive main event for the "Tinley Park Rumble," while the undercard will feature the electric Angel Hernandez (12-3, 10 KOs), Chicago's Bobby Jaskierny, unbeaten Josh Crouch, middleweight Meegel Harper (1-0, 1 KO) and female sensation Evette Collazo (4-0, 2 KOs) returns to the ring with opponents to be named soon.

Tickets for "Tinley Park Rumble" are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at VIP $100, VIP ringside $75, ringside $50 and general admission $30 and they are available from any Ticket Master location at (800)745-3000, (866) 438-7372 or http://www.ticketmaster.com/.

The Tinley Park Convention Center, which is just 25 minutes from Northwest Indiana, doors will open at 7 p.m. with the first bout at 8 p.m.

Mosley says he is set to fight Pacquiao in October

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - World Boxing Association welterweight champion Shane Mosley said Wednesday that only a few details stand between him and an October 17 fight with Philippines superstar Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao flattened England's Ricky Hatton in the second round last month while Mosley stopped Mexico's Antonio Margarito in the ninth round back in January.

US veteran Mosley anticipates squaring off with the Asian powerhouse seen as the world's top pound-for-pound fighter at a catch-weight once negotiations are complete based upon comments Pacquiao made in his homeland.

Mosley, 46-5 with 39 knockouts, challenged Pacquiao, 49-3 with two drawn and 37 knockouts, and the Filipino star told GMA News on Wednesday that, "No problem. We can fight. As long as we negotiate."

Mosley took that as a challenge answered and said he will give Pacquiao the larger share of a 60-40 purse split and meet him at a catch weight lower than the welterweight limit in order to make the fight happen.

"Now that Manny has stated that he is ready to fight me, the only thing left to finish are negotiations," Mosley said.

"(Promoters) Richard Schaefer and Bob Arum are working out the details now. I will be ready to fight Pacquiao on October 17."

Mosley might just be getting a bit ahead of himself, however. Pacquiao's willingness to fight and securing a finalized contract with boxing's top man of the moment are far from the same thing.

Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, said last month after the victory over Hatton that nothing would be decided about who Pacquiao fights next until Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto's fight in 10 days against Joshua Clottey at New York.

Mosley had been mentioned as a potential upcoming opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jnr, the unbeaten American who abdicated the pound-for-pound throne in favor of retirement.

Mayweather returns to the ring next month against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. He announced the fight just hours before Pacquiao knocked out Hatton to steal his thunder.

Judge rejects Conte’s motion in Mosley lawsuit

NEW YORK (AP)—A judge has rejected BALCO founder Victor Conte’s motion for summary judgment of boxer “Sugar” Shane Mosley’s defamation lawsuit.

Mosley accuses Conte of lying when he repeatedly said the former three-division world champion knowingly took illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Conte’s Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative was at the center of the scandal that enmeshed Barry Bonds and many other athletes.

Mosley lawyer Judd Burstein said Wednesday that Justice Louis York of the New York State Supreme Court rejected Conte’s request. A summary judgment would have ended the suit in Conte’s favor before the case went to trial.

Mosley has said he unwittingly used steroids produced by BALCO.

GUERRERO SEEKS NEW OPPONENT AFTER EDWARDS PULLS OUT

By RingTV.com editors Photo by Daisy Rosas

Johnnie Edwards has pulled out of his scheduled June 12 junior lightweight bout with Robert Guerrero, according to Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions, which is putting on the ESPN2-televised card from San Jose, Calif.

Edwards (15-4-1, 8 knockouts) informed Golden Boy Promotions in writing that he pulled a back muscle and would have to withdraw from the fight on Monday, according to Gomez.

"He included a letter from his doctor," Gomez said. "Now we're scrambling for a replacement."

One of the leading candidates to replace Edwards is Jackson Asiku, a featherweight and junior lightweight fringe contender who traveled to Southern California with featherweight titleholder Chris John, who is training in Oxnard, Calif. in preparation for his June 27 rematch with Rocky Juarez at STAPLES Center in L.A.

Asiku (25-3, 13 KOs), one of John's sparring partners, has only lost to then-contenders Nedal Hussein, Gairy St. Clair, and Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym, and has never been knocked out. The Australia-based Ugandan is currently on a 14-bout win streak, including a ninth-round TKO of St. Clair in a rematch earlier this year.

Mario Serrano
Publicist
boxingpublicist@aol.com

Mosley defamation case against Conte upheld by judge

NEW YORK (AFP) - Welterweight boxing champion Shane Mosley won a victory outside the ring on Wednesday when a New York State Supreme Court judge upheld his defamation case against BALCO steroid scandal lynchpin Victor Conte.

Judge Louis York ruled in favor of US veteran fighter Mosley, reigning World Boxing Association welterweight champion, by denying Conte's bid to have the case dismissed for lack of merit.

BALCO founder Conte has said Mosley would take a limousine to office visits with him where he would provide the fighter with steroids and has claimed he saw Mosley knowingly inject himself with endurance-boosting EPO.

"This is one step along the road of securing justice for Shane," said Judd Burstein, Mosley's lawyer. "Conte can run, but he cannot hide from me."

Mosley, 46-5 with 39 knockouts, stopped Mexico's Antonio Margarito in the ninth round in January to claim a share of the throne.

He is in talks to face Philippines superstar Manny Pacquiao and has also been mentioned as a possible future foe for undefeated US star Floyd Mayweather Jnr., who returns to the ring from retirement next month.

Conte's BALCO laboratories sparked major doping scandals in athletics and baseball.

In testimony before a BALCO grand jury that was to have remained sealed, Mosley said he took steroids and EPO while training for a 2003 fight with Oscar de la Hoya but did not know the substances he was using were banned.

Mosley defeated de la Hoya by unanimous decision for the WBA and World Boxing Council light middleweight crowns.

DANNY "SWIFT" GARCIA SPEAKS ABOUT HIS FIGHT ON ESPN "FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS" JUNE 12, 2009

PROSPECT WATCH: DANNY GARCIA
By Ryan Burton ~ BoxingTalk.com

Ryan Burton: Tell us about your upcoming fight with Pavel Miranda?

Danny Garcia: It is on June 12th. It is the co main event live on ESPN 2 on Friday night fights. I have been training hard and will be ready for whatever he brings to the table.

RB: How does it feel to be the co main event to Robert Guerrero?

DG: Wow man I have been waiting to get some airtime and show the people that watch boxing that I can fight and I can't wait. I feel blessed.

RB: How has training been going?

DG: It went real well. Everything went pretty good. I feel real strong and I am ready to go.

RB: Was there anything you did specifically for this opponent?

DG: I just trained harder and stayed focus. We have been sparring with bigger guys around 154. Miranda is pretty tall, 5'11" and its kinda hard to find someone at my limit, 140 at that height so we got the heavier sparring partners who are tall. Continue reading...

Mario Serrano
Publicist ~ Shelly Finkel Management
boxingpublicist@aol.com
(408) 607-5756

Haye pulls out of Klitschko fight with injury

LONDON (AP)—David Haye has pulled out of his IBF and WBO heavyweight title fight against Wladimir Klitschko because of an injury.

The British fighter had been scheduled to challenge Klitschko before a sellout crowd of more than 60,000 at Schalke’s football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 20.

Haye’s camp said Wednesday he sustained an injury in training and had to pull out. The nature of the injury was not immediately known.

Haye is 22-1 and has recently moved up from cruiserweight. Klitschko, considered the best of the heavyweights, is 52-3.

At recent news conferences promoting the fight, Haye wore T-shirts depicting him standing in the ring with the dismembered heads of Klitschko and his brother, WBC champion Vitali.